Energy Bars Are Not Your Best Option

By Sally Fallon and Mary G. Enig, PhD

If you are interested in your health and have read books on the subject, you probably know that candy bars are not good for you. Loaded with sugar and short on protein, they give the body a quick lift without providing any real nourishment. The lift soon gives way to a letdown and you feel hungrier than before. Many contain hydrogenated oils and a slew of artificial ingredients.

But candy bars are quick and convenient. They have a long shelf life and can be sold in vending machines. They taste good--actually they can be addictive--and can stave off hunger and cravings. So what does the health-conscious consumer do in this candy bar culture?

Energy bars to the rescue. They look and taste like candy bars, have the shelf life of candy bars, contain protein and fiber, and are loaded with vitamins and minerals. They are convenient and they taste good. And, thanks to an incredible amount of advertising hype, they can be consumed without the guilt of the candy bar.

The original energy bars, such as the Power Bar and the Source Bar, were based on so-called natural sweeteners--high fructose corn syrup and juice concentrates--along with dried fruits and nuts, a combination that resulted in higher percentages of carbohydrates than the typical chocolate candy bar (which is rich in cocoa butter, a healthy natural fat.)

Cheap Protein

The real boost for the bar business came with the advent of cheap soy and whey proteins that could be added to make a "high-protein" bar. Barry Sears' BioZone "Programmed Nutrition" bars were among the first of these with several imitators following, including Balance Bars ("The Complete Nutritional Food Bar") and ZonePerfect Bars ("All Natural Nutrition Bars").

But there is nothing natural about the protein used in today's energy bars. Soy protein comes with an initial burden of phytic acid, enzyme inhibitors and isoflavones. More toxins are formed during high-temperature chemical processing, including nitrates, lysinalanine and MSG. Soy protein must be processed at very high temperatures to reduce levels of phytic acid and enzyme inhibitors, a process that over-denatures many of the proteins in soy, especially lysine, making them unavailable to the body.

Whey protein is inherently fragile and must be processed at low temperatures or its qualities as a protein are destroyed. That is why casein rather than whey protein is used in animal chow. When cheese, butter and cream were made on the farm, the whey and skim milk were given to the pigs and chickens. But today these products are made in factories far from the farms where they originated, so the industry has a "whey problem," solved by drying the skim milk and whey at high temperatures and putting the powders into energy drinks, body building powders and high-protein bars.

Other major ingredients include high fructose corn syrup (or concentrated fruit juices, which are high in fructose), an ingredient that has been shown to be worse for test animals than sugar. Other ingredients include "natural" fiber from oats, apples, soy and citrus. Sometimes maltodextrin is given as the fiber source. "Natural flavors" and piles of synthetic vitamins are thrown in so the bars can be called "complete."

On the plus side, the fat source in most energy bars is often palm, palm kernel or coconut oil. Barry Sears' original BioZone bars contained partially hydrogenated soybean oil--until he met up with Mary Enig at an Oil Chem conference where she reminded him about the problems with trans fats and wondered how he could promote bars containing trans fats as nutritious.

Major Ingredients in Modern Energy Bars

Boulder Bar ("Provides sustained energy from naturally delicious real food"): Apple juice, figs, whole brown rice syrup, maltodextrin (complex carb), soy protein isolate, oat bran, oat flour, rice flour.

Source Bar ("Total Sports Nutrition"): Dried plums and dates, grape juice concentrate, wheat flour, whey protein concentrate, defatted peanut flour, honey, fruit juice concentrate, oats, raisins, pecans, soy flour, canola oil.

Power Bar ("Fuel for Optimum Performance"): High fructose corn syrup, grape and pear juice concentrate, oat bran, maltodextrin, milk protein, brown rice, sesame butter, barley malt, peanut butter.

Clif Bar ("Nutrition for Sustained Energy"): Brown rice syrup, rolled oats, soy nuggets (soy protein isolate, rice flour, malt extract), evaporated cane juice, roasted soy butter, chocolate chips, fig paste, cocoa, almonds, ClifCrunchTM (apple fiber, oat fiber, milled flaxseed, soy fiber, chicory extract, lemon fiber, psyllium).

BioZone Bars ("Programmed Nutrition"): Fructose syrup, soy protein isolate, honey, calcium caseinate, toasted soybeans, corn syrup, sugar, palm and palm kernel oils, peanut butter, cocoa powder, lactose, whey protein concentrate.

Balance Bars ("The Complete Nutritional Food Bar"): Protein blend (soy protein isolate, calcium caseinate, toasted soy beans, whey protein concentrate, whey), high fructose corn syrup, honey, fructose, almonds, high maltose corn syrup, canola oil, palm and palm kernel oils, sunflower oil.

Think! Interactive Bar ("Concentration, Calmness, Stamina"): Advanced protein blend (peanut protein, sodium caseinate, isolated soy protein, nonfat dry milk, lactoalbumin), peanut butter, fructose syrup, brown sugar, high concentrate soya flour, MCTs, molasses, yeast, milk chocolate.

Dr. Soy ("The smart choice for delicious nutrition as a snack or meal replacement bar"): Soy Blend (soy protein isolate and soy nuggets), malitol syrup, brown rice syrup, sugar, fractionated palm kernel oil, nonfat dry milk, yogurt powder, honey.

Atkins Advantage ("The Original Low-Carb Lifestyle"): Protein blend (soy protein isolate, hydrolyzed collagen, whey protein isolate, calcium/sodium caseinate), glycerine, polydextrose (fiber), cocoa butter, cocoa powder, water, natural coconut oil, soy nuggets (soy protein, rice flour, malt, salt), cellulose, olive oil, sucralose.

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