Remember the Role of the Energy Bar
Years ago most energy bars were about as good as eating wannabe chocolate flavored putty. They were tough to chew, not very flavorful, and mostly a niche food meant for high velocity athletes who needed a boost in the middle of extra long endurance workouts.
Somewhere along the way the energy bar grew in popularity and people started buying energy bars in everyday grocery stores. They became easy snacks, fast meals, and a seemingly perfect everyday miracle food. While it is true that they can be good for you, some of the labels can be deceiving and not every energy bar is created equal.
Spend Some Time With the Nutrition Facts
Labels are notorious for over promoting the item inside. Just because an item is promoted as healthy doesn’t mean it’s right for you. Instead you’ve got to spend some time with the nutrition facts and go from there.
Consider Who You Are
Some energy bars are meant for the middle of intense workouts and others are created for the purpose of helping people build muscle and gain weight. Others are light snacks for people trying to lose weight, and some are good because they are raw, organic, or perfect for some other diet someone out there has designed.
When picking your energy bar, it’s important to consider your goals. Are you looking for something that will boost you in the middle of a 20 mile run? Do you want a light snack? Is this a meal replacement? Are you vegan.
The Pre-Exercise Energy Bar
If you happen to be in shape and look for an energy bar that will give you a boost before your workout, look for an energy bar with the following characteristics:
● 25-40 grams of carbohydrate.
● Not a lot of fat. A lot of energy bars pack a ton of fat into their ingredients list. Watch this carefully, because fat slows your digestion and isn’t all that helpful as an exercise fuel for the majority of the population.
● Less than 15 grams of protein. Protein is not a crucial fuel source during exercise unless you are going to burn all your other resources (carbs and fat) first.
Some examples of an energy bar that fits this profile are the Luna Lemon bars and the Clif Bar Blueberry Crisp. If you’re looking to fuel your workout, eat this bar about an hour before your long workout. If you’re exercising for more than an hour, feel free to eat one bar per hour of exercise and drink plenty of water.
Meal Replacement Bars
Meal replacement bars are designed to work in a pinch. They aren’t good replacements for every meal, but they’re nice alternatives for every now and then. These bars are packed with the same number of nutrients as an average meal, but not the same number of calories. Some perfect examples of this include the ProBar, Nutribar, and the Vega Whole Food Vibrance Bar-Green Synergy.
Bars That Will Help You Gain Weight and Build Muscle
High protein energy bars with lots of calories tend to fit the muscle building type who are looking to pack the pounds quickly. If you’re in this category you need something that’s high in protein. The Power Bar Triple Threat is a good example, as are a lot of the other chocolate peanut butter options that pack the ingredients densely.
Bars for the Purist
If you’re looking to work an energy bar into your basic diet that’s true to Michael Pollan’s minimal ingredients rule, you have a few options in the energy bar department. Lara bars are homemade, minimal, and quite tasty. Other energy bars are organic, raw, and and healthy for event the most discriminating purist.
The Bar That Will Be Whatever You Want It To Be
Believe it or not, custom energy bars actually exist. A company called Element Bars has a site called Build-A-Bar that lets you choose between chewy, crispy, datey, or oaty and then move from there to build the perfect energy bar for you. You can add fruits, nuts, sweets and boosts, and as you do so the nutrition facts bar on the right changes to reflect the choices you have made.
My favorite part of the Element site is the Bar Power Key, a section at the bottom of the custom creation page that lets you pick ingredients for specific functions. You can isolate antioxidants, the best ingredients for muscle strength, and much more.
Brain Hopkins has been an avid athlete his whole life. Currently he blogs on various sites about the best places on the web to find a free health insurance quote.
