Fats, or lipids, the chemical name for fat, are the most concentrated source of energy in the diet. When oxidized or metabolized, carbohydrates and proteins have 4 calories per gram, while fats have 9 calories per gram. In addition to supplying energy and providing valuable nutrients, fats act as carriers for fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K, so removing fats from foods, removes these vitamins. A quality nutrition bar provides a balance of all three nutrients including fats, carbohydrates and protein. Fat also provides taste and texture.
Low-Fat Nutrition Bars
Low-fat nutrition bars contain 0 to 3 g of total fat. However, these bars tend to have a higher carbohydrate count. This list includes ViActive Energy Fruit Crispy, Met-Rx Natural Krunch, Nutra Fig Cheetah and PowerBar Performance, each with 2 g total fat. Premier Elite, GeniSoy Nature, Ensure and GeniSoy Protein each have 3 g total fat. Each bar has between 18 and 21 g of total carbohydrates each.
Moderate Fat Nutrition Bars
A moderate amount of fat falls between 4 g and 6 g fat per bar. ProZone Cashew has 5 g of total fat, You Are What You Eat, Clif, Boulder, PowerBar Harvest, Tiger's Milk and PowerBar Essentials all have 4 g of total fat each. Nutra-Fig and PowerBar Performance, each have 2 g of total fat. All of these bars have less than 240 calories and less than 6 g of fiber each. The carbohydrate count for these bars, range from 22 g for the Tiger's Milk bar to a whopping 45 g for the PowerBar Harvest and the PowerBar Performance bars. The protein in these bars range from 5 to 10 g each.
High Fat Nutrition Bars
Nutrition bars containing 7 g total fat or more include several supplement and high protein bars. These bars include TwinLab Ironman, Balance Gold, Biochem Ultimate LoCarb, EAS Myoplex and EAS Simply Protein, each with 7 g of total fat. Protein Revolution, Met-Rx Protein Plus and Premier Protein bars each has 8 g of fat. Think! Protein has 9 g fat, 6 g of protein and 32 g carbohydrates.
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