Despite the popularity of the ketogenic diet, finding low-carb snack bars with clean ingredients that don’t raise your blood sugar and kick you out of ketosis is still a challenge. Perfect Keto has filled that gap with an addictively-delicious keto bar you can enjoy guilt-free.
In this review, I’ll take a deep dive into the ingredients of my favorite Perfect Keto bar flavors and explain exactly what impact consuming those bars had on my blood glucose and ketone levels. Check out the results of my experiment below.
If you don’t care about the details, trust my findings, and just want to get these bars at the lowest price possible, visit the Perfect Keto Bars storefront and use my discount code michael20 to get 20% off. Unless there’s a special sale going on right now, that’s likely the most cost-effective way to buy them.
The Problem With Other Keto Bars
Over the past few years the ketogenic and low-carb market has exploded, with new products popping up almost every week.
Unfortunately, the fact that a product has the right macronutrient ratio to be called keto-friendly doesn’t mean it has clean ingredients you should consume. In other words, keto doesn’t automatically equal healthy.
A product’s type and quality of ingredients are just as important as its macros. That’s why I advocate for what’s known as a paleolithic ketogenic diet. Or as Perfect Keto calls it, Keto+.
Most protein bars on the market today are loaded with carbs that can quickly raise your blood glucose levels and kick you out of ketosis. That’s even true for products that have otherwise clean ingredients or are labeled as paleo-friendly.
On the other hand, many keto-friendly snack bars are low in carbs but loaded with unhealthy and inflammatory ingredients, such as vegetable oils and artificial sweeteners. While those ingredients won’t raise your blood sugar or kick you out of ketosis, they can cause systemic inflammation that increases your risk of developing a chronic disease in the long run.
Why I Love Perfect Keto Bars
Perfect Keto bars are different. They’re low-glycemic, which means they don’t cause a spike in blood sugar and insulin levels. Plus, they only contain clean ingredients that are also paleo-friendly.
Additionally, they taste absolutely delicious. I know I’ve said that about other products in the past (and I meant it), but Perfect Keto takes “deliciousness” to another level.
To me (and my wife and kids), these bars are addictive. Every time we order a box of 12, they’re gone in two days.
While you may call that a lack of self-control, I’m OK with it because these bars don’t contain any ingredients I’m concerned about. Perfect Keto literally managed to make the perfect keto bar.
Ok, maybe the price (which is on the high end) isn’t perfect — even though I’d argue it’s fair, considering the quality of the ingredients. But we’ll get to that in a bit.
When to Use Perfect Keto Bars
Depending on your lifestyle, there are dozens of use cases for a delicious and healthy snack bar that doesn’t cause a spike in blood sugar.
Some folks use these bars as a pre-workout snack. My wife and I usually work out in a fasted state and we don’t eat before or after hitting the gym, but we may have a natural pre-workout supplement. The truth is that if you’ve been doing keto for a while, you should be sufficiently fat-adapted to not need any food before a workout.
Plus, even if you’re as skinny as a stick, you have approximately 20,000 calories worth of fat on your body that you can burn for energy during a workout. So, technically, there’s no need to eat (depending on the type of workout you do, of course).
However, if your metabolism still runs on glucose as its main source of energy, a snack bar before a workout might prevent you from crashing — even if it’s relatively low in carbohydrates.
Additionally, some people like to throw a keto bar or two into their bag or purse when they’re out and about. We usually don’t do that because we often use those opportunities to extend our intermittent fasting window.
The great thing about intermittent fasting is that it’s incredibly good for you, it’s free, and it means you don’t have to worry about food. There’s literally no downside to it, except that you might feel a bit hungry during the times when you normally eat. But that feeling usually subsides after an hour or two.
So now that I’ve given you two examples of when the Kummers don’t eat keto bars, you might be wondering when we do eat them. The answer is that we enjoy the heck out of them as a dessert after dinner.
I love sitting on the couch next to my wife, with a glass of organic red wine, while nipping on a keto bar (or two). It relaxes me and helps me unwind from the stress of the day.
If you’re not a wine drinker (like my wife), have a cup of tea or a hot keto cocoa.
Ultimately, it doesn’t really matter when and how you enjoy these bars. They’re delicious either way, so grab one whenever you feel like it.
Taste and Texture
In one word? Addictive. Every week, I talk to people who want to eat better but can’t imagine giving up their favorite pleasure (junk) food. For some, that’s a certain candy. For others, it’s a bowl of cereal in the morning (you know who you are!).
I usually tell those people that while taste shouldn’t be the top priority when it comes to making the right food choices, there are healthy foods that can easily replace unhealthy ones as far as taste is concerned.
Perfect Keto bars are one such example for me. They taste as delicious as the best-tasting candy bar I’ve ever had.
Of course, every flavor offered by Perfect Keto has a slightly different taste. But they all share the same addiction factor. My two favorite flavors are Birthday Cake (the company’s latest creation) and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. I mean, who doesn’t like chocolate chip cookie dough?
Besides my favorites, Perfect Keto also offers these flavors:
- Almond Butter Brownie (which is also high on my list)
- Cinnamon Roll
- Lemon Poppyseed
- Salted Caramel
What makes these healthy snack bars stand out is a perfect level of sweetness that doesn’t taste artificial. The secret to that is the combined use of monk fruit extract and stevia, two non-caloric sweeteners that are both keto and paleo-friendly.
Texture
I love the crumbly texture of Perfect Keto bars, which reminds me of super-moist cookie dough. The moisture stems from the good fat contained in the bars, and the crumbly texture is likely the result of using soluble tapioca starch (which binds the ingredients together).
Macronutrients
Below is an overview that shows the calories and macronutrient count of all the available flavors.
| Flavor | Calories | Fat | Protein | Net Carbs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birthday Cake | 230 | 17g | 13g | 3g |
| Cinnamon Roll | 220 | 17g | 11g | 3g |
| Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough | 230 | 18g | 11g | 3g |
| Salted Caramel | 240 | 18g | 11g | 2g |
| Almond Butter Brownie | 240 | 19g | 10g | 2g |
| Lemon Poppyseed | 240 | 18g | 11g | 1g |
As you can see, regardless of what flavor you choose, you get a ton of healthy fats, moderate amounts of protein, and between one and three grams of net carbs.
Remember, the total amount of carbs is irrelevant as far as the impact on blood glucose levels is concerned, because certain carbs — such as fiber — don’t raise your blood sugar. That’s why we subtract them from the total carb count to calculate net carbs.
So, when you look at a food label to determine if the food is keto-friendly, do the math and calculate the net carbs!
Ingredients
As I mentioned above, these keto-friendly bars contain only ingredients with limited potential to cause inflammation.
For example, the Birthday Cake flavored bar is made with almond butter, soluble tapioca fiber, grass-fed collagen, cacao butter, sunflower lecithin, MCT oil, gum arabic, spirulina extract, red cabbage extract, turmeric extract, radish extract, MCT oil powder, natural flavors, sea salt, organic vanilla extract, monk fruit extract and stevia.
In case you’re wondering, the ingredients in italics are used for the edible glitter (to make the bar look like a birthday cake). So don’t worry about the bar tasting like radish or red cabbage.
While every flavor features slightly different ingredients, all the bars have a set of core ingredients that provide the bulk of the fat, protein and carbs.
So let’s talk about those and their respective roles.
Fat
Most of the fat in Perfect Keto bars stems from almond butter, coconut oil or MCT oil (powder).
Almond butter is a classic ingredient in many keto snacks, even though it has more net carbs than the more expensive macadamia nut butter.
MCT stands for medium-chain triglycerides, and coconuts happen to be a rich source of these fatty acids. MCT and its derivatives (such as MCT oil or MCT oil powder) are popular with people who follow a ketogenic diet because certain MCTs (including C8) can be readily used for energy by the body.
That’s why Perfect Keto uses both coconut oil and MCT in their bars; both ingredients add healthy fats that support ketosis.
Protein
Besides the almond butter, the primary source of protein in Perfect Keto bars is grass-fed bovine collagen.
Collagen is a type of protein that consists of highly absorbable peptides, which are the building blocks of protein molecules.
Collagen plays an important role in the human body when it comes to growing and repairing tissue, and in particular the joints, skin, hair and fingernails. That’s one of the reasons why so many health-conscious people take collagen supplements.
There’s nothing wrong with that, but you should know that many of the amino acids (the building blocks that make up peptides) are non-essential. That means the body can make them from essential amino acids. However, collagen isn’t a great source of essential amino acids.
The bottom line is that collagen can’t replace other more complete sources of protein, such as meat and seafood.
I consider the protein in Perfect Keto bars to be a nice supplement to have, but I don’t reduce my meat and seafood intake because of it. And neither should you.
What I do like about the collagen used in these bars is that it comes from grass-fed animals. That’s important to me because grass, not grains, is the natural diet of cattle. The latter make animals (and humans) sick and fatter, and I don’t want to eat ingredients derived from sick animals.
Carbs
Most of the carbs in Perfect Keto bars are fiber, which means they don’t raise your blood sugar. Specifically, the fiber in these bars stems from soluble tapioca fiber, a paleo-friendly root that helps to bind ingredients together.
I assume tapioca is what gives the bars that crumbly texture I like so much.
Almond butter is what contributes most of the non-fiber carbs, including the 1 gram of sugar.
Sweeteners
While Perfect Keto decided to use erythritol in its nut butter, they went with stevia for their snack bars. Some flavors also contain monk fruit extract.
Both of those non-caloric sweeteners are from natural sources, are paleo and keto-friendly, and don’t cause an insulin response in the body.
Impact on Blood Sugar and Ketone Levels
The primary goal of the ketogenic diet is to remain in ketosis. That means allowing the body to use both fatty acids and ketone bodies instead of glucose for fuel.
While the brain can use ketones, other parts of the body (such as the heart muscle) thrive by burning fatty acids — a process that leads to the production of ketones.
Eating too many carbs can easily kick you out of ketosis, which is why you need to restrict your net carb intake.
To find out how the consumption of Perfect Keto bars impacts my blood glucose and ketone levels, I conducted three experiments.
Note that ketone levels fluctuate naturally throughout the day and can be impacted by physical activity, fasting and food — even keto-friendly food. Also, I’ve been on keto for a while and I’m fully fat-adapted.
As a result, my body has become more efficient at using fat for energy, which usually results in lower blood ketone levels. That’s particularly true unless I really push my fat intake.
On Day 1, for the first experiment, I intermittently fasted for 18 hours before breaking my fast with one Perfect Keto bar.
On Day 2, I repeated the experiment. But instead of eating one Perfect Keto bar, I ate two — and after I had fasted for only 11 hours instead of 18.
On Day 3, I broke my fast after 14 hours and had a regular (keto) lunch, consisting of mostly fat, moderate amounts of protein, and a few carbs (from roasted cauliflower). Two hours later, I had a cup of coffee with coconut fat and butter.
Fasting is a great way to establish a baseline for both glucose and ketone levels.
My goal for Day 3 was to increase my fat and reduce my protein intake to artificially jack up my blood ketone readings. At 4 p.m., over three hours after I had my bulletproof coffee, I ate a Perfect Keto bar to see how it would affect me.
At the beginning of each experiment, I measured my blood glucose and ketone levels using a Keto-Mojo monitor to get a baseline. Then I repeated those measurements in roughly 30-minute intervals.
Considering what I said above about fluctuating ketone levels, I want you to focus on my blood glucose more than on my ketone readings.
Test results after the consumption of one keto bar:
| Time After Consumption | Blood Glucose | Blood Ketones |
|---|---|---|
| Baseline | 78 mg/dL | 1.0 mmol/L |
| 30 Minutes | 79 mg/dL | 0.9 mmol/L |
| 60 Minutes | 74 mg/dL | 0.9 mmol/L |
| 90 Minutes | 86 mg/dL | 0.5 mmol/L |
| 120 Minutes | 84 mg/dL | 0.5 mmol/L |
| 270 Minutes | 83 mg/dL | 0.6 mmol/L |
As you can see, consuming one Perfect Keto bar left my blood glucose levels virtually unchanged. For reference, readings between 70-100 are considered normal in a fasted state.
Unsurprisingly, my ketone levels took a dip — but not enough to kick me out of ketosis.
I should also mention that I did a high-intensity CrossFit workout the morning of the test (in a fasted state). I can imagine that might have had an impact on both my metabolism and my test results.
Test results after the consumption of two keto bars:
| Time after consumption | Blood Glucose | Blood Ketones |
|---|---|---|
| Baseline | 81 mg/dL | 1.1 mmol/L |
| 30 Minutes | 80 mg/dL | 0.7 mmol/L |
| 60 Minutes | 103 mg/dL | 0.5 mmol/L |
| 90 Minutes | 94 mg/dL | 0.6 mmol/L |
| 120 Minutes | 93 mg/dL | 0.5 mmol/L |
| 180 Minutes | 88 mg/dL | 0.4 mmol/L |
| 300 Minutes | 90 mg/dL | 0.6 mmol/L |
For the second test, I decided to break my fast at the 11 hour mark (1.5 hours after waking up). After consuming two Perfect Keto bars, my blood sugar went up higher than during the first experiment, though not by much.
In fact, except for one reading at the 60-minute mark, I stayed within the normal range. As I expected, my ketone levels dipped again. But they began to recover, before dipping again at the three-hour mark. At that point, I might have temporarily been out of ketosis.
Test results after the consumption of one keto bar (on a high-fat day):
| Time after consumption | Blood Glucose | Blood Ketones |
|---|---|---|
| Baseline | 82 mg/dL | 0.8 mmol/L |
| 30 Minutes | 78 mg/dL | 0.9 mmol/L |
| 60 Minutes | 78 mg/dL | 1.0 mmol/L |
| 120 Minutes | 82 mg/dL | 1.9 mmol/L |
Based on everything I know about the ketogenic diet and the human metabolism, here is how I interpret the test results.
My glucose readings clearly demonstrate that Perfect Keto bars — even if you eat more than one — have only a minimal impact on blood sugar. That’s the key finding of this experiment and it means you can indulge to satisfy your sweet tooth without triggering a massive release of insulin.
I’ve also demonstrated that I maintain relatively low ketone levels on normal days where I don’t eat excessive amounts of fat. As soon as I increase my fat intake, my ketone levels skyrocket.
But that just proves what I already know — that my body can easily use dietary fat for energy. What’s more important from a health perspective is the body’s ability to use its own fat for energy. Unfortunately, you can’t measure that by tracking blood ketone levels.
Instead, you have to watch your blood glucose levels. If you’re fat-adapted and your glucose levels are low, you’re in good shape (even with lower ketone readings).
When I first started the ketogenic diet, I ate practically nothing but fat and my ketone readings were much higher than they are now — somewhere in the 2.0 – 4.0 mmol/L range. That was certainly motivating, but it didn’t make me any healthier than I am today.
I’ve since stopped testing my ketone levels because once you’ve established a dietary lifestyle, there’s no need to keep chasing ketones. Based on what I eat every day and how I feel, I know that I’m in ketosis even if I maintain only 0.5 – 1.x mmol/L readings.
What’s much more important is preventing spikes in blood sugar in order to prevent your body from becoming less sensitive to insulin. If I look at my Keto-Mojo app, I can see only very few glucose readings that were above 100 mg/dL — and those might not even be mine, because I used my meter to test friends and family as well as myself.
Perfect Keto Bar vs. the Alternatives
While Perfect Keto bars aren’t the only game in town, they’re certainly one of my favorites. That’s because the bars are low in net carbs and only contain ingredients I’m comfortable eating in the context a paleolithic ketogenic lifestyle.
But in case you’re wondering, here’s a quick side-by-side comparison of Perfect Keto and other popular brands that make high-quality snack bars (not all of which are suitable for keto).
Note: While I don’t consider Quest bars to be a high-quality snack, I’ve included them in the table below for reference due to their popularity.
| Brand | Net Carbs | Protein | Fat | Keto |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perfect Keto | 1-3g | 10-13g | 17-19g | ✓ |
| Bulletproof | 7-11g | 12g | 12-15g | ✘ |
| Primal Kitchen | 3-4g | 8-15g | 12-16g | ✓ |
| RXBar | 18-21g | 12g | 7-10g | ✘ |
| Kiss My Keto | 3-6g | 9-10g | 19-20g | ✓ |
| Quest | 4-6g | 20-21g | 7-10g | ✘ |
Perfect Keto vs. Bulletproof
I’ve always associated Bulletproof with the keto diet, probably because the company offers many products geared towards a low-carb lifestyle.
That’s why, when I started with keto in early 2019, I was surprised to learn that Bulletproof collagen bars aren’t really keto-friendly.
In fact, those bars are relatively high in carbs, thanks to the use of cashews and cashew butter.
Additionally, Bulletproof uses inulin (from chicory roots) as its main source of fiber. That’s perfectly fine because inulin is both keto and paleo. It just so happens that it makes me super bloated, so I try to stay away from it.
The bottom line is that you probably can get away with enjoying Bulletproof bars from time to time without getting kicked out of ketosis. But considering that Perfect Keto bars taste just as good and share a very similar (crumbly) texture, why put up with the extra carbs?
Perfect Keto vs. Primal Kitchen
I like Primal Kitchen because of the company’s focus on ingredient quality. That’s why we use a lot of their products in our kitchen, like ketchup and mayo.
In the past, we’ve also had their protein and collagen bars. But, if I’m not mistaken, they were only paleo and Whole30-friendly — not keto.
As part of my research for this article, I realized that all of Primal Kitchen’s protein and collagen bars are now keto-certified.
That’s awesome, because it means you can pick any of their flavors and rest assured that you won’t get kicked out of ketosis.
The quality of the ingredients aside, I personally prefer Perfect Keto bars because of their taste and texture. Primal Kitchen bars are a bit chewy and have a less-addictive taste.
Update: It appears as if Primal Kitchen discontinued its protein bars.
Perfect Keto vs. RXBar
Before we started with keto (and while we were still on a strictly paleo diet), we ate a lot of RXBars because of their short list of clean ingredients.
The main problem with RXBars is their carb load. Each bar has at least 18 grams of net carbs. That’s almost the daily limit if you’re on keto.
As a result, I have not had an RXBar in over a year. And even if I wasn’t following keto I would consume them only in moderation, at best.
Perfect Keto vs. Quest
Quest makes one of the most popular protein bars on the market. But I don’t recall having ever had one, so I don’t know how they taste.
From a macronutrient perspective, Quest bars are relatively keto friendly because they’re low in net carbs. However, they’re also comparatively low in fat, which is the primary fuel if you’re on a ketogenic diet.
What disqualifies Quest bars from being considered a healthy snack is the use of sucralose, an artificial sweetener that can seriously mess with your body’s glucose metabolism.
Quest also uses erythritol (a sugar alcohol) and soluble corn fiber, both of which are less harmful than sucralose (though I’m still not a fan of either).
The bottom line is that if you’re serious about healthy eating and keto, I’d avoid Quest bars.
Cost and Discount Code
Perfect Keto sells a box of 12 bars for $39.99. That boils down to $3.30 per bar. That’s not outrageously expensive, but it certainly adds up if you eat them like they’re candy. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happens at the Kummer house whenever we have a box of those suckers in our pantry.
How to Get Perfect Keto Bars at a Discount
You can use my affiliate discount code michael20 to get the bars at 20% off retail price.
If you combine my code with the multipack, you’ll get each bar for $2.36, which is much less than the regular price.
Frequently Asked Questions
Perfect Keto bars are better than most other protein bars, but not because they have lower amounts of protein.
Some people believe that too much protein can kick you out of ketosis because of the body’s ability to convert amino acids into glucose. However, that process (gluconeogenesis) is demand-driven rather than supply-driven.
As a result, consuming too much protein doesn’t kick you out of ketosis. But it could prevent you from getting into deep ketosis, with readings of 1.5 mmol/L or above. I’ve noticed that since increasing my protein intake dramatically, my ketone levels stay within the 0.5 – 1.1 mmol/L range.
Instead, Perfect Keto bars are better because they contain only quality ingredients, and because consuming them doesn’t cause a spike in blood sugar levels.
Yes and no. While the bars don’t contain any ingredients that are natural sources of gluten, they are produced in a shared facility that also handles wheat and other sources of allergens, such as peanuts, soy, egg, milk and other tree nuts.
No, Perfect Keto bars aren’t vegan because they contain, among other things, collagen protein from animal sources.
Yes, but only from the naturally occurring sugar in almonds. In other words, the bars don’t include any added sugar.
One bar has just a bit over 200 calories. I need at least two or three times that to replace a small meal. So yes, you could eat three bars and replace a meal.
Alternatively, you could consider a meal replacement shake.
Collagen (sometimes referred to as collagen protein) is a special type of protein that doesn’t have a complete amino acid profile.
That means that unlike a complete protein (such as the one found in beef, milk or eggs), collagen consists of peptides that are made up of many (but not all) the essential amino acids the body requires to function.
Despite that, collagen plays an important role in the human body. For example, it helps repair damaged joint tissue. While the body can make its own collagen (from the protein you eat), some people take collagen supplements or eat foods that contain it.
Perfect Keto Bars Review: Final Verdict
Perfect Keto bars are one of my favorite ways to satisfy my sweet tooth. They’re delicious and packed with clean ingredients, and I love the crumbly texture.
The only downside I see is the price, although maybe that’s a good thing. If they were cheap, I’d eat way too many of them.
The good news is that even if you overindulge, they won’t cause a massive spike in blood glucose levels. If your ketone levels take a small dip, like mine did, don’t worry about it as they should bounce right back.
So try them out and let me know how you like them by leaving a comment below!
Michael Kummer is a healthy living enthusiast and CrossFit athlete whose goal is to help people achieve optimal health by bridging the gap between ancestral living and the demands of modern society.
Medical Disclaimer
The information shared on this blog is for educational purposes only, is not a substitute for the advice of medical doctors or registered dieticians (which we are not) and should not be used to prevent, diagnose, or treat any condition. Consult with a physician before starting a fitness regimen, adding supplements to your diet, or making other changes that may affect your medications, treatment plan or overall health. MichaelKummer.com and its owner MK Media Group, LLC are not liable for how you use and implement the information shared here, which is based on the opinions of the authors formed after engaging in personal use and research. We recommend products, services, or programs and are sometimes compensated for doing so as affiliates. Please read our Terms and Conditions for further information, including our privacy policy.
Thanks so much for your you tube video and this article. Exactly what I was looking for. So helpful!
I’m glad to hear that, Will! Thanks for stopping by!
Thanks for posting blood glucose and ketone results after you ate 2 bars!! I liked how you compared several different bars and the reason for your preference.
Just ordered my first Cookie Dough box with MK15. :-) Great article…thanks Mike! Will let you know what I think.
Thanks Doug! I hope you’ll like them. If not, I’ll eat them for ya ;)