I’m always searching for new ways to up the protein in my diet. And, much as I like protein shakes, and some bars for that matter, there are times when they get a bit, well, samey.
So when I was invited to review Jack Links Jerky, I was more than happy to. Protein in a form that isn’t fruit or chocolate flavoured and that should add a bit of variety to my diet. Given I like savoury over sweet, something meaty was always going to attract me.
The flavour sent out was original, but I understand, they also do teriyaki, peppered and sweet and hot, and a range of small batch flavours – perfect for adding a bit of spice.
The texture is different to that I’d expected. A lot of jerky and biltong I’ve experienced is quite tough and chewy. This is much softer, still a little fibrous, but not hard going.
Flavour wise, this was great if a little… sweet. It was much sweeter than I anticipated. The flavour is similar to barbecue sauce, and that made me have a look at the sugar content. For your 78 calories per bar, you only get 3.15g of fat, which is pretty reasonable for a low carb diet, but your sugar is 5.4 – that’s 21.5g per 100g, way, way above what I should be eating on my current training diet.
Oops.
However, what I can say, is as a protein boost (just shy of 7g per bar) this is OK – it’s a little high in sugar for me – but for a quick protein hit, and as a recovery after training, it’s not so bad – you’ll soon burn off the carbs and your body will find the protein hit beneficial.
Personally, I’ve heard whispers of a low carb turkey version that I’m all curious about. Now to try and get my hands on some…
This item was received to review for free care of Jack Link’s. As mentioned above, it’s ok, but doesn’t sit so well with my current training plan. I’ll be handing my spare bars to Mr GFB, who it seems is rather fond of them.