CHOOSING GRANOLA BARS

Granola is very popular today but there is so much difference in the different kinds and/or brands.  Granola bars have become very popular in our "grab and go" society.  That is not necessarily a bad thing but not necessarily a good one either!  Learn to read the labels and know what you should be looking for when you do!

Being a diabetic, I always look for two things, sugar grams and fiber grams (which usually come from whole grains such as oats).  These are things you should check out, too, whether or not you are diabetic.

Pictured below are some of the most popular granola bars.  You can see the differences just in these three.  Whatever brand or type you use, read the labels and be sure you aren't loading your body down with excess sugar and/or "couch potato"* calories.

Never choose a granola bar with more than 200 calories (unless told by your doctor to do so for health reasons).  In the above bars, there are 140 calories in the NV Trail Mix Bar and the Kashi TLC bar.  The NV Oats 'N Honey bar has 190 calories.  So, all three are good in the calorie department but there is a 50-calorie difference.

Sugar can be concealed with some tricky names such as brown rice syrup, organic evaporated cane juice, etc.  We hear constantly that we should eat brown rice and the word "organic" is constantly thrown at us, so those tricky ad people know how to package sugar under a healthy banner. Remember to check the nutritional numbers where you will get the total sugar grams number.  Again, there is a wide difference in the sugar grams of the three healthy bars above.  The Trail Mix Bar has 14 grams sugar, the Kashi bar comes in lowest in sugar with 6 grams.  The Oats 'N Honey bars comes in with 12 grams sugar.

Fiber is important for two reasons.  Fiber makes you feel full longer and it is essential for keeping toxins removed from the body.  Again, all three of the bars differ in fiber grams.  The Trail Mix bar has 1 gram of fiber, the Kashi bar has 4 grams of fiber, and the Oats 'N Honey bar has 2 grams of fiber.

As I continually repeat on this blog, read the labels and know what you should be looking for.  When purchasing granola bars, make sure the first ingredient listed is a whole grain; oats is a good example.

I have a great homemade granola recipe on my blog at http://diabeticenjoyingfood.blogspot.com  You can use it to make your own homemade granola bars if you are really industrious!