Ashley’s answer: Bars were developed because we wanted—then came to rely on—being able to get nutrition quickly. Somewhere along the line, making a bowl of cereal with milk, or a sandwich, or some trail mix for an on-the-go snack, became too time consuming for many of us. Enter the bar. To be clear, what is “expensive” is paying for someone else to take their time to prepare something, to use better quality ingredients, to keep them shelf stable without gross fillers, and to have them in crowd-pleasing flavors. You’re really paying for someone else to make your snack or meal (which is your choice and sometimes a necessity), and you are paying more for better quality ingredients (as you should for optimal health). And yes, that can get expensive if we do it all the time. We do have recipes for energy bars—there’s a great one right here—but consider also that a bar should contain the same nutrition as an organic apple and celery and some nut butter; a handful of mixed nuts, seeds, chopped veggies and a couple of dates; or a salad bowl of greens with chopped nuts, seeds, vegetables, and some berries. To get the right nutrition in a bar (and no, they aren’t all created equal) you need to get the right nutrition for an eating occasion, which consists of roughly 1-2 servings each of carbohydrates, proteins, fats, and non-starchy vegetables. To make these selections super easy, see my nutrition plan.
Chewing over a food quandary? Send it to AskAshley@Prevention.com Ashley Koff is a registered dietitian, Qualitarian, nutrition expert, and
