Bar breakdown

Bar Breakdown

We get a lot of people asking about food on the go, especially when they've started to live a gluten-free diet. No longer can you grab a handful of pretzels or crackers or whatever Starbucks has out...but the reality is that's a good thing. Why? Those items are not your friend in health anyways; they're usually empty calories that get broken down in your body as sugar. Know what leads to? Weight gain, inflammation, fatigue and oh so much more. 

Sometimes though you truly need a snack on the run, or a pick me up before or after a work out. That's life! There's a ton of energy/snack bars on the market, but all are not created equal. If there is one rule to follow when choosing a bar: look at the ingredients.The key is for the list to be short and ingredients you recognize. You do not want to see 6 lines listing 20+ ingredients that include non-foods like "soy protein isolate," and fancy words for sugar like "barley malt and evaporated cane juice." In some of the most popular products 2 of the first 5 ingredients are some form of sugar. This is bad. This will result in a major crash. Not exactly what you were going for.

Prescribe Nutrition's tip? Look for bars made of whole foods (nuts, seeds, fruit, oats, etc.) that have protein (aim for 10 grams - but not always possible without added 'protein isolates'), fiber and are low in sugar (aim for below 15g). Some are meal replacements (~ 400 calories)  while others are snacks (~200 calories). You can decide what you need depending on your activity level!

Some of our favorites? CORE Defender, Raw Revolution, GOMACRO MacroBar, LARABAR, Kit's Organic CLIF Bar, KIND Bar (not the choco covered ones!)

Check out the always amazing MindBodyGreen post on gluten-free bars.

Here's to never going hungry!

Megan