Are you eating pigs feet and cattle hide...gross!

One word describes what Americans want from their diet these days: CONVENIENCE. I wish it were “Healthy,” but these days it seems convenient wins. As a new mom and a gal always on the go, trust me, I’m all about convenience, but it has to be healthy too! When it comes to the $700 million dollar industry of energy bars, I’m not on board! Those bars claim to fight fatigue, fuel muscle growth, or help you lose weight when in fact they may be doing just the opposite.

Today I’m going to help you cut through the hype and flashy packaging so you can choose the right bars. Believe me, it takes some work to find the good ones! Many bars are nothing more than protein-containing candy bars in disguise.

First the bad:

The first thing you want to be aware of is the sugar content. Many bars contain high fructose corn syrup, which quickly raises blood sugar and cancels out any of the potential benefits you might otherwise get from healthy ingredients like oats. Take Health Valley Low Fat Chocolate Chip Granola Bars, for example. The main ingredient is brown rice syrup—DON’T be fooled by the word brown rice. Brown rice syrup is sugar.

On the flip side, making it even more confusing, you also must be aware of the reduced sugar and sugar-free bars. They do have little impact on blood sugar, which is good—but not without a price.

Sugar alcohols like maltitol and sorbitol can cause uncomfortable side effects such as gas, bloating, and…well…you get the point. You also want to keep in mind that, “reduced sugar” does not necessarily mean reduced calorie—at least, not reduced enough to matter. Maltitol, for example, has 75 percent the calories of sugar, and since it’s not as sweet as the real sugar, more is added to make it sweet so the calorie count is the same.

You also really need to be aware of the sneaky wording for some pretty gross ingredients. You won’t find pig’s feet or cattle hide listed in the fine print, but that’s because they’re hidden behind names like gelatin, hydrolyzed collagen, or hydrolyzed gelatin. This can add grams to the protein count, but both collagen and gelatin lack an essential amino acid required to make them a complete protein.

Now for the good news!

There are a few good bars in there and I don’t want to scare you away from bars all together, but I do want to scare you into really looking hard at the labels, so let’s talk about what to look for.

You want to look for a bar that lists whey or casein protein—or a blend of both—as the first or second ingredient. These milk proteins contain all the essential amino acids your muscles need.

First look for labels with no more than five ingredients. The longer the list and the more unpronounceable the words are, the farther it is from real food and I’m pretty sure it’s nothing that’s going to help you get to your fat loss goals.

Look for bars that have quality protein, natural carbs from grains and fruit which will also add to the fiber content, and be sure that they are low in saturated fats. If they are high in fat be sure that it’s healthy fats from nuts or seeds. You’ll also want to be aware of the size and calorie content. A ton of calories can be packed into those bars, and that’s why it’s important to know the serving size and know you can always eat a half a bar or nibble on it throughout the day.

Here are a few of my favorite brands that made the cut!

• Lara Bar’s
• Kind Bar
• GNU Foods Bar

Another option is to make your own bars. That way you know exactly what’s in them. Here’s one of my many recipes for homemade bars:

Chewy Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Bars

• 1 cup oat flour
• 1 ½ cups whey protein powder ( Protein Freeze works great)
• ¼ cup raw organic cocoa powder
• ½ cup nonfat dry milk powder
• ¼ cup stevia blend
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 egg whites
• ¼ cup creamy peanut butter
• ¼ – 1/3 cup water

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a 9”x9” baking pan with wax paper.
2. Combine all dry ingredients in blender — Process on high speed 2 minutes. In a bowl, beat eggs, and peanut butter. Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture. With an electric mixer, slowly add the water until dough becomes a “gooey play-dough” consistency. Pour batter in lined pan, spreading, or pressing dough to an even thickness.
3. Bake for about 15 minutes. Remove from pan and allow to cool slightly. Remove wax paper and allow to cool completely. Cut into 8 bars

Calories: 250 Protein: 24g Carbs: 24 Fats: 7 g

Enjoy!

PS: If you want to see my video about this check out my youtube channel and follow me on twitter so you can get updates on new fun videos like this!