Choosing an Energy Bar
Energy bars have been popular for many years and are consumed by athletes and those that live an active lifestyle. An energy bar is consumed to give the person more energy to either work out, perform an active task such as jogging or hiking or perform in a game such as football or tennis. While energy bars sound like a great idea, if you are not an athlete or a person that is not that active they can contribute to unneeded amounts of sugar and calories.
What are Energy Bars made from?
While there are many energy bars on the market, most are made using complex and simple carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are sugar that can give a person energy. A complex carbohydrate can take time to break down in your system and can be useful for stamina. If you need a short spurt of energy, simple carbohydrates can be burned by your body simply, easily and in a short period of time.
While carbohydrates make up a substantial amount of an energy bar other types of nutrients can also be found in them including: protein (usually made from whey, soy or casein) and fiber. In fact, many energy bars are now adding fiber to make their energy bars more satisfying. Fiber can also help when an individual needs energy not in one short spike, but over a long period of time due to the fact that it takes a relatively long period of time for the body to breakdown carbs within fiber.
Choosing the Right Energy Bar
While energy bars are packaged to look similar to candy bars, they usually include extensive nutritional information. Definitely look at the nutritional info on the packaging to determine if a specific energy bar is right for you. Some of the more popular energy bars on the market include brands such as Power Bar, Balance Bar and Clif Bar. It should also be noted that energy bars are pretty simple to make on your own and if you don’t find an energy bar that fits your specific requirements or would like to save money then making your own energy bar is simple to do.
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Filed under Healthy Snacking.
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