Nutrition in the hills can be a tricky thing. You can go full-bore and bring fresh food, a liquid fuel stove, pans etc and cook yourself a full blown meal – and suffer the resulting pack weight. At the other end of the scale you can go ultralight and bring biscuits, chocolate and a pot noodle, satiety and recovery be damned.
When I saw ads on Instagram for RealMeal, I thought I’d pick some up and give it a go. This review hasn’t been influenced in any way by the folks at RealMeal. The bars were not provided or discounted, and the review is not a paid promotion.
What are RealMeal Bars?
Real Meal Bars are the brainchild of Will Simpson, who came up with the idea while trying out for the SAS. The high calorie demands of the training led to the recommendation to just “cram in all you can” but he found the usual options pretty limiting.
The bars are 600 calories each, and come in four flavours:
- Coffee and hazelnut (my favourite!)
- Peanut butter and cacao
- Himalayan salted caramel
- Blueberry and Almond
The macro split is 60% carbs 20% protein 20% fat. They’re vegan and the bars have a long shelf life. The bars I received won’t reach their BBE until January 2027.
They have a good texture with the right amount of moisture, not excessively mushy, but not flaky and liable to break up into dust inside your pack (ahem, Nature Valley?)
Are they any good?
I found them easy to eat, especially with a cup of coffee or a drink of water, and the 600 calories provided a marked, noticeable boost compared to the usual sugary snacks I have on the move. I went from feeling fatigued / drained, to feeling very solid again – to a degree that usually requires a sit down meal involving prep.
There’s science backing this, the insulin sensitivity boost that protein provides considerably increases the level of glycogen replenishment compared to carbohydrate alone. Will and his team likely had this in mind when formulating the bars.
They take up very little space in the pack, so can easily be stashed somewhere easy to reach, to reduce the time stopped (if you stop at all)
As for taste – this is highly subjective. I absolutely loved the coffee and hazelnut flavour and will likely bulk buy that single flavour. The peanut butter and cacao was also great, although not quite as rich tasting as the coffee flavour.
The other flavours, while good were a little sweet for my palate, but I certainly had no trouble eating them.
Price
The bars are available in the following offerings at time of writing:
- Individually @ £4.99
- Adventure Pack (4 bars, 1 of each flavour) @ £19.99 reducing to £15.99 if subscribed monthly
- Endurance Pack (8 bars, 2 of each flavour) @ £39.99 reducing to £29.99 if subscribed monthly
- Expedition Pack (10 bars, single flavour) @ £45 no subscription available
These prices seem high if comparing to nutritionally inferior bars and snacks with lower caloric content and weaker macros. However compared to most dehydrated or heat in the bag trail meal options of similar caloric / macro standing – they work out ok.
If trying them out, I’d recommend starting with the adventure pack, see what flavours you like and go from there. A monthly sub to the endurance pack seems to be the most cost effective buy if you like all the flavours, working out at £3.74 per bar.
Check out their website by clicking here