Energy Bars 101

Do you ever feel completely overwhelmed when you are walking down the health food aisle at your grocery store? It seems like there is hundreds of different energy and protein bars out there on the market. With hundreds of options comes a lot of uncertainty. What ingredients should you be looking for? What ingredients should you stay away from? Well lucky for you, I am here to help make your next shopping trip a whole lot easier.

Knowing How to Navigate the Food Label

Nutrition Facts – This is where you will find the macronutrients and their amounts listed on the label. Macronutrients include: protein, carbohydrates, and fats. While all three of these macronutrients are important, the necessary amounts vary from person to person depending on their health status, lifestyle, and activity level. You will also be able to find the micronutrients, vitamins and minerals, listed on the label. Hot tip: if a food contains 10-19% of the daily value of a nutrient, it is considered to be a “good source”. If it contains 20% or more, it is considered an “excellent source”. A good rule of thumb is to look for bars with at least 4 grams of protein (ideally shoot for 10 grams), and if you are planning to use it as a pre or a post-workout snack, it should have at least 20 grams of carbohydrates.

Ingredients List – Honestly, before I even glance at the nutrition facts, I look at the ingredients list. This will tell you where those grams listed in the nutrition facts are coming from. For example – are the grams of sugar coming from whole food sources like dried fruits? Or from refined sugar and corn syrup? Are the fats coming from whole food sources like nuts and seeds? Or hydrogenated oils?

I highly recommend that you avoid any bars marketed as being “low carb” or “low sugar” before workouts (and really just avoid in general) as they often contain artificial sweeteners, sugar alcohols, and synthetic fibers that can cause bloating, gas, and/or diarrhea mid-workout. Tolerance levels of artificial sweeteners and sugar alcohols will vary depending on person to person, but why chance that kind of discomfort? Talk about a way to ruin a good workout.

When you look at the ingredients list, the ingredients are listed in order by weight. Heavier and denser ingredients will be listed first followed by the lighter ingredients. For example, ½ cup of brown rice syrup weighs the same as 2 cups of oats, so even if a product has more oats than brown rice syrup, the syrup will be listed first due to the weight.

Make Sure You Look for Whole Food Ingredients

Here are some examples of what I mean when I say to look for “whole food” ingredients:

· Carbohydrates

o Dried, unsweetened fruits

o Whole-grain sources like brown rice, quinoa, oats

o Dates

· Protein

o Egg whites

o Brown rice protein

o Pea protein

· Fats

o Seeds

o Nuts

o Nut butters – almond butter, cashew butter, peanut butter

What Ingredients Should You Avoid?

High Fructose Corn Syrup and Added Sugar – It is very important to know that sugar has many names. There is 60+ synonyms for added sugar. So, like I said earlier, it is so important to read the ingredient list because companies will use many different names as an attempt to disguise how much sugar is actually in their products.

Hydrogenated Oils – This type of fat has been shown to increase LDL (bad) cholesterol while lowering your HDL (good) cholesterol. This type of fat has even been linked to cancer. You will find hydrogenated oils in products like packaged candy, cookies, certain crackers, etc. but you can also find these oils in your energy/protein bars. You should look for monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats that come from nuts, seeds, and nut butters.

Artificial Sweeteners and Sugar Alcohols – Companies can, and do, get away with labeling their products as “sugar-free” or “0 grams added sugar” by using artificial sweeteners (Aspartame, Sucralose) and sugar alcohols (Erythritol, Xylitol). If you are consuming an excess amount of artificial sweeteners, they can be having a negative impact on your gut. Instead of bars that have artificial sweeteners or sugar alcohols, opt for energy bars that use honey, brown rice syrup, and coconut sugar.

Synthetic Fibers – Synthetic fibers (soluble corn fiber and inulin) can also lead to GI upset. Fiber is essential for proper digestion and maintaining blood sugar levels, but there are better ways to get your fiber intake in. Opt for natural sources like fruits, veggies, oats, chia seeds, and flax seeds.

My Favorite Bars to Recommend:

· RX Bars

· EPIC Bars

· GoMacro Bars

· Perfect Bars

· Larabars

Just keep in mind, some bars can be super calorie-dense. Just 2 Perfect Bars = 640 calories! Which is great if you are looking to gain weight since it is an easy way to get in more calories without getting overly full. BUT you can now see why eating too many of these bars can make weight loss more difficult.

Bars can be a super convenient snack between meals, when you’re on the go (I always carry bars in my purse/gym bag on busy days), or if you need a pre or post-workout snack, but they SHOULD NOT replace an entire meal. I also do not recommend them for every snack or to eat them multiple times a day. Opt for whole food snacks like an apple with peanut butter, veggies and hummus, or hard-boiled eggs.

Well that’s it for this blog post! I hope this helps you navigate the health food aisle a little easier on your next grocery trip. Remember, not everything down that aisle is created equally. Do not get fooled by marketing and make sure you look at the ingredient list. Make good choices y’all! And happy snacking!

-Body By Riss