WOW! Grenade have (once again!) taken their product range to the next level with the introduction of the new RELOAD Protein Oat Bars. The original Reload flapjacks were taken back to the drawing board and relaunched, like a phoenix out of the ashes, as a high protein snacking masterpiece.
There are three delicious flavours available to choose from; Blueberry Muffin, Billionaire Shortbread and Chocolate Chunk, all of which are vegetarian approved.
Each colourful packet contains two 35g servings, this is super convenient for people commuting or following a calorie-controlled diet. At Discount Supplements though, we don’t do things by halves, so of course, we indulged in the full 70g offering.
There are two things we’d like to focus on in this review – the taste of the bars and the nutritional profile.
Taste
Blueberry Muffin
Who doesn’t enjoy a blueberry muffin? They’re popular post-workout treats in the bodybuilding world and enjoyed by thousands of people each day when travelling to work. The only problem is they’re high in sugar and can add unwanted calories to your daily intake without adding a great deal of protein. This is where the Grenade RELOAD Blueberry Muffin steps in.
The flavour is intense, without being overly artificial or sweet. The texture of the bar is soft and light, as you’d expect from an actual muffin.
Overall rating: 9/10
Billionaire Shortbread
At the time of writing, this is my favourite of the three flavours. It’s packed with flavour with notes of toffee, caramel and shortbread competing to impress your palate. Again, the texture of the bar is soft and incredibly easy to eat. You can tell the bars have been blended with nut butter, which keeps the bars neatly compact.
Overall rating: 9.5/10
Chocolate Chunk
Although this flavour (in my opinion) is the weakest of the trio, it still ranks higher than a lot of other protein flapjacks or oat bars on the market. There is a strong chocolatey flavour which hits you instantly, although the taste is slightly artificial after trying the Blueberry Muffin and Billionaire Shortbread flavours. Maybe it would taste better if tried first?
The texture is very gooey and brownie-like, which does combine really well with the strong flavour.
Overall rating: 8/10
Nutritional Profile
The new RELOAD protein oat bars taste fantastic, however, does this mean they’re higher in sugar than rival bars? Absolutely not. Each 70g serving contains a minute 3g of sugar (based on the chocolate chunk flavour) which is just 0.5g more than a single 14.8g chocolate digestive biscuit!
Not only are the bars low in sugar, they’re also low in saturated fats (3.6g). This is because the majority of the fat is coming from the nut butter blend of cashew and peanut butter, which are high in healthy monounsaturated fats. Bonus!
PROTEIN. The Grenade RELOAD bars pack 17g (again, based on the chocolate chunk flavour) of protein per 70g serving. This is lower than a Grenade Carb Killa bar but higher than some rival oat bars. We would always recommend you consume the bulk of your calories and protein from whole foods, so keep in mind these bars are designed to supplement your intake as and when is needed.
Other values to note are a decent 8.2g of fibre, which will certainly help with digestion, and 10g of polyols. Polyols are a sugar-free sweetener which are incompletely digested, therefore can lead to laxative effects if consumed in excessive amounts, so it may be best to stick to one 70g serving per day, as tempting as it may be to throw back a Blueberry Muffin for breakfast and a Chocolate Chunk post-workout!
Macros based on Chocolate Chunk flavour:
Calories – 228
Protein – 17g
Carbs – 22g
Fat – 9g
Overall verdict
The Grenade RELOAD protein oat bars are a huge improvement on the previous version, and the Billionaire Shortbread flavour is up there with the best tasting bars on the market right now
If you’re looking for a low carb protein bar, these not maybe for you, however, if you’re looking for a healthy snack to supplement your daily protein intake, you NEED to try these!