Is Energy Bars a Healthy Alternative?

Your local grocery shelves are packed with energy bars that claim to promote the "low-carb" lifestyle. Many of these bars are not what they seem. In 2001, consumerlab.com tested 30 nutrition bars and found that half of them contained more carbohydrates than they claimed. One product that supposedly contained only 2 grams of carbohydrates turned out to have 22. Most of the carbohydrates in these products come from sweetening ingredients like glycerin. Manufacturers claim these forms do not count as carbohydrates because they do not impact blood sugar levels.

However, the reality is they are still carbohydrates, and they can make up to 70 percent of a bar's total calories.

The FDA requires all energy bar manufacturers to list the total carbohydrate counts on the nutrition labels. Many low-carb energy bars can be loaded with fat, that is even worse. Some of these bars contain 10 grams of fat, or about 15 percent of your Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA), the same as a Milky Way bar. These may be high-fat candy bars disguise as energy bars in low-carb packaging.

When you do not have time to breathe, let alone eat, grabbing an energy bar at lunch is better than skipping a meal entirely, right? Yes, but they are appropriate only in emergency situations. They normally do not contain enough calories to keep you full, so you may even ending up overeating later. You are also missing healthier foods, like fresh fruits and vegetables that are much better for you.

These energy bars claim to be great anytime snacks, full of vitamins and minerals. Many of them do deliver, Luna bars for instance, contain 100 percent of the daily requirements of 11 different nutrients, from vitamin C to riboflavin and niacin. Zone Perfect bars have at least 200 percent of the daily value of vitamin C, E and B6. However, these bars contain not just nutrients, but they are also load with calories, an amount equal somewhere between a snack and a small meal. You may find that you are even more hungrier after eating it because refined carbohydrates cause blood sugar levels to rise in your body. When they drop an hour later, you will be ravenous.

As if that isn't bad enough, many of these products also contain 7 to 10 grams fat, usually in the form of unhealthy saturated fat or trans fatty acids, which clog your arteries and increase the risk of cancer and heart disease. While companies must list both total fat and saturated fat on the label, they are not required to include information on trans fats until 2006. Always check the label for the words "partially hydrogenated," which indicate trans fats.

Next time you hungry for an energy bar, maybe you should consider an apple or a banana instead.