Did you Know these Facts About Energy Bars?

Energy bars have been doing the rounds for a while now, and some thinks they are very healthy while some thinks they are not worth the hype! When it first came to the market, it was marketed as fuel for the body builders and athletes. Some of them might also have a good amount of fat, protein, fiber and carbs. So, let’s check whether replacing your meal with protein or energy bars is good for your health or not. So, here we are digging deeper to know what is the reality behind the energy bars—do they deserve to be called healthy or is it just the trends!

The nutrients in energy bars

Energy bars might have some amount of protein, carbs, fiber, vitamins, but the fat free versions might come as a catastrophe in disguise. The nutrition labeling comes to a rescue and understanding them rightly can give you a fair idea of whether they are actually healthy or not. Gympik Dietician and Nutrition consultant Sujetha Shetty says, “Energy bars may have good amount of protein, but most of the energy bars contain added sugar or artificial sweeteners. The more basics the ingredients in the bars are, the better and are for your body. Stick to the energy bars that are less processed and have fewer number of ingredients mentioned in the ingredient list.”

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Should you replace any meal with energy bars

Most of the energy bars are processed and don’t meet what is claimed on the ingredients list, be it calorie count or the content related to fat, protein, carbs and other vitamins. According to expert dieticians, to ensure that the bar contains good quality protein such as milk, soy, egg, or whey protein, one should look at the ingredients list and also determine the amount of sugar or simple carbs used in it. To be on the safer side, you should look for bars that have fat calories about 30 percent or less, somewhere around 5 to 15 grams of protein, and 16 to 26 grams of carbs. But when you are planning to snack on energy bars, ensure that you are not consuming more as this can add up to your quota for recommended daily amount of fat and carbs as the calorie contain of the bars can be more than 350 calories which actually is far more than the snacking size.

Energy bars are Healthy- yay or nay?

Considered as an occasional snack, energy bars can be detrimental to your weight and waistline. As per dieticians, fat free foods are bland in taste and to add more taste to it, manufacturers add sugar and sugary syrups which are no way healthy. Moreover, a single energy bar contains fortified nutrients that connotes replacing an energy bar with your meal might shoot your insulin level and if you are consuming too much of energy bar quite often or making a choice to ditch the whole food and take only energy bars, you might be consuming too much of vitamins that sometimes can be harmful for your body.

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The bottom line

Bars can be good if you are taking them in moderation, but the goodness of energy bars depends on the ingredients, calorie count and the total energy in it. Reading the labeling could help you understand the nutritional facts and save you from indulging in wrong kind of energy bars. Having said that, not all energy bars are bad, but the right ones can be defined by the parameters such as whether they contain processed ingredients, the amount of protein, carbs and sugar. The energy bars can be overdose of sugar which arouses more cravings, if you are consuming it as on the go snack or replacing your meals with them. Let us know about your thoughts in the comments section below. We’ll see you on the other side. Till then, stay fit, stay happy!