If you've been following us for awhile, either here or over on Ladies Holiday, then you know how much Deirdre and I appreciate a good snack bar (which you can read about here and here, oh yeah...and here.) There are a few criteria I look for in a good snack/nutrition bar, I prefer organic whole food ingredients, and I prefer it to be low in sugar...though I've found that last criteria to be hard to come by. Many of these bars seem to be high in sugar, which has left me scratching my head. If these are supposed to be nutritional (some of them even boasting themselves as meal replacements) then why so many grams of sugar?
I started reading my labels even more closely and asking the question "Well exactly what kind of sugar is it? Where does it come from?" because that actually matters. If it's high fructose corn syrup then I drop that snack bar like a hot potato, but if it's something like Brown Rice Syrup then I tend to be OK with it, because Brown Rice Syrup has a lower glycemic index than say, simple sugars like white refined sugar, and therefore is processed more slowly in the body and doesn't contribute to the common sugar high-crash cycle (great info on the benefits of brown rice syrups can be found here.) I also consider the amount of dried fruit in the bar (which there is usually a lot of if you are eating a raw bar) because natural sugars are part of the package when you're talking dried fruit, that's just the way it goes. Finally I remind myself that there can be benefits to sugar, especially if it is a healthier version of the sweet stuff. I often use these bars as an on-the-go snack to hold me over until my next meal, rather than a meal replacement, this keeps my blood sugar from plummeting, which in my experience can be a very ugly thing (shakes, headaches, irritability and exhaustion.)
While I usually opt for more protein packed bars with less of a sweet flavor--like Luna's Peanut Butter Cookie, or Cliff's Peanut Butter Crunch--recently I decided to try a new Larabar that I found at Trader Joe's. My kids love the regular Larabars, which are made with raw, whole food ingredients and are gluten free. The new chunkier style of the Apple Turnover flavored Larabar in their Uber line called to me off the shelf, I had to try. Funny thing is, I had bought a variety of bars that day for on-the-go snacking and completely forgotten what flavor this one was. I grabbed it one day on my way out the door and when I hungrily tore the wrapper off, hours later while driving my car I didn't stop to read what flavor it was.
 |
| I promise I was stopped at a light when I took these pics. Don't play with your phone and drive! (Aliment, Copyright 2012) |
All I can say is...Oh my gawwwwd!! First bite and I was completely twitterpated (if you've seen the Disney classic Bambi then you know that to be twitterpated is to be in love!!) I thought to myself... "Mmmmm...this is to die for...this tastes (nom nom) just like (nom nom) an...an? An apple turnover!!!! Like EXACTLY!!" Duh, that's why they named it that. Well done, Larabar. Well done. The apple was ooey gooey (in a good way) just like turnover filling, and the nuts were munchie crunchy. YUM. If you are looking for a new snack bar, you should try this one. I'd eat it for breakfast with a cup o' Joe. Mmmmmm. Did I say that already? MMMMMMM!! I'd love to try the Uber Cherry Cobbler now, hint hint Larabar...wanna send one my way??
Nomatter what you're noshing on today...
Bon Appetit!
Tamar
*I was not compensated in any way for writing this review.
No comments:
Post a Comment