Ahh, those wonderful Kashi commercials. Someone is hiking through a pristine wilderness. In the background they talk about how much they value health and fitness. Soft music is playing and then we cut over to show the wonderful manufacturers of Kashi bars dive into a waterfall, ski down a slope or whatever it is that people do in TV commercials when they want us to believe that they’re healthy.
But is this stuff really healthy? Should we be snacking on things like Kashi bars and their cousins, the various granola bars, energy bars, whole grain bars and such? Can you guess what I’m going to say?
NO!
Sorry, but most “health” bars are anything but. By the way, on a slightly related tangent, just go ahead and assume that anything a TV commercial is trying to convince you is healthy, really isn’t. Sure, you won’t always be right, but for the most part, you’re fine.
The problem with most health bars is that they’re grains, dried fruit and sugar. Now sure, I’m not some low carb fanatic who considers grains to be the devil’s work. However, I also believe that they should be enjoyed in moderation and not consumed en masse under some false belief in health just because they’re “whole”. Dried fruit are the same. They’re not bad in and off themselves, but if you take a fruit and remove the water, you’re going to be left with a really energy dense food. Which means low volume, high calories, the exact opposite of healthy. Finally, the sugar. Most of these bars have at least some sugar in them. It could be maple frosting, a few M&M’s or some chocolate. Whatever it is, you don’t need it.
Other Products
By the way, this applies to pretty much all products that TV commercials try to pass off as healthy. Cereals, pancakes, waffles or whatever they’re trying to sell you, it’s all unhealthy. Sure, it’s not as bad as deep fried bacon sausages, but that doesn’t make it healthy.
So What Is Healthy?
You want a healthy snack? Eat a piece of fruit, enjoy some vegetables, eat a small piece of cheese, grab a few almonds, snack on a handful of cashews. These are all wonderful snack options with a high amount of nutrients. Yes, some of them are a bit high in calories, but these aren’t empty calories of the types you’ll find in “health” bars.
Remember, the closer a food is to its natural state, the healthier it is. Health bars are very VERY far away from their natural state.
Funny how the least promoted health foods tend to be the healthiest!
I’m no Kashi spokesperson, but I believe the intent of your article is misplaced when set against this particular company. I am not aware of Kashi advocating an “en masse” consumption of their products. Certainly they advertise, but I have never seen the commercial claiming morning noon and night Kashi is the foundation of a balanced diet. You say eat fresh fruit instead and I cannot argue with that. Still, comparing a basic staple, such as the apple, to a standard Kashi bar reveals that the bar holds its own quite well nutritionally . Here an apple http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/fruits-and-fruit-juices/1809/2
Here a random Kashi bar http://www.kashi.com/products/golean_crunchy_bars_chocolate_pretzel
The apple obviously wins. However, the deficiencies of the bar are not that great. Yes, it has fat and sat. fat. It also has more sodium, calories, and carbs. This is bound to happen when you add any grain and chocolate for sweetness. But objectively the variances are not that great. The sugar amounts are the same, though obviously the apples are more complex and not added table type and therefore slightly healthier. And the bar provides additional fiber and a great deal more protein.
I’m not advocating these Kashi choices over whole foods. However in the real world people will make the decision to eat a bowl of cereal rather than take the time to make a egg white omelet with veggies in the morning; people will grab a snack bar or something else quick rather than buy a bag of perishable apples at the beginning of the week, a bag that might go bad before they are all eaten; and some people will have the apple and still want occasion variety for their sweet tooth or what have you. I think its great to have such a natural-foods co. next to all the other garbage when people do reach to make that choice, and they will, as most American’s are not reading health blogs and are just eating whatever they see on TV and on the shelf.
Nathan,
You have a good point. These health bars are more healthy than many other alternatives. That said, they still shouldn’t be viewed as healthy. I’m not trying to knock Kashi specifically, it’s just the first company I thought of because I keep seeing their commercials when I go to the gym. I just think that they are misrepresenting their merchandise as healthy when there are far healthier and more natural snack alternatives.
Regardless, you do have a good point and I’ll follow up on it in tomorrow’s post. Thank you for your comment.
Gal
I agree that there are more nutritional dense foods to eat but I respect Kashi for offering one of the “Better” options for a granola bar. Sometimes I want something sweet, carbie, and a little naughty so I go for a Kashi bar. Although I am FULLY aware it’s a NO-NO on my day to day diet. A baby-bell and handful of almonds is a much better option. Although they do provide quite a bit of energy on the go with a low caloric penalties and great taste.
Natural foods always come out ahead of processed foods in terms of healthiness. Everybody knows that. But like Nathan said, in the real world, people are bound to eat processed foods at some point (unless you live on a farm or have all the time and care in the world) and Kashi is respectable in that it provides one of the healthiest options in that category.
Your post should be more appropriately named rather than targeting Kashi specifically.
Also, simply because A is healthier than B doesn’t make B unhealthy. That’s like making the argument that salmon is healthier than poultry, that’s why we should never eat chicken. They provide DIFFERENT nutritional values.
Natural foods always come out ahead of processed foods in terms of healthiness. Everybody knows that. But like Nathan said, in the real world, people are bound to eat processed foods at some point (unless you live on a farm or have all the time and care in the world) and Kashi is respectable in that it provides one of the healthiest options in that category.
Your post should be more appropriately named rather than targeting Kashi specifically.
Also, simply because A is healthier than B doesn’t make B unhealthy. That’s like making the argument that salmon is healthier than poultry, that’s why we should never eat chicken. They provide DIFFERENT nutritional values.
Just because it’s the least unhealthy of a bunch of unhealthy options doesn’t make it healthy. And yes, people can and should avoid processed foods altogether. Eating these “health bars” just because you don’t want to take the time to be really healthy is an excuse. Find the time, your health is important enough for the time to be valuable.
Gal, the only point I was trying to make is that Kashi deserves their proper respect in providing “healthier” (I’m NOT advocating it’s healthy) alternatives in a category of foods that’s generally filled with much more crap. If the intent of the article was to illustrate the fact that processed foods ‘in general’ are unhealthy, the title should be more properly named to encapsulate the whole category.
Also, your view on foods is most ideal, but clearly not realistic. As said before, everybody’s circumstances are different, and that’s something you really have to come to terms with. But I agree, if people do the choice, they should dedicate more time toward their health.