Thinkin' about buyin' Larabars

I love bars. It started back with Nature Valley bars, which I still love, but don't often buy anymore. They are a little high in sugar for me, a little low in fiber. I also eat 90 calorie Quaker bars sometimes--I usually buy them for the husband and kids, but sometimes I'll have one if that's all we've got. They're tasty. I like Fiber One bars too, because sometimes a mama just needs a butt-ton of fiber--literally. After being spurred on by a Phish song, however, I decided to jump into the world of Clif bars.

I seriously used to think that Clif bars were "too fitnessy" for me, particularly because of the dude hanging from a mountain on the package. I could never do that, so I figured I would never "deserve" a Clif bar. Well, I got over that, and they are delicious. A little high in calories for me (because as I said, I do not hang off of cliffs for a living), so I then tried the Kids version of Clif bars (the ZBar). They're also delicious, and smaller with less calories.


Then came the Luna bar, which is made specifically for women. I thought that notion was silly, and my first step after trying them was to give one to Bryan, so that I could say "That's delicious, right? Doesn't taste like it's only for women..." He agreed. We buy them all the time now. My favorites are Chocolate Peppermint Stick and Cookies 'n Cream Delight. I like the amount of calories, which is within 10 calories of 180 for all of them, I believe. I like that they have a decent amount of fiber, and not too too much sugar.

So, when an online blogger whom I love (Roni Noone) suggested Larabars, my love of bars led me straight to the Healthy Bar isle at the grocery store to check them out. I grabbed the first one I saw, and was dismayed to see that it contained 240 calories. I don't like to use over 200 calories on a "bar," because I don't like to use them as a total meal replacement. I like to have a bar as a mid-morning snack (if I've had a tiny lunch), an afternoon snack, or sometimes as a way to get through a long car ride. 240 just seemed like too much for me. I've heard great things about Larabars though, so I decided to look more closely at their numbers:

Bar Name	Calories	Fat	Fiber	Sugar	Protein
Larabar Apple Pie	180	10	4	17	4
Larabar Banana Bread	220	11	5	17	6
Larabar Blueberry Muffin	190	8	3	17	4
Larabar Carrot Cake	200	8	5	24	3
Average of Larabar	198	9	4	19	4
Luna Berry Almond	170	3	3	11	9
Luna Blueberry Bliss	180	5	3	13	8
Luna Caramel Nut Brownie	180	6	3	12	8
Luna Chocolate Chunk	180	5	3	11	9
Average of Luna	178	5	3	12	9

I picked the first 4 bars on each respective website (they were in alphabetical order) to compare. While I'm sorry to say I have yet to try a Larabar, I see in this table exactly why I will probably continue to prefer Luna bars. Basically, Luna bars have less calories, as I already mentioned. They also provide about twice the protein of Larabars, and half the fat. While Larabars provide a little more fiber than Luna, they consistently contain more sugar. 

In conclusion, I will try a Larabar, if only because after all this effort I have to at least see how they taste. I'm sure they are delicious. I'm also pretty sure they're a pretty hip company, since they helped sponsor Roni's Fitbloggin conference last weekend. Luna, on the other hand, is ultimately made by Nestle, who is a huge conglomerate that has cornered the market on many types of food, and has bought out more small food companies than I could count. I'm not totally against that in itself, because I would hope that the smaller companies sold for a good deal. So, I will try Lara... but the Chocolate Peppermint Stick Luna Bar in my drawer is calling my name right now. And at around 3 o'clock this afternoon, it will have my full attention.