Is That Energy Bar Worth It ?

Learn What The Experts Think

There are no shortage of energy bars on the market today.

The Power Bar, Clif Bar, MetRX, Balance, they are only the major ones. There are even bars that have been designed with the Diet giants in mind such as the Zone.

Learn What The Nutrition Watchdog's Say About Energy Bars

According to the Center For Science in The Public Interest, most people who do little exercise, don't even need them because you would need to exercise for longer than an hour in order to burn more calories than the bars themselves contain.

They report that research shows that there is no significant difference between eating a normal energy bar and eating a pastry.

If it's a choice between the bar or the packet of chips, of course the energy bar is the better choice, but only due to the fact that it may contain a few vitamins and minerals.

Does that mean that they are just a big marketing scam?

Well, yes, and no.

When the marketers realized that they could market energy to the harassed housewife, and to the over-worked middle manager, they of course, knew they were on a winner. Having said that, the bars themselves can be useful, in some situations.

For highly active individuals who do daily exercise and for periods of longer than an hour, the high carb bars can be useful as an extra energy source. The protein bars are designed more for the bodybuilder and are marketed to be a complete muscle food.

Some of the bars however contain a significant proportion of fat, which can also be saturated or contain trans fatty acids.

These Bars Are Best Used In Conjunction With Exercise Not As A Pick-Me-Up

The average joe uses a bar for either a pick-me-up or to enhance their exercise; to get as much as possible from their workout, to burn as many calories and fat as possible and to increase the time that they can spend exercising before exhaustion.

Certainly eating any energy bar without then following it with exercise will result in excess calories that have not been burnt. So using a bar like this, is counter-productive and if you want to lose weight. It will just cause your body to store the excess energy as fat.

What About A Homemade Bars ?

Home made bars can be a better alternative, as they are often cheaper and because they are made from whole foods, may provide more variety in vitamins and minerals. The downside to the home made versions is that they require time. That, sadly is something we too often have a lack of.

Whether you go for the commercial variety or a home made version, they are best used in conjunction with exercise.

Source:

[1] Center For Science In the Public Interest Energy Bars Flunk Bar Exam

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