Science in Sport Rego Choc and Protein Bar

A new addition to the SiS portfolio of nutrition products is this Rego Protein Bar. With a mixture of carbs and proteins, it's designed to help muscle recovery after exercise. And with ingredients including chocolate and peanuts, it's tasty too.

Most sports scientists agree that after training you can help your muscles recover (and be stronger next time) by taking on some protein as well as carbohydrate. The Rego Protein Bar helps you do this by providing 21g of carbohydrate and 20g of protein in a 55g bar. For the record, there's also about 6g of fat (3g unsaturated, 3g saturated) plus a dash of fibre and sodium.

The ingredients include milk, milk derivatives (whey, casein), wheat gluten, soya and peanuts. The bar is also coated in chocolate.

The formula is very similar to another SiS product called Build Bar, which now seems to be discontinued. Or maybe it's the same stuff with a different wrapper, renamed to fit in with the range of other Rego (post exercise) products.

Either way, without doubt, this Protein Bar is very tasty. It's sweet, but not overly so, and not sticky. The most familiar taste is the chocolate in the coating, but you also get a hint of the peanuts included in the main part of the bar.

The texture is chewy, and this bar definitely needs liquid to help it go down, but as it's designed for eating after a race or work-out, having plenty of drink to hand won't be a problem.

The SiS website also suggests that the Rego Protein Bar can be eaten "throughout the day between meals (such as mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacks) to provide a convenient way to increase daily protein intake". Nothing wrong with that, but there are also other ways to increase protein intake if that's your aim. It might be more useful to regard a Protein Bar as a healthier alternative (because it has less refined sugar and less saturated fat) to a cake or normal confectionary bar with your mid-morning coffee at work.

Of course, you don't have to eat designated protein bars to help muscle recovery after exercise. A bowl of muesli, peanut butter sandwich or chicken pasta dish will do more or less the same job. But a lot depends on what you feel like eating immediately after a big cycling event or tough training session. For me, one of these SiS protein bars with a cup of tea hits the spot immediately after a long ride, soon followed by that bowl of muesli, with the chicken pasta not far behind.

On price, the SiS Rego Protein Bar retails at £1.99 at your local bike shop or the usual on-line stores. On the SiS website it's a penny under £40 for 20 bars (currently discounted to £35.82). This is not cheap, but it's on a par with similar products from other manufacturers.

Verdict

Easy-to-eat bar to help muscle recovery after exercise, with a good mix of carbs and proteins. Very tasty too.