Raising the bar, Part 1
In my freshman year public speaking course, we were asked to pick an object that symbolized our character. Being incredibly naïve and innocent, I made the fateful decision of bringing in a banana. “I’m healthy, long and bright!” I chirped to the class. “I bruise easily but travel well – just throw me in a bag and I can go pretty much everywhere!” It wasn’t until I started slowly stripping my Chiquita, describing how, “Like a banana, you never know what you’re going to get until you unpeel all my layers” that I realized every guy in that class was staring at me, glassy-eyed and slack-jawed. The girls were shooting daggers into my skull.
My point in all of this? None really, except for the parts about being healthy and traveling well. (Here comes the transition…)
When it comes to energy bars, nutrition and portability are absolutely key. They shouldn’t be coated in so much chocolate and peanut butter that they’re Snickers doppelgangers. They shouldn’t melt easily. The should fill you up and give you some pre-workout energy - or at least get you through a two-hour plane ride - but they can’t be so heavy that you want to hunker down and take a nap before the treadmill even reads, “ON.”
To help you sort through the mass proffering, I assembled a highly scientific panel of four girlfriends, all women who live in my condo. We sat crosslegged on our rooftop and slogged through bar after bar. Three of my neighbors had newborn babies; one recently had gum surgery. One was leaving for a 2-week work trip the next morning. One hated peanut butter. And yet – they put their personal lives for YOU, Weighting Game readers. And they brought good insight: One is in fitness marketing; another, a doctor. And of course, these are women who care about taste and nutrition.
So we ate and ate. And ate. (Note to readers: Nutrition bars can make you thirsty, so don’t be dopey like I was and walk up five flights with no water and then proceed to chow down 13 fiber-rich cakes.)
Learn from us:
The Bar: Kashi GOLEAN Roll! bars
The Hook: Designed for an “Optimized Glycemic Response”
The Price: $1.99-2.19 per bar
If you like chewy, nougat-ey, crunchy bars that taste sinful but are actually good for you, try these. Kashi GOLEAN Roll! bars are made with slow release carbohydrates to help balance your blood sugar, so you don’t crash mid-crunch. Try the Caramel Peanut Roll! flavor (chewy PB center smothered in caramel and rolled in peanuts, crunchy soy crisps and whole grains) – it literally tastes as delish as a candy bar with 190 calories, five grams of fat and six grams of fiber (more than a quarter of your DV.) Twelve grams of protein, to boot. It also comes in a Fudge Sundae Roll! flavor and Oatmeal Walnut Roll! flavor. They’re made without artificial ingredients such as high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oils. I may need to beg the company for more. *Please note all exclamation marks in this paragraph belong to the company, not me.
Learn more at: www.kashi.com Also available at Whole Foods and grocery stores nationwide.
The Bar: Attune Probiotic Wellness bar
The Hook: Packed with probiotics – friendly bacteria which promote a strong, healthy immune system, keep your digestive system running smoothly and help keep girly troubles at bay.
The Price: $1.69 for the Yogurt & Granola Wellness Bars
Attune bars come in two varieties and six flavors: Attune Chocolate Wellness Bars, which are 100-calories and come in Chocolate Crisp, Cool Mint Chocolate and Blueberry Vanilla, and Attune Yogurt & Granola Wellness Bars, which are 180 calories and come in Wild Berry, Strawberry Bliss and Lemon Crème. All contain more than five times the beneficial probiotics found in yogurt – 10 billion probiotics per bar (please don’t ask me for a recount.) They can be refrigerated but it’s not necessary.
We tried the Strawberry Bliss Yogurt & Granola Wellness Bars and the panel raved. One friend said, “This is unlike any bar I’ve ever tasted!” It was fruity and cool, and words like “clean,” “light,” and “refreshing” were tossed around. Calories: 180. Fat: Seven grams. Protein: Five grams. So the benefit here is really the probiotics. And how much do I love their tagline, “It’s like yoga for your insides”?!
Learn more at: www.attunefoods.com Also available at select grocery and natural foods retailers throughout the U.S. in the dairy/yogurt aisle.
The Bar: Ecco Bella health by chocolate Beautiful Bones chocolate bar
The Hook: Calcium fortified chocolate!
The Price: $3.69 per bar
All of Ecco Bella's 'health by chocolate' products are made with organic cocoa and cocoa butter, a healthy fat that does not raise cholesterol levels. To that, powerful antioxidants, herbs, vitamins and minerals are added. The result is a premium, good-for-you (yes!) chocolate bar.
We nibbled on The Beautiful Bones Bar, a blend of calcium, Vitamins C, D, and K and the perfect smidge of orange essence (though you do need to like the orange-chocolate combo for this one. Luckily, most of us are fans.) There are a number of organic components: Cocoa liquor, raw cane sugar, cocoa butter, and dehydrated cane juice. Other interesting ingredients not found in your everyday chocolate bar: Mineralized seaweed (a natural source of calcium), orange oil, Vitamins D2, D3, K.
Just two squares of this dark choco have 45% of your DV calcium – that’s more than a cup of milk! Ninety calories and seven grams of fat. My suggestion: freeze it and snap off a square or two at night for a healthy, decadent chocolate fix that will be especially pleasing in the hot summer months.
Learn more at: www.eccobella.com Also available at natural products retailers nationwide.
The Bar: LUNA Tea Cakes
The Hook: Made with antioxidant-rich Republic of Tea
The Price: $1.49 per bar
Tea is hot (Heh heh. Heh.) Everywhere you look, “Drink tea to prevent cancer!” “Tea for gum health!” Well, thanks to our friends at LUNA, you can now EAT your tea with their cool tea cakes. If you’ve had one too many Nutz Over Chocolate LUNA Bars, try one of these square, organic-icing-topped snacks. The Orange Blossom flavor, made with white tea, is advertised as being beneficial for healthy skin; Pomegranate Berry is for longevity (thanks to green tea); and Vanilla Macadamia, with red tea, for mood balance. Calorie counts range from 130 to 150; fat from 1.5 to four grams. Not a ton of protein (two grams) but lots of vitamins, 95% USDA organic, good source of Omega 3 fatty acids, and trans fat free. Our fave: The berry. So delicious and who doesn’t love LUNA?! (Personally, Lemon Zest is my beloved: The icing is what makes it so decadent, I think!)
Learn more at: www.lunabar.com Also available at retail stores nationwide.
The Bar: SOYJOY
The Hook: The only all-natural, baked nutrition bar made with whole soy and real fruit
The Price: $1.29 per bar
These prettily packaged puppies pack eight grams of whole soy per bar, in flavors like apple, Goji berry, mango coconut and raisin almond. Celiacs, rejoice! They’re gluten-free. No trans fats, either. Of note to diabetics: SOYJOY fits into a diabetic meal plan - Each bar is equivalent to 1 carbohydrate exchange, ½ protein exchange and 1 fat exchange based on the American Diabetes Association and American Dietetic Association Exchange Lists for Meal Planning. They’re a bit smaller than some of the other bars, which you may like if you just want a quick, light boost.
We tried the Goji flavor, even though some of us had been previously scarred by experiences with this berry. It actually tasted better than we remembered, but what stands out is the very healthy bran taste of this bar. It’s crunchy and definitely doesn’t taste as candy-ish as some of the others, which is good if you’re a soy aficionado (I gave one to my vegan barista at Starbucks and she flipped for it!)
Learn more at: www.SOYJOY.com Also available at retail stores nationwide.
More to come tomorrow!!!
xo,
A very stuffed Leslie
Comments
The lemon zest Luna bar is my favorite and I often have that as a treat late at night as the icing makes it seem like candy :) Thanks for all the comments and tips!
The nice thing about the Kashi bars is that they're pretty indestructible. They hold up well in the summer heat and don't get smooshed after being in your purse all week.
soy joy bars aren't vegan. but luna bars are!
um..oops?! All I know is the conversation leading up to my giving the bars to her went soemthing like this:
Me: Wow, I have sooo many nutrition bars at home, I don't know what to do with them all.
Her: Ooh, do you have any SOYJOY bars? I love those!
Me: I think I have a few extras. I'll bring them by.
Her: Thanks! Can I get you a free venti Mocha-whosawhatsits? (OK, not that part). But she did ask for them, so I just have to out that out there. I don't wanna be wholly responsible for taking down a vegan!
PS thanks for the tip on Luna, amanda!
i recently learned i have a soy allergy - to everything soy - direct and byproducts. i need to lose some weight and not being able to eat soy has really become a problem for me. i know the obvious answer is to eat animal protein and weigh and measure it for serving - but i was hoping someone would have a better suggestion. this food is so boring and if i have it in portions i'll eat the leftovers. help!
I, too, have been exploring this issue in depth. My name is Trisha Gura and I am author of âLying in Weight: the Hidden Epidemic of Eating Disorders in Adult Womenâ (Harper Collins, May 2007). The outcome studies I have read say that nearly 2/3 of individuals with eating disorders do not fully recover. The illness, or some remnant of it, remains, triggered by stresses and huge life transitions, i.e. marriage, pregnancy, parenting, mid and late life. I followed these phases through the book and the way that eating disorders emerge. The oldest woman in the book was 92. No, these are not teenage diseases.
Trisha Gura
www.trishagura.com
trisha@trishagura.com
oh, 92? that just makes me want to cry...
