Gearhead: Before you hit the trails, think twice about your snack

Today, according to Mintel, a market research firm, two-thirds of Americans consume energy bars.

That’s not surprising, since energy bars show up everywhere, from bare-bones gyms to glittering spas, from a gas station snack counter to the shelves of a high-end grocer. They’re so omnipresent - so intertwined with everyday life - that it’s surprising to learn that they’re a fairly new invention. Energy bars were created in the 1960s as a convenient and functional food for astronauts. Later, in the 1980s, they began slowly morphing into their current identity as fuelers/energizers for hikers, bikers and other athletes.

But not all energy bars provide healthy benefits to your body. The healthiest bars have few ingredients, little (if any) added sugar and tend to include nuts, seeds and/or dried fruit. They also have about 3 grams of natural fiber, 3-6 grams of protein, and between 150-200 calories.

Less healthy alternatives use added sugars such as corn syrup, fructose, fruit juice concentrate, agave or brown rice syrup, tapioca syrup, and others. Some rely on ingredients like soy isolates or rice for protein, or chicory root for fiber, and can be high in calories.

Last fall, Consumer Reports Magazine rated 33 energy bars for nutritional value. None received the magazine’s top rating of “Excellent,” but six merited a “Very Good.” After that, everything went downhill until reaching the two lowest-scoring contenders (Nature Valley’s XL Protein Chewy Bars and Balance’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Bar).

The six top-scoring energy bars, from highest to lowest score:

Pure Organic’s Wild Blueberry Fruit & Nut Bar - Score: 72; price: $2

Kind’s Plus Cranberry Almond + - Score: 65; price $1.25

Nature’s Path Organic Superfood Dark Chocolate - Score: 63; price: $1.80

Larabar’s Fruit & Nut Bar Blueberry Muffin - Score: 62; price: $1

Health Warrior’s Chia Bar Acai Berry - Score: 61; price: $1.50

Larabar’s Nut & Seed Crunchy Bar - Score: 61; price: $1.30

If you’d like to read the original article and see all 33 ratings, it’s in the October 2018 edition of Consumer Reports. Sonoma Library members can read it online for free by signing into sonomalibrary.org, clicking Research on the home page, and then executing a search under “Magazine Articles from Masterfile Complete.”