There’s a moment, usually sometime mid-afternoon, somewhere between the third unread email and the slow, existential descent of your energy levels, when you realize you’re not hungry… but you need something. Not a meal. Not a treat. Something grounding. Something comforting. Something your body will thank you for rather than punish you for later.

Call it the Conscious Craving.

It’s the feeling many of us ignore until we’re wrist-deep in the office candy bowl, or, worse, standing in the kitchen eating cereal out of the box like a feral woodland creature. And for years, the wellness world pretended there were “healthy” alternatives for this moment. Protein bars. Snack bars. Superfood bars.

And yet, most of them were glorified candy bars with a business casual outfit.

Added sugar masked by words like “natural sweetener.” Ingredients that read like an alien language. Whey, soy, gums, processed oils, and a digestive aftermath that made you question every life choice you had made since sunrise.

If you’ve ever eaten a protein bar and immediately felt bloated, gassy, foggy, inflamed, or betrayed… welcome to the club. Your membership card is in the mail.

But then Five Plus Protein happened. And everything started to shift.

The Bar That Refuses to Act Like a Bar

Five Plus Protein entered the scene quietly, not with Silicon Valley startup theatrics or neon “disruptor” energy, but with something far more refreshing: genuine honesty.

Founder Joel Montesano, a Navy veteran with 25 years in fitness, sales, and wellness, wasn’t trying to build a snack empire. He was trying to solve a problem that nobody else seemed to be solving, even though millions of us feel it every single day.

He wanted a bar that:

• Didn’t spike blood sugar,
• Wasn’t inflammatory,
• Didn’t trigger digestive misery, and
• Actually, tasted good.

A bar you could eat at 3 p.m. and still feel amazing at 7.

A bar that supported aging well, without added sugar, artificial junk, or the “I regret everything” crash an hour later.

A bar with ingredients your gut would recognize as actual food.

He and the Five Plus Protein team partnered with the food scientists at YouBar, studied ingredients like they were sacred texts, and created something genuinely innovative:

The LAST Bar

A bar built intentionally to be low inflammation, added sugar–free, simple to digest, and tasty.

A bar that feels like it was designed by people who actually eat protein bars—not just sell them.

A bar good enough that even Howie Mandel of America’s Got Talent took notice, giving public love to the Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip flavor. Because when something is genuinely good, the world tends to talk.

And yes, the bars are vegan.

Yes, they’re gluten-free.

Yes, they contain anti-inflammatory botanicals.

Yes, they’re high in fiber but gentle on digestion.

Yes, they taste shockingly decadent.

This is where the conscious craving finally finds its match.

Meet the Stars of the Movement: Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip & Lemon Ginger

Every revolution has its icons. Five Plus Protein has two.

1. Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip LAST Bar: The Velvet-Textured Wellness Treat

Let’s start with the classic. The one that started it all. The one everyone, Howie Mandel included, can’t stop talking about.

The Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip LAST Bar is the embodiment of that “healthy meets hedonistic” sweet spot the wellness industry has been chasing for years, but rarely achieves.

First of all, the texture:

It’s creamy. Smooth. Soft enough to bite without jaw-locking tension. The bar melts ever so slightly on your tongue, the way a peanut butter fudge square might, but without the sugar crash or the “I need to nap for three years” aftermath.

The flavor?

Think: roasted peanut butter, a hint of sea-salt-warmth, and the gentle joy of chocolate chips that don’t overwhelm but accent every bite.

Inside this unassuming bar lives a nutritional philosophy:

• Pea protein (gentle to digest, especially for those who can’t handle whey)
• Natural peanut butter
• MCT oil for brain-fuel
• Stevia + monk fruit blend (no added sugar, no drama)
• Fiber to keep blood sugar stable
• Cinnamon, turmeric, and cacao for anti-inflammatory support

This is the adult version of a peanut butter cup, except instead of wreaking havoc on your blood sugar, it delivers calm, clarity, and steady energy.

It’s not a bar. It’s a wellness strategy disguised as a snack.

2. Lemon Ginger LAST Bar: The Mood-Lifting, Gut-Loving Power Snack

If the Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip bar is the cozy one, the sweater-weather, soft-lighting, warm-hug option, the Lemon Ginger LAST Bar is the friend who walks into the room and immediately opens all the windows.

Bright. Clean. Zesty. Sharper around the edges in the best way.

This bar tastes like someone distilled a morning yoga class into a flavor profile and wrapped it in plant-based protein.

The first note: lemon zest.

Not artificial, not perfume-y, just citrusy sunshine.

Then ginger arrives, warm and grounding, followed by this subtly sweet, refreshing finish.

And because it’s Five Plus Protein, the internal architecture is impeccable:

• Pea protein
• Almond and cashew butter for creaminess
• Ginger (anti-inflammatory, gut-friendly)
• Lemon essence
• Stevia + monk fruit
• Fiber
• MCT oil
• Turmeric + cinnamon (because inflammation never takes a day off)

You don’t eat this bar; you reset with this bar.

It’s the snack equivalent of washing your face with cold water and remembering you’re alive.

If Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip is the treat, Lemon Ginger is the ritual.

The Anti-Inflammatory, No-Sugar, Gut-Focused Revolution We Actually Needed

Wellness trends move fast. One day, it’s celery juice. The next it’s cold plunging. Then seed oils, then grounding mats, then adaptogens flown in from the Himalayan mountains accessible only by goats with elite passports.

But Five Plus Protein is doing something refreshingly… sane.

They’re addressing the three things almost every human needs help with:

• Sugar instability
• Digestive distress
• Chronic inflammation

Let’s break it down:

1. Sugar Is Sabotaging Your Energy (Even “Healthy” Sugar)

Most protein bars behave like candy bars wearing leggings. Added sugar, syrups, brown rice syrup, date paste, dried fruit concentrate…Sure, it’s “natural,” but so are volcanoes.

Sugar spikes your blood glucose, leading to a crash, cravings, overeating, inflammation, and mood swings.

Five Plus Protein’s solution?

Zero added sugar. Zero nonsense.

Sweetness comes only from monk fruit and stevia, no insulin surges, no crashes, no binges that feel like personality defects.

2. Digestion Matters More Than Protein Quantity

What good is protein if your body can’t absorb it?

Whey, soy, and egg proteins are notorious for causing:

• bloating
• gas
• cramping
• diarrhea
• inflammation

Five Plus Protein went plant-based, choosing pea protein (along with almond protein in some

bars) because they’re easier to digest and gentle on sensitive systems.

The experience: you eat a bar… and feel nothing.

Which is the best feeling ever when your GI tract usually behaves like a dramatic Victorian child.

3. Inflammation Is the Silent Agitator of Modern Life

Stress. Poor sleep. Pollution. Processed foods. Inflammation is everywhere, quiet, chronic, sneaky.

So, why eat a snack that inflames you even more?

Five Plus Protein added ingredients like:

• Cinnamon
• Turmeric
• Ginger
• Cacao

These aren’t trendy. They’re ancestral.

And they work.

The Human Behind the Bars: A Founder’s Story That Matters

The reason Five Plus Protein feels different is because it is different.

Joel Montesano didn’t start this company because a boardroom asked him to. He started it because his own body demanded it. After decades in fitness, martial arts, the Navy, and wellness, he was sick of the disconnect between “healthy” marketing and how protein bars actually made people feel.

He partnered with:

• His wife, Lynda, is a fitness instructor and Lupus warrior who knows firsthand what inflammation feels like.
• Bridget Grover is a Physician Assistant with degrees in exercise science, kinesiology, and healthcare law.

Together, they built a brand grounded in actual lived experience, not hype.

Five Plus Protein products aren’t designed to help you get shredded for summer.

They’re designed to help you age well, feel grounded, stay energized, and support long-term wellness.

This is a snack built by people who care about your longevity, not just your macros.

And people are noticing. The brand is growing. The trust is building.

Even celebrities known for high standards of cleanliness (hi, Howie Mandel) are reaching for Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip.

Because when something works, it spreads.

Why These Bars Feel So… Different

There’s something almost poetic about the LAST Bars.

You feel it when you eat them.

There’s no sugar crash. No hunger rebound. No digestive theatrics. Just steady energy. Clarity. A mood lift.

This sense that your snack worked with your body instead of against it.

Call it the “Five Plus Feeling.”

That grounded hum of wellness you get when food behaves like a friend.

Eating as an Act of Self-Respect

We live in a culture obsessed with punishment. Punish the body into shape. Punish hunger.

Punish cravings. Punish yourself for wanting something delicious.

Five Plus Protein flips that script completely.

The LAST Bars aren’t about willpower, they’re about nourishment.

They’re about reconciling the desire for something indulgent with the need for something healthy.

They’re about healing your relationship with snacking.

They’re about treating your body like someone you love.

And isn’t that the point? Wellness isn’t deprivation.

It’s alignment. Harmony. A truce between what you crave and what you need.

The Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip LAST Bar and the Lemon Ginger LAST Bar both feel like they were made by people who understand that truth deeply.

A Snack Designed for Real Life

These bars were crafted for:

• The entrepreneur who forgets to eat until 3 p.m.
• The mom who is balancing 47 tasks before noon.
• The athlete who is trying to fuel without inflammation.
• The teacher who needs to stay focused.
• The commuter who is trapped in traffic.
• The student who is fighting the 4 p.m. slump.
• The woman navigating autoimmune flares.
• The man who refuses to accept bloating as a lifestyle.

This is snacking that doesn’t hijack your day.

It enhances it.

The Future of Conscious Snacking Is Here

Five Plus Protein isn’t selling bars. They’re selling a new relationship with food.

A relationship grounded in:

• Stability
• Anti-inflammatory nourishment
• Digestibility
• Longevity
• Real pleasure
• Real health

The LAST Bars are more than snacks. They’re tools. They’re companions. They’re permission to honor your cravings without harm.

And this is only the beginning.

If this is what Five Plus Protein has accomplished in just a few years, a cult following, celebrity attention, national magazine features, a proof-of-concept bar that became a star, and a growing line of targeted, functional snacks, the future of the brand looks bright, expansive, and nourishing in every sense of the word.

The Snack That Loves You Back

You don’t need another protein bar. You need a snack with integrity. A snack that stabilizes your energy, supports digestion, reduces inflammation, tastes indulgent, and honors your desire to age well while living well. A snack designed by people who care deeply about the power of food as medicine. A snack that refuses to make you choose between health and pleasure.

This is why Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip and Lemon Ginger LAST Bars aren’t just bars, they’re the start of a quieter, more thoughtful revolution: Snacking that loves you back.