Think About It - Clif Bars®

Happy 2018 from Nutripol! This week’s Think About It has been one of the most requested articles, presumably because Clif Bars® are a go-to snack (or meal, depending on whether it’s finals season or not) for almost everybody I know. They’re sold all over the world and have a pretty remarkable range of flavors, but what’s their nutritional value?

Clif Bar & Company ® prides itself on using high quality, organic ingredients as the basis for their products, and a quick peek at their Nutrition Facts Labels confirms this. The first two ingredients in every Clif Bar® are organic brown rice syrup and organic rolled oats, which combine to give the signature taste and texture of these snacks. Since the main components of Clif Bars® are sources of carbohydrates, it follows that the bar itself would be relatively high in this macronutrient, with 45 grams (or 16% of the FDA’s daily recommended value) in each. 

As a brief aside -- I use the DRV’s from the FDA because they provide a nice baseline reference point for deciding which foods are worth putting in your body, and which can do more harm than good. However, if you’ve been with me for a while then you’re probably aware of my qualms with the DRV’s from the FDA because I believe that their recommendations are dramatically misaligned for women, especially those of us who are athletic. So, take the national guidelines with a grain of salt -- everybody is different, and your own intuition can be the most powerful indicator of true health & wellbeing! 

However, the fact that organic brown rice syrup is the most prominent ingredient means that the sugar content of these bars is significant -- 21 grams (or almost 50% of the FDA’s daily recommended value). That’s the same amount of sugar as a Kit Kat® bar. Obviously, this isn’t ideal from a nutritional standpoint. Thankfully, Clif Bars® have 9 grams of protein (18% of the FDA’s daily recommended value), which helps the body combat the hunger spike associated with sugar-dense foods.  

These snacks also have a fairly low fat content that’s on par with most other energy bars, at 5 grams (or 6% of the FDA’s value) each. My favorite flavor is chocolate chip, so I’ve been using it as a reference point for the purpose of this article. However, if you choose one that incorporates peanuts, coconut, macadamia nuts, or other foods with a higher percentage of lipids, this can increase the overall fat content to 7 grams. Nuts will also add a small protein boost, with the Crunchy Peanut Butter flavor topping off at 11 grams each. 

How to Think About It:

• It’s not a meal...
  • Some dietary research suggests that consuming snacks as a segway between meals can decrease the risk of becoming overweight or obese, and can also help top off reserves of important vitamins and minerals. With each bar averaging around 250 calories, or roughly 13% of the FDA’s daily recommended value, these can be a useful way to gain an energy boost before a tough workout or during those late night study sessions (especially the Cool Mint Chocolate flavor, which has added caffeine). However, this is generally not enough calories to constitute a proper meal -- try your best to get a decent breakfast, lunch, and dinner in during your day to stay on top of things (and maybe you won’t even need that caffeine boost!).
• ...but it’s better than a lot of other options:
  • Clif Bars® do have a lot of sugar, as is clear from my Kit Kat® analogy above. However, I do think that it’s important to avoid getting bogged down in Nutrition Facts all of the time (I have a real tendency to do this), and at the end of the day, there are a lot of other snack options that are significantly worse than a Clif Bar®. They’re made from high quality ingredients, they’re calorically dense enough to keep you full for an hour or two, and they’re easily accessible for busy students or working professionals. I’ll always prefer a nice meal over a snack, but when life gets hectic or time is a luxury, these will do the trick!

Disclaimer: I am not a licensed nutritionist nor a registered dietician. The opinions expressed in this article are my own, and each individual is ultimately responsible for his/her dietary and nutrition practices. Please consult a physician before starting a new dietary program.​​ 

Image credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeepersmedia/19005021195