Energy Bars Are Not Your Best Option

With the exception of the fats, most of the ingredients used in energy bars are waste products--soy protein isolate and whey protein are the waste products of the soy oil and cheese industries respectively. Apple and lemon fiber, used to create a crunchy effect, are also waste products, made from the pulp left over from squeezing the fruits for their juice. Soy lecithin, another common ingredient, is also a waste product of the soy oil industry. And most of the sweeteners are made by highly industrialized processes. In short, most of the ingredients in energy bars are anything but natural

Highly Hyped

Typical of the hype used to promote candy bars made from waste products is that used to huckster Balance Bars. Slick advertising copy shows attractive, intelligent-looking people (children with dogs, doctors in white coats, men with brief cases) above the following text:

"The Balance nutritional food bar is a great tasting, long-lasting energy source which has helped change the way health-conscious consumers look at nutrition.

Made with all natural ingredients, Balance bars combine nutrients in a 40-30-30 ratio of carbohydrates, protein and dietary fat. This clinically proven combination encourages the body to access fat as fuel, helping to maintain stable blood sugar levels. Balance bars taste great as they work, delivering the essential nutrients today's healthy consumers ask for."

According to Dick Lamb, president of Balance Bars, his product is the "only nutrition bar clinically proven to improve athletic performance." The "clinical trials" to which he refers compared two four-week dietary programs of real food, one at 40 percent carbs, 30 percent protein and 30 percent fat and one at 60 percent carbs, 20 percent protein and a mere 20 percent fat. The group on the "balance formula" ran faster during the last 5 km in a race and raised their HDL by 14 points.

Because Balance bars have the same macronutrient ratios as the "winning" diet, Lamb makes the claim that they are "clinically proven."

Says Lamb:

"Balancing your dietary protein, carbohydrate and fat can have a profound effect on your athletic performance and general energy levels. By better accessing body fat, you can reduce excess body fat easily and without hunger, improve your energy levels for training, improve concentration; and dramatically improve your recovery rates."

Elsewhere in the literature, Balance bars are called the "ideal snack for diabetic children."

While many of the modern energy bars emphasize athletic performance, others are said to promote optimal mental performance. The Think! Nutrition Bar claims that it will bestow "concentration, calmness, stamina." "For best results," says the label, "Eat a Think! Nutrition bar and 16 ounces fresh water 30 minutes before using your brain."

A new angle on energy bar hype is used for bars formulated for women. The wrapper for the CLIF Luna Chocolate Pecan Pie Whole Nutrition Bar for Women contains the following paean:

"We believe that what we put into our bodies matters; food feeds our souls, lifts our spirits, nourishes and sustains us. That's why we created LUNA, the blissfully good, whole nutrition bar for women. In just 180 calories, LUNA meets many of the specific nutritional requirements women need everyday to maintain active life-styles. Join us in healthy, joyous living!"

Real Food Energy Bars

The energy bar phenomenon capitalizes on a real human need--that of a convenient, nutrient-dense, concentrated travel food that keeps well, satisfies and tastes good. Such commodities indeed exist. One is called cheese, a fermented, high-calorie storage food that keeps well on journeys, is rich in nutrients and high enough in fat to be truly satisfying. Another is hard cured sausage, a fermented food that keeps well, tastes delicious and provides high-quality fat and protein.

Pemmican, used by Native Americans, was the perfect energy bar. Made from dried lean meat and rendered fat packed into rawhide bags, it was highly concentrated and kept for years. One and one-half pounds could sustain a grown man doing heavy work all day. This was no 40-30-30 bar--80 percent of calories in pemmican comes from fat and almost none from carbohydrates, except on the occasion when dried berries were added.

Pozol, a product of southern Mexico, is another candidate. Cooked corn meal is wrapped in banana leaves and allowed to ferment for two weeks. The outside becomes encased in a nutritious green mold. Pozol is said to be an almost perfect food, long-lasting and sustaining. This is a high-carbohydrate food that conforms to USDA guidelines--but not to modern tastes.

Soaked and dehydrated "crispy" nuts make a good snack that Westerners can enjoy. They can be kept in your car or office. Most do not need refrigeration. A combination of nuts with cheese and hard sausage makes a complete meal.

A satisfying bar made of ground nuts, coconut or palm oil, butter oil and low-temperature dried animal protein would be relatively complete and satisfy the requirements for a nutritious travel food. But real food ingredients are not cheap; on the contrary, they are expensive and militate against the kind of profit margins the food industry requires. Like cheese and cured sausage, any nutritious energy bar must be produced locally by artisans, on a small scale--and without the hype.

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