Dang Bars Review
Keto Dream Bar or Fake Food? (Nutritionist Reacts)
When you’re on a ketogenic diet, finding the perfect keto-friendly bar feels like winning the lottery.
The right bar will provide you with a convenient, grab-and-go option for when you need a quick meal or a filling snack to replace dessert.
Unfortunately, finding that ideal ketogenic snack bar is no mean feat. Many supposedly “keto-friendly” bars on the market tend to be either too high in carbs or too low in fat.
The Dang Bar, an innovation from the snack brand Dang Foods, claims to have the perfect macronutrient ratio for the ketogenic diet.
Today, we’ll take a look at the Dang Bar to find out whether it’s truly the keto dream bar you’ve been looking for.
We’ll use a scale of 1 to 5 to determine if Dang Bars are an ideal ketogenic snack or another fake food to avoid. And as always, I have one on hand and am going to taste test it!
What is the Dang Bar?
More people are adopting the ketogenic diet—either to lose weight or for other health reasons.
However, if you don’t have access to the right food on the go, sticking to the keto diet can be tricky. It’s all too easy to find yourself snacking on high-carb foods, or even worse, unhealthy high-fat fast foods.
This is where Dang Bars come in.
With only 4 to 5 grams of carbs, 2 to 3 grams of sugar, 14 to 15 grams of fat, and 9 to 10 grams of protein, Dang Bars hold the promise of being the keto dream bar.
Fully plant-based, Dang Bars are made from whole foods including almonds, sunflower, chia seeds, pea protein, and creamy peanut butter.
These bars are also gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegan. They contain no added sugars, artificial sweeteners, cane sugar, maple syrup, rice syrup, honey, dates, animal collagen, egg whites or whey protein.
On matters of taste and texture, the Dang Bar has a low score. While the bars are cold-packed to preserve their natural crunchiness and flavor, they might come off too crumbly.
Some flavors are also unpleasant. It is highly recommended that you start with the variety pack to find your favorite flavor.
The variety pack contains 12 bars in three of six different flavors: Peanut Butter, Crazy Rich Chocolate, Almond Cookie, Lemon Matcha, Toasted Coconut, and Mint Chocolate.
Dang Bars are made by Dang Foods, a snack food company owned by two Asian brothers living between New York city and Bangkok. They named the company after their mom and aim to share uniquely Asian-American snacks with the world.
Other products in their catalog include their famous original Coconut Chips and Thai Rice Chips.
One verified customer had this to say about the Dang Bar:
“…These aren’t too bad actually. At first glance they look pasty and I thought it was gonna be a dough ball in my mouth. They are kinda crumbly and packed full of nuts and stuff. It’s got that crunch in it and the taste is good to me. Now they might taste better or worse to others because c’mon our taste buds are all different. The lemon one I swear tastes like fruit loops. All in all they are good but a little pricey.”
Dang Bar Nutritional Macros
To find the right keto-friendly bar, it’s important to carefully read the nutritional label.
Simply going for a high-protein bar isn’t enough. You want to get the right balance of protein, fat, carbs, and sugar for your diet.
For a bar to be considered truly keto-friendly, it has to be low in carbs and high in fat. The ideal macro make-up should be 60 to 75 percent fat, 15 to 20 percent protein, and 10 percent or less or carbohydrates.
And that’s not enough. You also have to make sure that the ingredients used in the making of the bar are whole foods that are healthy and nutritious. Anything that contains large amounts of artificial ingredients, additives, and preservatives is a no-no.
And let me tell you–no-no’s are everywhere when it comes to protein bars.
With that in mind, let’s have a quick look at the nutritional macros in this ketogenic bar in the table below.
Note: There are slight variations in the macro-nutrient composition of each bar, depending on the flavor. Each bar contains 210 calories.
| Macros | Amount | Daily Value |
| Total fat | 15–16 g | 19–21% |
| Saturated fat | 5–6 g | 25–30% |
| Trans fat | 0 g | 0% |
| Cholesterol | 0 mg | 0% |
| Sodium | 40–110 mg | 2–5% |
| Total carbs | 10–11 g | 4% |
| Fiber | 6 g | 21% |
| Total sugars | 2–3 g (including 0% added sugar) | 4–6% |
| Protein | 9 g | 18% |
| Calcium | 43–47 mg | 4% |
Pros and Cons of Dang Bars
Rating the Dang Bar
Dang Foods prides itself in raising the bar when it comes to making keto snacks with natural flavors and ingredients.
Let’s see if these claims have any validity by analyzing the Dang Bar’s nutritional macros, flavor and texture, fiber content, sugar content, ingredients, and overall value.
Taste and Texture
The Dang Bar has a low score when it comes to taste and texture. Although some flavors are quite good, some of them are unpleasant to some people. If you purchase the variety pack, you might find a flavor that suits your palate.
The bar can also be too dry and crumbly for some people. If you prefer a bar that’s more chewy, you are likely to be disappointed. Personally, I was not a fan.
Macros
The balance of macros in a keto bar is crucial. You want a bar that’s high in protein and fat to keep you feeling full and satiated and promote ketosis.
At the same time, a keto bar should also be low in carbs and sugars. Low carbohydrate intake and avoiding sugar spikes helps your body switch to ketosis, which helps you lose weight.
With 4 to 5 grams of net carbs, 2 to 3 grams of sugar, 14 to 15 grams of fat, and 9 to 10 grams of protein, the Dang Bar has a decent score on its macros balance.
This bar doesn’t contain cholesterol or trans fats, which makes it a healthy bar for keto dieters.
Protein Rating
Tracking your protein intake is important when you’re on a ketogenic diet. Maintaining a state of ketosis depends on depriving your body of carbohydrates while loading up on fats and protein to offset the energy imbalance.
Each Dang Bar contains 9 grams of protein. This is quite high for such a small bar and will help stave off the hunger pangs and promote fat burning.
Fiber Content
The Dang Bar is made from ingredients such as chia seeds, pea protein crisps, rice flour, sunflower seeds, cocoa butter, coconut chips, sunflower lecithin, and chicory root fiber.
Each bar has around 6 grams of fiber. While this amount isn’t too low, it might not be enough to keep you satiated for long.
Aim for a bar with around 10 grams of dietary fiber. This is the optimal amount of fiber one can consume in one meal without leading to bloating or constipation.
Ingredients
Dang Foods aims to use high-quality ingredients in the making of their bars. As we’ve noted, the 100% plant-based Dang Bar contains wonderful ingredients such as sunflower seeds, toasted coconut, cocoa butter, pea protein, chia seeds, matcha green tea, and lemon oil.
The bars are gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegan. They contain no added sugars, artificial sweeteners, cane sugar, maple syrup, rice syrup, honey, dates, animal collagen, egg whites, or whey protein.
However, Dang Bars don’t really contain impressive superfoods, which bring down their score.
Value
With a pack of 12 bars retailing at $29.88, the Dang Bar is quite expensive.
The bar is high in protein and fat and low on carbs, which makes it a great ketogenic-friendly snack option.
However, it doesn’t contain superfoods, scores poorly on taste and texture, and is rather low on fiber. With these factors in mind, the Dang Bar has a low score on overall value.
Low Sugar
Blood sugar spikes make it difficult for your body to remain in ketosis, which is key for reaping the benefits of a ketogenic diet.
With only 2 to 3 grams of sugar, this bar meets the expectations for a keto snack. The Dang Bar also avoids added sugars and artificial sweeteners, opting for a subtly sweet stevia extract.
Dang Bar vs. Human Food Bar
We’ve established that the Dang Bar is a pretty decent ketogenic-friendly snack. However the Human Food Bar is a nutrition bar suitable for everyone, even people on special diets.
With 8 grams of protein, 14 grams of fat, 8 grams of fiber, and 3 grams of total sugars, the Human Food Bar is also suitable for your ketogenic diet.
Inspired by the hunter-gatherer diet, the bar is a microbiome booster made from ingredients such as green banana flour, tiger nut flour, baobab fruit powder, protein powder, ground flaxseed, shredded coconut, and cacao nibs. And we didn’t compromise on taste.
Overall, the Dang Bar has plenty to offer. It has a great balance of macros for a ketogenic diet and uses high-quality ingredients.
While it contains more net carbs (21 grams), the Human Food bar is a great alternative—especially if you’re on a lectin-free diet.
In the table below, let’s compare the two bars, paying attention to why the Human Food Bar is a great alternative:
| The Human Food Bar | Dang Bars |
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What’s Our Verdict?
As Dang Foods puts it, the Dang Bar is a dang thing!
It strikes the delicate balance of macros needed for a keto dream bar without using unhealthy ingredients. Its biggest drawbacks are its crumbly texture and disappointing taste.
While it’s better than most keto bars on the market, you may need something a little different if you’re on a more restrictive diet.
Designed for compatibility with the lectin-free Dr. Gundry Plant Paradox diet, the Human Food Bar is the perfect alternative.
The ingredients used in the Human Food Bar mean that it can provide you with the following health benefits:
- Help you maintain a healthy digestive system
- Decrease hunger and food cravings
- Decrease inflammation
- Boost the immune system
- Boost the body’s ability to absorb calcium for strong bones
- Improve your well-being
Still not sure? Check out these reviews of other fiber rich bars we tested:
Frequently Asked Questions
Do Dang Bars contain cashews?
No. The current Dang bar formulas do not contain cashews.
Are the nuts in Dang Bars raw, roasted, or cooked?
Dang Foods uses dry roasted almonds and desiccated coconut in their formulas.
How many flavors do I get when I buy the variety pack of the Dang Bar?
The variety pack of the Dang Bar comes with three of six flavors: Peanut Butter, Crazy Rich Chocolate, Toasted Coconut, Almond Cookie, Lemon Matcha, and Mint Chocolate.
