Amrita Endurance Bars
Overall Rating: 
About Amrita:
“Arshad grew up in India where eating fresh fruits and vegetables was a way of life. After coming to the United States, Arshad became a serious cyclist but when he took six years off active racing he gave up vegetarianism and gained weight. Meanwhile, Arshad’s son was diagnosed with autism and severe gastrointestinal issues.
In order to get their son on track Arshad and his wife started their son on an aggressive gluten-free and dairy-free nutrition program. The nutritional changes helped heal his gastrointestinal issues, allowing for better nutrition absorption, making it easier for him to focus on the other therapies. Now, Ayaan is in a regular classroom doing well academically.
Based on his son’s nutritionally based autism and gastrointestinal recovery and his own drop in cholesterol and weight by following a similar allergy-friendly diet, Arshad became convinced that plant-based nutrition was the right approach for managing inflammation. The significance of reducing one’s allergen load to help the body recover from daily stresses (such as consumption of gluten, dairy, nuts, soy, oils, preservatives, and chemical-containing non-organic foods) became apparent. As a result, he sought to develop snacksfree of these damaging ingredients
During Arshad’s preliminary research of “natural” energy bars on the market, he became concerned about the pervasive use of whey and soy protein, both highly acidic foods. Whey is a byproduct of the cheese-making process and has been shown to cause digestion problems. Soy protein isolate has also been shown to adversely affect thyroids, fertility, hormones, and digestion. Arshad decide to use raw vegan brown rice protein, which boasts a complete amino acid profile exceptionally high in glutamine, argentine, lysine, leucine, and branched-chain amino acids.
Arshad realized that using brown rice protein and dried fruts—such as tropical mangoes, pineapples, and Mejdool dates—together with a rich blend of raw sunflower seeds and sesame seeds would provide essential proteins and fats without the added allergens from nuts, dairy, and soy. As an added bonus, his kids could also take them as part of their peanut-free school lunches!
Arshad launched “Amrita” in 2012 while working full-time with 3 young kids. Based on the rapid positive response from farmers markets and stores, Arshad went into Amrita full time in July of 2013. Amrita in sanskrit means “nectar”. To really separate Amrita from other energy bars on the market, Arshad packed each bar full of superfoods, such as chia seeds, maca, unsweetened coconut, with delicious hints of vanilla and Himalayan Pink salt for taste and flavor balance.
When making Amrita bars, Arshad ensured ingredients were rich in antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and omega-3s, with a good dose of fiber and heaps of easily digestible protein. Of course every ingredient is Non-GMO. Most importantly, they had to taste amazing, which was easy to deliver based on having 3 picky kids in the house and all their peers as test kitchens.
On average, approximately 70% of the ingredients used to make Amrita bars are organic.“
Apricot Strawberry
About:
“Tangy moist apricot with sweet chunks of baby strawberries brings your taste buds alive! Yum!
Nutrition: Calorie: 235 (50gm/1.8oz) = 7g Fat + 36g Carbohydrates + 7g Protein. 4g Fiber and 1000mg Chia Seeds.
Raw, Plant-Based, Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free, Nut-Free*, Soy-Free, Non-GMO, Kosher.
*Contains Coconut.”
Apple Cinnamon
About:
“As American as it gets – Big chunks of dried apples, juicy dates and fresh cinnamon.
Nutrition: Calorie: 228 (50gm/1.8oz) = 7g Fat + 36g Carbohydrates + 7g Protein. 4g Fiber and 1000mg Chia seeds.
Raw, Plant-Based, Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free, Nut-Free*, Soy-Free, Non-GMO, Kosher.
*Contains Coconut.”
Chocolate Maca
About:
“Big chunks of cacao, with tons of superfood rich raw maca and 15gm of organic brown rice protein
Nutrition: Calorie: 284 (50gm/1.8oz) = 7g Fat + 30g Carbohydrates + 15g Protein. 4g Fiber and 1000mg Chia.
Raw, Plant-Based, Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free, Nut-Free*, Soy-Free, Non-GMO, Kosher.
*Contains Coconut.”
Cranberry Raisin
About:
“A perfect blend of tangy cranberries dancing with sweet raisins, chia seeds, and loaded with brown rice protein.
Nutrition: Calorie: 243 (50gm/1.8oz) = 7g Fat + 38g Carbohydrates + 7g Protein. 4g Fiber and 1000mg Chia.
Raw, Plant-Based, Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free, Nut-Free*, Soy-Free, Non-GMO, Kosher.
*Contains Coconut.”
Mango Coconut
About:
“Tropical juicy mango with sweet coconut – saving you a trip to Thailand!
Nutrition: Calorie: 219 (50gm/1.8oz) = 7g Fat + 32g Carbohydrates + 7g Protein. 4g Fiber and 1000mg Chia.
Raw, Plant-Based, Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free, Nut-Free*, Soy-Free, Non-GMO, Kosher.
*Contains Coconut.”
Pineapple Chia
About:
“Sun ripened sweet pineapple chunks with superfood chia seeds – straight from tropical South America.
Nutrition: Calorie: 235 (50gm/1.8oz) = 7g Fat + 36g C
arbohydrates + 7g Protein. 4g Fiber and 1000mg Chia.
Raw, Plant-Based, Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free, Nut-Free*, Soy-Free, Non-GMO, Kosher.
*Contains Coconut.”
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My Thoughts:
The first thing that stands out to me with these Amrita Endurance bars is how pleasant my interaction has been with the founder, Arshad. He has been very helpful, informative and generous in working with me and R.O.O. I really appreciate that aspect of this brand and it will certainly play a role in driving me to continue to support Amrita.
They bars are pretty darn close to 100% awesome. Since they are 70% organic, I’d say that they are 70% awesome. 🙂 In all seriousness, I truly appreciate the fact that Amrita states that they do not use any GMO ingredients. They are refreshingly transparent in admitting that their bars are 70% organic, whereas some brands tend to throw in a small percentage of organic ingredients and then put “organic” in big fat letters on the label. Amrita has recognizable, easy to follow ingredient lists that clearly state which ingredients are organic. As always, entirely organic is the goal. I feel that Amrita is in a very high percentile when compared to other health bars (in regards to quality). In addition to being 70% organic, these bars boast labels that read “raw, plant-based, dairy free, nut-free, gluten-free, soy-free, non-gmo, kosher.” I am concerned about nuts being in my bars (in fact, I prefer them) but I think the main advantage of these bars being free of those foods is that it makes them available to individuals and kids who have food allergies or sensitivities.
Speaking of taste, these bars taste REAL. They taste like their are made of whole food ingredients, because they are. You can pick out the flavors here and there as you eat them. Amrita has nailed a few of their flavor combinations in the Mango Coconut, Pineapple Chia and Apricot Strawberry. All of the flavors are very enjoyable, respectively, but those 3 were the ones I enjoyed most. I love that Amrita makes a bar with Maca. Maca is a superfood (in this case, in powder form) that helps balance and improve hormone production in the body. As someone who has suffered with intense periods and hormonal skin breakouts, I am always looking to eat plant based foods that help address that.
These bars are good when you really need a punch of energy and nutrients. Since all of these bars have a relatively high sugar content (from fruits and natural sources), I wouldn’t recommend them to someone trying to minimize their sugar intake. Or, for those individuals, I’d recommend just sticking to eating these bars only after an intense workout, not regularly throughout the day. I’d imagine these bars would appeal most to active individuals who believe in a plant-based, non-gmo, mostly organic approach to fueling up. These are some of the best tasting and highest quality you can buy and their range of flavors is sure to please any palate or list of dietary restrictions.
