Energy Bars And Sugar: Are They As Sweet As Candy?

When you?re feeling hungry at the end of the day, it?s easy to unwrap an energy bar. These bars have been formulated to provide a combination of fiber and protein to keep you energized and full. While the snacks are convenient and especially helpful if you?re hungry before the gym, they can often conceal a major dose of sugar, causing them to be more unhealthy than you'd expect.

In fact, some bars are as sweet as a candy bar, providing nearly a day's worth of sugar based on nutritional guidelines. The American Heart Association recommends that women should not eat or drink more than 20 grams of sugar a day, and men no more than 36 grams. A man can get half that sugar from a Balance Bar, which has 18 grams, while a woman can get a full day's dose with a Lara Bar, which can clock in at 20 grams. That's about the same amount as chocolate bars and candy like Take Five, Hershey's or Twizzlers -- the sort of snack most nutritionally-minded people wouldn't eat regularly.

It's important to note that there are other healthful elements to these bars -- things like fiber, protein and even all-natural, whole ingredients. Since excess sugar can cause numerous health problems, we've compared the sugar content of the several popular energy bars to that of common candy bars.

• Balance Bar vs. Take Five

  Sure, there?s 14 grams of protein in the <a href="http://www.thehersheycompany.com/brands/take-5/candy-bar.aspx">Chocolate Craze Balance Bar</a>, but there?s also 18 grams of sugar. That?s the same amount of sugar that you'd find in a <a href="http://www.thehersheycompany.com/brands/take-5/candy-bar.aspx">Hershey?s Take Five Bar</a>!

• Luna Bar vs. Ghiradelli Dark Chocolate

  A <a href="http://www.clifbar.com/food/products_luna_bar/">Lemon Zest Luna Bar</a> is relatively low in sugar content at 13 grams, but you could still have an entire package <a href="http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-ghirardelli-chocolate-dark-60-percent-i144301">Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate Squares</a> for only 10 grams of sugar.

• Cliff Bar vs. Hershey's Milk Chocolate With Almonds

  The <a href="http://www.clifbar.com/food/products_clif_bar/">Spiced Pumpkin Pie Cliff Bar</a> contains more sugar at 25 grams than a <a href="http://www.hersheys.com/pure-products/details.aspx?id=2746&name=HERSHEYS+Milk+Chocolate+with+Almonds+Bar">Hershey?s Milk Chocolate Bar With Almonds</a> (19 grams).

• Balance Bar vs. Twizzlers

  While the <a href="http://www.balance.com/nutrition/">Yogurt Honey Peanut Balance Bar </a> has 15 grams of protein and 100 percent of your daily vitamin C, it also has 18 grams of sugar, which is the exact same amount in a <a href="http://www.hersheys.com/twizzlers/products/twizzlers-pull-n-peel/cherry.aspx">Twizzlers Cherry Pull?N?Peel</a>.

• Luna Bar vs. Reese's Peanut Butter Cup

  Luna Bars are relatively low in sugar content for their size. However, the <a href="http://www.clifbar.com/food/products_luna_bar/">Iced Oatmeal Raisin Bar</a> is still pretty sweet with 13 grams of sugar. Similarly, you could have one <a href="http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/calories/reeses-peanut-butter-cup-snack-size-56216671">Reese?s Peanut Butter</a> cup for only 11 grams

• Lara Bar vs. Almond Joy

  Sure, Lara Bars are sweetened with dates, but they?re still very, very sweet. The <a href="http://www.larabar.com/products/key-lime-pie#nutritional">Key Lime Pie Lara Bar</a> has 24 grams of sugar, which is four more grams than the sugar in one <a href="https://www.thehersheycompany.com/brands/almond-joy-bars/standard.aspx">Almond Joy</a>.

• Met RX Bar vs. Peanut Butter M&Ms

  The <a href="http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/calories/met-rx-big-100-meal-replacement-bar-crispy-apple-pie-55641937">Met RX Big 100 Meal Replacement Bar Crispy Apple Pie</a> is intended to substitute an actual meal, and its caloric content reflects this. At 400 calories, this bar is only necessary when you are forced to to skip lunch -- but with its sugar content at 29 grams, it might be better to choose something else altogether. A bag of <a href="http://www.mms.com/us/about/products/peanutbuttermms/">Peanut Butter M&Ms</a> has 22 grams, by comparison.

• Cliff Bar vs. Kit Kat

  The <a href="http://www.clifbar.com/food/products_clif_bar/">Apricot Cliff Bar</a> is low in fat at 3.5 grams, with 20 percent of daily fiber. But it also has a whopping 24 grams of sugar, meaning that you could consume fewer grams in a <a href="http://www.hersheys.com/kitkat/products/kit-kat-milk-chocolate.aspx">Kit Kat Milk Chocolate Bar</a>!

• Lara Bar vs. Jelly Beans

  Even though a Lara Bar looks relatively small in size, it packs a punch of sugar into one tiny package. With 24 grams of sugar in the <a href="http://www.larabar.com/products/carrot-cake#nutritional">Carrot Cake Lara Bar</a> you could get the same amount of sugar in a large pack of <a href="http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-candies-jellybeans-i19108?size_grams=28.0">Jelly Beans</a>.

• Met RX Bar vs. Heath Bar Toffee

  If you?re prepping for a workout then the protein-loaded Met-Rx Big 100 Colossal Protein Bar could look appealing. But all that protein comes with a ton of sugar too. <a href="http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/calories/met-rx-big-100-colossal-protein-bar-peanut-butter-caramel-crunch-19895249">The Peanut Butter Caramel Crunch RX Bar</a> has the exact same amount of sugar as it does protein: 31 grams. A <a href="http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-hersheys-toffee-bar-i19136">Hershey?s Heath Bar Toffee</a>, by comparison, has much less sugar.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/23/energy-bars-sugar_n_2529334.html

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