Power Bars: Advantages & Disadvantages

PowerBars are snack bars that are specially formulated to provide nutritional benefits for athletes. PowerBars come in several flavors and may help improve your athletic performance if used as part of a healthy diet. Depending on your goals, PowerBars may not be the best choice, so assess the nutrition facts carefully and consult a medical professional before consuming supplements of any kind.

Improved Endurance

Although PowerBars are relatively low in calories, with just 230 per bar, they may help improve your endurance performance. This is because PowerBars are rich in carbohydrates. PowerBars are composed of a mix of glucose and fructose, two forms of sugar that may aid your performance when combined. According to research from the February 2008 issue of "Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise," consuming a combination of glucose and fructose produced an 8 percent improvement in endurance exercise compared with consuming glucose alone.

Improved Muscle Recovery

Because carbohydrates are your body's primary source of energy, many sports nutrition products, particularly those for endurance events, contain only carbohydrates. However, each PowerBar contains 9 g of protein. According to research from the April 2009 issue of the "Journal of Applied Physiology," combining protein and carbohydrates after exercise can stimulate protein synthesis and reduced muscle protein breakdown. These factors can help your muscles recover and grow.

High Sugar Content

Although sugar can provide you with a quick burst of energy for athletic events, it can also be detrimental to your dental health. As the American Dental Association, or ADA, explains, the bacteria in dental plaque produce acid when they come into contact with sugar. The ADA notes that the acid attacks your teeth for 20 minutes or more every time it is produced.

Low-Calorie Content

While low-calorie foods can be helpful for those on a diet, higher calorie foods are preferable if you regularly engage in athletic activity. According to MayoClinic.com, the calorie content of a PowerBar is insufficient to fuel an hour of many different types of exercise. For example, low-impact aerobic sessions burn 365 calories per hour, basketball burns 584 and rollerblading burns 911 calories per hour.