# Energy bars with very low or no sugar. Or at least, no added refined sugar?



## morkys (Jul 27, 2005)

I am going to look at making my own Energy bars probably similar to what I saw someone on here post. Oats, dates, banana chips etc. Liking options, I wondered if anybody knew of a readily available energy bar which does not contain extra sugar or which is low in sugar. I have some fat I need to get rid of.

I used to eat cliff bars and they do give you energy when riding hard for long distance, but, I am overweight and want to burn fat so I want something which has as little sugar as possible, or at the very least, has no added refined sugar. I will research the interwebs and see what I come up with.

Any ideas?


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## Carve It Up (Jun 24, 2014)

I often get Larabar-Chocolate Coconut Chew or the Cherry Pie, as they have no added refined sugar. They still have 22-23 grams of sugar, mostly from dates, coconut, and cherries though. Taste pretty good to me with less of the processed junk.

LÄRABAR | Our Products


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## morkys (Jul 27, 2005)

Carve It Up said:


> I often get Larabar-Chocolate Coconut Chew or the Cherry Pie, as they have no added refined sugar. They still have 22-23 grams of sugar, mostly from dates, coconut, and cherries though. Taste pretty good to me with less of the processed junk.
> 
> LÄRABAR | Our Products


Cliff bars have 22 g of sugar. I am trying to really reduce the amount of sugar I consume right now, at least until I get my fat weight down. I will check out some Larabars.

Here are some bars with lower sugar which I found recently:

The Best Nutrition Bars for Weight Loss | Eat This Not That


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## HEWSINATOR (Oct 9, 2006)

Generation Ucan


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## mfa81 (Apr 1, 2011)

kind and luna bars have around 5 to 10g or sugar, kind more like 5g while luna is 8g or so on average


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## WillTheGreat (Aug 26, 2010)

If you'd like to make your own bars, this recipe works well for cycling since it holds together well, has high carbs, and low fat. The bars are pretty dry so they keep for a while. You can use any dried fruit and nut combo, I usually do raisins/walnuts/cinnamon. Chopping the nuts/fruit helps the bar hold together. If you find the bars aren't sweet enough, you can add sugar (or other sweetener) to the recipe.


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## manodpickr (Jan 4, 2018)

I use Power Crunch Energy bar, which has only 10 grams of carbs, and 5 grams of sugar. It is the only bar I found that was that low for carbs and sugar.


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## HerrKaLeu (Aug 18, 2017)

I think dried fruits are the only natural thing that will last a while. Anything else will be artificial, or needs to be processed to last. 

sugar = energy. so any energy bar giving a lot of energy will be high in simple sugar (which is easily digested and readily available for you - which is the whole point of an energy bar).

I usually take apples, some banana with me (I mean normal ones, not dried). Raisins and other dried food on very long rides. Advantage of fruit is it also gives you lot of minerals, fiber and vitamins your body needs. Maybe not 100% good at the TdF, but for normal riders enough energy. 

What you propose is similar, except you need some coagulant to keep it all together. That coagulant probably contains sugar or something else you don't really want. So why not just take the dried fruits? You also don't want to eat things that require lots of water for digestion (like meat would). 

On rides less than 30 miles I don't take any food. Your liver stores 2,000 kcal of glucose.... you won't need that much on 30 miles unless you really race.


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## dave54 (Jul 1, 2003)

The only way to get quick energy without carbs is by adding MCTs to the recipe, and MCTs are more than double the calories of sugar for the same weight. Adding MCTs will also change the way the bar stores and tastes. So I am not sure there is any advantage.


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## CBaron (May 7, 2004)

I've been doing the LCHF Keto type diet for a few weeks now. I recently ran across the Primal Kitchen bar by Mark Sisson's company. The lowest carb-sugar flavor is the Macadamia Sea Salt version with 3 grams of sugar and 4 grams net carbs. Its plenty tasty too.

I've found a few other bars that fit these parameters too. But the ingredients in those bars were now where near the quality of the Primal Kitchen bars. Most of those have noticeable amounts of sugar alcohols and other undesirables.

Later,
CJB


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## OLDGHOST (Jul 7, 2017)

https://www.hammernutrition.com/products/food-bars/


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## NH Mtbiker (Nov 6, 2004)

Here are my own version and similar to the PB-Oats bars listed elsewhere, but with more measurements to go by:

ENERGY BARS

Ingredients:

12 oz. Natural chunky peanut butter (2/3 jar)
8 oz. Honey
3 cups Quick Oats
1 cup raisins or dried fruit
3/4 cup walnuts or almonds
1 tbsp. Cinnamon
2 tbsp. Flaxseed or chia seeds

Other additions if handy:
1/3 to 2/3 cup chocolate protein powder
Coconut flakes, craisins, or any dried fruit
¼ cup wheat bran, flax seeds

Preparation:

1. In a large mixing bowl, stir together all dry ingredients

2. In the microwave, heat peanut butter (in jar) and honey measured in pyrex for 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 minutes. Mix both ingredients together in a small bowl after heated.

3. Pour the peanut butter & honey mixture into dry ingredients and stir until completely combined. May need to use hands and press together into a doughy ball. Mixture should be slightly sticky and not too dry. Spread uniformly and press mixture into a 9 x 9 inch pan. Slice into 2 inch pieces and refrigerate to make firm.

These delicious and highly nutritious energy bars can now be kept refrigerated or stored in ziplock or plastic containers.

Make em and Enjoy! :thumbsup:


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