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Body & Soul Magazine:
Pass the Bar
Frances Lefkowitz
October 2005
Lots of so-called snack bars are really just candy bars in disguise. Packaged in convenient three-inch wrappers and sold near the impulse aisle of the store, they may provide a hit of energy, but they also offer "whacked-out proportions" of sugars, fats, and chemical additives, says American Dietetic Association spokesperson Lisa Dorfman, R.D., author of The Vegetarian Sports Nutrition Guide.
If you know what you're choosing, it doesn't have to be that way. You can have sustained energy, sound nutrition, and great taste in bar form. Made from whole grains, nuts, and fruits, with no refined sugars or chemical fillers, whole-food bars can be a handy and healthy pick me-up. The unprocessed plant foods are great sources of fiber, phytonutrients, and complex carbohydrates. Plus many are uncooked, which makes them appealing to those interested in a raw food diet.
How do you know a good bar from a bad one? If the ingredients list is short, and you recognize everything in there, you're off to a good start. A good bar gets its sweetness from apricots, dates, apples, raisins, and other dried fruits, rather than added sugar or corn syrup. Even whole-grain sweeteners, like brown-rice syrup, are kept to a minimum. Nuts and seeds-such as almonds, walnuts, cashews, and sunflower seeds- provide high-quality protein. Try for little or no saturated fats and absolutely no trans fats, which come partially hydrogenated oils. Beware, too, of faux "yogurt" coatings, which can contain bad fats and extra sugars that weaken the probiotic punch of their yogurt base.
Of course, all of this is moot if the whole food bar does not taste good. We recently sampled ones that you can find in your local natural foods store. Based on flavor and nutritional value, here are our top food-bar picks.
KIND Fruit & Nut: handmade bars in Australia, packs hefty chunks of dried fruit, whole nuts, and seeds.