The first energy bar I ever ate tasted disgusting and I devoured it in less than a minute.
That was three summers ago in the muggy shade of some oak trees along a mountain bike trail. My legs covered with the viscous mud that forms when loose dirt mixes with sweat, I had just slumped over the handlebars of my GT when a peppy lady making excellent time pulled off the trail beside me and smiled a sweet, not at all condescending smile. In my haze of exhaustion, I failed to introduce myself formally, so I’m unable to supply the name of this angel of meal replacement, but I do remember the kind of bar she gave me before cycling off: PowerBar, chocolate.
It was mealy, tough, and only its vague aftertaste was chocolaty. It went down easily, though, and within a few minutes I did actually feel an increase of energy. I wasn’t Popeye on spinach, but I did make it the rest of the way around the trail, and since then I’ve considered myself a reluctant convert to fits-in-a-backpack, meal-on-the-go bars.
I eat about three energy bars a week, usually just before workouts, less in place of a meal than to give my body some ready fuel. Ideally I’d also be eating three to five small, balanced meals, with plenty of fresh fruits, vegetables and whole grain breads. Regretfully I fail at meeting the dietary standards set forth by the FDA food pyramid. Like most people who can afford to eat healthfully but neglect to, I blame a busy schedule. But my goal isn’t dietary perfection; it’s simply to get in good shape. And while a smoothie is better for me than a drive-thru hamburger, an energy bar fits in the side pocket of my gym bag and doesn’t melt if I only want half now and half later.
Convenience aside, I still wouldn’t eat any kind of energy bar regularly except for one I found that tastes amazing, is natural and rich in supplements. Finding it took confidence that there actually was a decent bar out there, among the dozens that can confuse a health food novice.
Most energy bars are delicious but have minimal nutritional value (contrary to what their wrappers might say). This is because we’re more likely to buy products that taste like junk food than ones that taste like they’re good for us. The trick for food companies is to design packaging that fools consumers who can’t decipher the ingredients listed on the label.
Nature Valley, makers of excellent granola bars (the unfortified forerunner of energy bars), has a line of Chewy Trail Mix Bars that are basically Rice Krispies treats. Granted they have some almond slices, sunflower seeds, dried apples and cranberries mixed in, but of the 150 calories in a single bar, 50 come from fat, mostly via corn syrup.
Corn syrup (the ubiquitous sweetener, whose parent crop the USDA infamously subsidizes) is a cheap alternative to natural sugar, hence it shows up in almost every brand of soda and candy — a major tip-off that you don’t want to find it in your health food. Yet lots of bars that boast a significant percentage of soy or whey protein (supplements that people intent on building muscle look for) contain lots of high-fructose corn syrup, which studies have shown increases your body’s storage of fat.
Snickers, the latest entrant in the race to capitalize on America’s health-food craze, now has two bars in a line called Marathon: Multi-Grain Crunch and Chewy Chocolate Peanut. Both contain nine grams of a space-age-sounding protein blend called Quadratein (soy, whey, casein and peanut protein) and 16 vitamins and minerals. Everything’s great, except that the ingredients encasing that protein powder and one-a-day vitamin still basically comprise a candy bar. The leading ingredient in the Multi-Grain Crunch is corn syrup. The leading ingredient in the Chewy Chocolate Peanut is caramel (corn syrup, sugar, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, skim milk, milkfat, lactose salt and vanillin). The only marathon you could train for on these is watching the Matrix trilogy.
The more reputable energy bar brands, PowerBar and Clif, achieve their best tasting bars by using natural and organic ingredients that pack the same good taste as processed fats. PowerBar Harvest Dipped contains whole oats, brown rice syrup, palm kernel oil, cane juice syrup and honey. Clif, in its line of 70-percent organic bars, uses such organic ingredients as roasted soybeans, rolled oats and milled flaxseed. But the healthier the bar, the worse it seems to taste. The Parrillo Protein Bar and the PowerBar ProteinPlus each contain about 20 grams of protein, three or fewer grams of sugar and a scant percentage of fat. And they taste like unflavored nougat mixed with chalk dust and aged in a medicine cabinet.
The unqualified champion of the energy bars — matching great taste with high protein, high fiber and low sugar — is Tri-O-Plex, a whole grain product by Chef Jay’s.
Each flavor (Caramel Apple, Chocolate Coconut, Smores and Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip) bar is loaded with 30 to 33 grams of soy and whey protein (approximately 65 percent of the daily value for someone on a 2,000-calorie diet). And the bars get their smooth, indulgent taste from natural sugars, oils and fats. My favorite, Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip contains fruit juice, peanut oil and peanut butter.
Goldilocks sampled a couple of bad bowls before finding the just-right porridge, and I ate lots of unhealthy and bland energy bars before finding Tri-O-Plex. And with all the sincerity of someone who laughs at product testimonials, I wholly suggest Tri-O-Plex bars to anyone who works out or likes to have a healthy meal handy.
You can reach the Tri-O-Plex distributor at 800-616-8872.
This article appears in Mar 17-23, 2004.
