A nutrition bar is a transportable quick meal or snack that you can eat and provide a lot of your nutrition in a small portable size. But if you have kidney disease, a lot of the meal bars can be downright bad for your health. They may contain extensive amounts of protein, sugar, or salt. You have to read the labels carefully.

Today I wanted to take a minute and go through some nutrition bars that might be a good choice on a renal diet.

The first one is a Kashi Go Lean Crunchy Chocolate Pretzel bar. You can find it on Amazon in each bar contains only 160 cal, 3 g of fat, 28 g of carbohydrate, 5 g of fiber, 250 mg of sodium and 8 g of protein.

The reason I like Kashi GO LEAN bars is that they are high in fiber, use seven whole grains, and have a reasonable amount of protein.  These bars in particular have a little bit of chocolate flavoring so they are a nice addition to a meal or snack in the middle of the day. 8 g of protein is the equivalent of 1 ounce of meat so I would expect that you would decrease the amount of meat that you are eating at that meal by 1 ounce.

Another Kashi bar that I would like to recommend to you is the Kashi Dark Chocolate Cherry Bar.  Also available on Amazon, this bar contains 120 cal, 2 g of fat, 24 g of carbohydrate, 4 g of fiber, 85 mg of sodium, and 8 g of protein.

This bar again contains the extra whole grains, and fullness from fiber. It’s 8 g of protein will replace another ounce of meat in your day.  This bar tastes like a vanilla coffee cake flavor with a little bit of cinnamon and hazelnut. Think about it for use on a day when you might need to travel a long way such as going to dialysis, or when you’re not sure what to fix for lunch.

The next bar is by Clif bar, and is called Clif Mojo Peanut Better Pretzel.  This bar contains 200 cal, 9 g of fat, 21 g of carbohydrate, 2 g of fiber, 230 mg of sodium, and 10 g of protein. Although the protein is a little high as long as you account for it in your daily amounts you should be fine. Mojo bars are made to be a mix of something sweet and salty. So you get a little bit of sweetness with the peanut butter pretzel and a little bit of salty flavor but not too much salt.

Finally, I want to introduce you to a couple bars by Luna.  Luna bars are created by Clif bar company. They’re made for women mainly and have a little bit of extra soy in them.  They are made for a healthy heart diet, and contain lower amounts of sodium than any other bar that I have found.

The Luna S’mores bar contains 180 cal, 5 g of fat, 27 g of carbohydrate, 3 g of fiber, 140 mg of sodium and 9 g of protein.  With great flavor, and a little bit of chocolate, they really do taste just like a s’mores bar. This bar hits your target with being low sodium and a modest amount of protein.

The Luna Lemon Zest bar contains 180 cal, 5 g of fat, 27 g of carbohydrate, 3 g of fiber, 115 mg of sodium and 9 g of protein.  The lemon zest flavor has a creamy coating with a light taste of lemon.

Of course it just depends on what you’re in the mood for, but I find these bars to be some of the best choices especially when you’re going to spend a long time away from home and it may be difficult to find the proper meal out on the go. Carry them in your purse or in a bag for your car and they’re always available. If you’re on dialysis in trying to gain some weight, these can be a great way to pack a lot of nutrition into a small bar. And if you’re predialysis these meet your needs for being lower in sodium while still packing a great deal of flavor into a small package.

I hope you give some of these a try and let me know what you think. I personally love the Luna bars especially the lemon zest for a good snack between meals.  Of course, you should always look into your personal needs and allergies before purchasing these for yourself, and discuss with your doctor if you have any concerns.

[Just a note, that the links in the post are affiliate links, which means I earn a commission when you purchase the products. You won’t pay more for the product, and I don’t recommend products that I don’t believe in 100%!]