Setting the Bar

There are so many nutrition bars out there how to select the perfect one? Well guess what? There may not be one perfect bar, but many come very close. Here are a few reason that you might want to incorporate bars into your diet, bars can be helpful if you need extra calories (long term or short term), but don't want to/find it hard to get used to eating large quantities; a pre or post workout boost to get you through the workout without stopping at McD's on the way home to have a proper meal; or as a fun, fairly healthy snack in the afternoon.


I have always found bars confusing, so here is what the nu-train nutrition team says:

Ideally, bars should have a

-6:1 sugar to fiber ratio

-less than 5 grams of fat or less

-3 grams of fiber or more

-7 or more grams of protein

-200 cals or less

-no hydrogenated oils

(Note your needs may be different depending on your goals or if you are training for an endurance event.)

-Healthy pluses, real fruit, nuts and seeds

What bars make the cut?

-Gnu bars (These might have too much fiber for long distance running, but not me.)
-Lara bars (they do get knocked down for their sugar content, but I disagree with this because the fruit is unsulphered, natural fruit, not gross corn syrups, refined sugars and uber-processed crap sweeteners)
-TLC Chewy bars
-Clif Bars--check label
-GoLean Crunchy Bars and some Go Lean Rolls.
-Luna Bars

There are more, just check labels.

I would also add Think Organic bars and some of the Clif Nectars bars.

Here is a good article about a bar review quest. I ate a Pie has several bar reviews.

In my personal opinion, ingredients that your body can break down are more important than the calories and fat. I don't want my cells clogged with shellec, questionable added fibers and high fructose corn syrup to save 40 calories, especially if I can by utilizing the natural energy of dried fruits, which easily enter and exit the body.

So if the ingredient list is miles long, take time to consider how you feel about putting those types of substances in your body.

Or make your own

I haven't been able to get my spell check to work for months. It's driving me crazy, so I apologize for errors!