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[pct-l] Energy Bars or Candy Bars?




Has anyone tried Bear Valley bars?  Chris Townsend recommends them in his
Advanced Backpacking book.  I think they are much better than Power Bars
and Clif Bars (which I can't stand).  I wouldn't call them good but they
are much better than the alternatives.  Plus they contain all essential
amino acids and they seem more like "real" food.  Perfect for people with
high metabolisms (I think they contain over 400 calories).

Steve

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On Wed, 9 Jul 2003 wandering_bob@msn.com wrote:

> In preparation for my trek, I decided to try the new Balance Gold (TM) energy bars in place of my old standard, king size Payday (TM) candy bars. I must admit, I saw the smaller, lighter, bars and fell for the 40/30/30% of calories ad copy. Besides, the names are great - S'mores, Chocolate Mint, etc. Gotta be better than even my older friend, Tiger's Milk (TM) bars, right? WRONG!
>
> The Payday bar is twice the weight of a Balance Gold bar, so I've also tabulated the nutritional content for 2 BG's for comparison (because nobody can eat just half a Payday). These figures are taken or calculated from the nutritional labeling panels on the respective bars.
>
> BalancePaydayBalance
> GoldCandyGold x 2
> Gross weight (oz)1.93.53.8
> Bar weight (grams)5096100
> Bar cost $$1.35$0.95$2.70
>
> Calories210480420
> Calories from fat60120120
> Total fat (grams)72614
> Saturated fat (gm)448
> Carbohydrate (gm)235046
> Protein (gm)151230
> Sodium (mg)160340320
> Potassium (mg)100na200
> % calories from carb434243
> % calories from fat304930
> % calories from protein281028
>
> By my reckoning, I get more go-power (and taste) out of a Payday, and for a LOT less money. Since there is no chocolate coating on Paydays, they "survive" better in my pack when it's hot. Rounding off accordingly, the percents of calories by source are 40-30-30 for Balance Gold vs. 40-50-10 for Payday. I'll make up the protein difference in my regular meals.
>
> Wandering Bob
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