Bar tab: the skinny on nutrition bars: the best nutrition bars are designed to fit your personal patterns

Better Nutrition, May, 2003 by Lori Tobias

Puzzled over her inability to lose weight, a woman, 30-ish and in reasonably good shape, approached Denver, Colorado-based certified fitness trainer and nutrition consultant Liane Seiwald.

Seiwald's client ran 30 minutes, five days a week, weight-trained four times a week and thought she was eating a healthy diet. Yet she was gaining weight.

Seiwald asked for specifics about her client's diet, and in seconds knew all she needed to know.

"She was eating three healthy meals a day, but supplementing with energy bars because she thought they were a healthy snack and that she needed the extra protein and carbohydrates to fuel her workouts.

"In fact, the bars were adding way too many calories to her diet, and her body was storing excessive amounts of sugar from the carbohydrates in the bars. She might as well have been eating Snickers."

bar bites

It would have been a better idea if Seiwald's client had actually replaced one of her meals with a nutrition bar because, when incorporated wisely into your diet, bars can be a healthy choice. "They work well for a lot of people," says Liz Applegate, PhD, author of the Encyclopedia of Sports and Fitness Nutrition and Bounce Your Body Beautiful. "Bars are convenient, and they sure beat eating a bag of pretzels for lunch. If you do better with a restricted diet plan, substituting a meal replacement bar one or two meals a day aids in weight loss."

Stacey Bell, ScD, RD, a Boston dietitian, agrees. "I totally embrace the idea of a meal replacement for overweight people. There's scientific data to support that."

Nutrition bars can also be a good idea as an occasional snack replacement for women on the run who don't have time to stop for lunch. The key word, says Bell, is replacement. "If you take that in lieu of a meal, it's a perfect alternative. It's healthy, has vitamins in it and keeps you from getting into pastries and foods that aren't healthy."

But with so many bars on the market, how do you know that you're picking the right one?

key ingredients

"You have to look at the label," says Applegate. "Women's bars (such as Luna and Pria) are generally lower in calories. They're also fortified with a bit more folic acid and calcium than other bars."

While labels may seem confusing, knowing a few key words can make the difference between choosing a junk bar and a genuinely healthy snack. Dean Mayer, spokesman for Clif Bars, maker of Luna products, suggests opting for bars that offer whole grains, fruits, and soy or nuts, and avoiding those heavy in such ingredients as fructose and hydrogenated oil.

"Ingredients that sound processed, such as glycerin or wax, are cheaper and have very little nutritional value," says Mayer.

In addition to zeroing in on which bars are healthy, it's important to know for whom the bar is intended. Nutrition bars designed for body builders are likely to be high in protein; those made for dieters will probably be lower in fat; and bars created to fuel a marathon runner will be higher in carbohydrates.

About the only thing that holds true for all bars is that, well, they're different--as are the people eating them.

better nutrition?

According to Bell, nutrition bars generally appeal to two types of people: athletes and those wanting to lose weight. The latter group is often made up of women like Seiwald's client who view nutrition bars as healthy snacks that deliver an energy boost. What most dieters don't know is that many of these bars pack a load of calories.

"I'm convinced that most people who eat them for energy don't need them," says Bell. "If you're not training for something heavy duty, your body has enough stored fat, carbohydrates and protein to get you through any workout if you eat three healthy meals a day. Adding more calories that you don't need is ridiculous.

"One of the things that concerns me is there are bars that have no carbohydrates because people are on this low-carb binge. That's not going to give you energy. And what concerns me about the bars with carbohydrates is that they contain high-glycemic-index carbohydrates. Within two hours, they turn into sugar in your blood and disappear, and you're hungry again."

Another concern, says Applegate, is that bars simply are not a healthy substitute for whole foods.

"I'm finding people living off of bars. They buy a box and eat them for breakfast and lunch. They're missing out on what whole food has to offer--bioflavonoids, the phytochemicals that protect your heart and help stave off cancer," says Applegate. "You're not going to get those in energy bars. They're not as healthy as whole foods because a lot of them have a fair amount of sugar, which really makes them no different than some candy bars."

The lesson for consumers is pretty clear. While bars can be a useful meal replacement for people looking to lose weight--or an energy-packed snack for those in intense training--they certainly are no substitute for a healthy, balanced diet.

So the next time you're checking out all the bar options at your favorite natural products store, pay close attention to the product labels so you can make sure you're getting one that's right for you.