After training at the Mayo Clinic, this heart doctor aimed to target Americans' cholesterol—but here’s how the snack stacks up on taste, nutrition, and price.
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Heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the U.S.—yet as much as 80% of cases are preventable through lifestyle changes, particularly diet, says Elizabeth Klodas, MD, FACC, a Mayo Clinic–trained cardiologist. “High cholesterol is not caused by a deficiency of Lipitor and high blood pressure isn’t caused by a lack of diuretics,” she says. “These conditions are driven, in whole or in part, by food.”
Still, many people leave doctor’s appointments with prescriptions and a vague directive to “eat better,” without clear, actionable guidance. That disconnect is exactly what Dr. Klodas set out to solve when she created Step One Foods.
The concept is intentionally simple: replace two usual snacks with bars that deliver nutrients linked to better heart health—without overhauling your whole routine.
In her practice, Dr. Klodas saw that patients who truly followed heart-healthy dietary guidance experienced what she calls “astonishing” results. “Medications shrank, diagnoses melted away, patients were becoming non-patients,” she says.
But those success stories were few and far between. “Even highly motivated people struggle to translate traditional dietary advice into daily habits,” she says. “People need something that’s practical and, frankly, as easy and effective as taking a pill.”
That insight led her to develop a “minimally invasive” approach built around foods people already reach for: snacks. Step One Foods bars are formulated to provide key, evidence-backed nutrients tied to heart health that many Americans don’t get enough of:
While research has long shown strong links between diet and heart disease, “I didn’t have giant expectations,” Dr. Klodas admits. “And then it started happening—like, medication levels of impact.”
That’s when Step One Foods partnered with Mayo Clinic and the University of Manitoba to fund a randomized, double-blind, crossover clinical trial in a free-living population. Participants were instructed to eat Step One Foods products twice daily while otherwise continuing their normal routine.
Says Dr. Klodas: “We told them if you don’t exercise, don’t start. If you don’t routinely eat salads, don’t start. If you routinely eat a cheeseburger at lunch, if you’ve done that for the past 30 years, keep going.” The only change was the twice-daily added snack.
“We saw, on average, a 9% LDL [cholesterol] reduction in 30 days,” Dr. Klodas says, adding that if this decrease were achieved across the U.S. population, heart disease could potentially be dethroned as the leading cause of death. “It’s a huge health impact from a population perspective.”
Patients also reported knock-on benefits, such as better digestion, higher energy levels, lower blood pressure, weight loss, and, in some cases, lowering or coming off medications. To Dr. Klodas, the findings, published in The Journal of Nutrition, reinforce a simple idea: meaningful health changes don’t always require extreme measures.
As an active person, I’m no stranger to on-the-go bars. Whether I’m fueling a workout with carb-heavy granola or grabbing a protein bar for recovery, I’ve tried most of what’s out there—and bars aren’t my favorite.
So when I unwrapped the Dark Chocolate Walnut Step One Foods bar, I had a modest amount of skepticism.
But it genuinely tastes like a healthier version of a candy bar. The dark chocolate is smooth and rich, the walnuts add crunch, and the sweetness feels natural rather than artificial. It doesn’t have the chalky, dry texture or lingering aftertaste I find with so many functional snacks. And if you’re going to eat something daily, that palatability matters.
Compared with mainstream bars like KIND or CLIF, Step One Foods is less about quick energy or workout fuel and more about targeted nutrient composition for heart health. They aren’t designed to deliver a big protein hit or replace a meal, but rather to serve as a daily, heart-health-focused snack alongside an otherwise normal diet.
To put that into context, here’s a nutritional comparison:
Step One Foods Bar (Dark Chocolate Walnut)
CLIF Bar (Chocolate Brownie)
KIND Nut Bar (Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate)
You’ll see that each type of bar has its own benefits. CLIF bars skew toward higher carbohydrates and sugar for quick energy, while KIND bars emphasize satiating fats. But Step One Foods bars stand out for lower added sugar, zero sodium, and a focus on evidence-backed ingredients for heart health.
Specifically, organic dates bring the sweetness, while walnuts, chia seeds, flax seeds, oat bran, and Saskatoon berries contribute fiber, healthy fats, and antioxidants. The vegan, gluten-free, and non-GMO bars also include added plant sterols—compounds shown to help reduce cholesterol absorption, Dr. Klodas explains—and they contain no artificial sweeteners.
A 12-pack of Step One Foods bars costs $40.99, or about $3.40 per bar—more expensive than many protein or energy bars, which typically range from $1 to $2 per bar.
Whether that price feels justified depends on your expectations. Step One Foods bars aren’t designed to be budget snacks—they’re closer in concept to a heart-health supplement than something you’d grab for a hike.
Dr. Klodas says she often sees interest from people who are statin-intolerant, statin-hesitant, or not reaching heart health goals despite medication—and who want a lifestyle-based strategy. She also works with patients who know they should eat better but feel overwhelmed by the idea of a full dietary overhaul.
Still, Step One Foods bars aren’t a magic fix, and they don’t replace prescribed medical care. “We’re not an anti-drug company,” Dr. Klodas emphasizes. They’re also not designed to function as a high-protein supplement, a high-carb workout bar, or a low-cost everyday snack. Instead, the bars may offer a low-effort way to start shifting toward a more heart-healthy eating pattern. In practice, Dr. Klodas suggests swapping two usual snacks per day for Step One Foods bars to get the intended benefits.
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