It's Crisp, Peanutty & Chocolatey: It's EAS's AdvantEdge Chocolate Peanut Crisp Bar!
Written: Mar 25 '06 (Updated Mar 27 '06)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Above average taste, kids love it, crunchy, high in calcium and protein.
Cons: High in carbohydrates, touted as a meal replacement.
The Bottom Line: I don't care what Bill Phillips says, this is not suitable as a meal replacement product.
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| Freak369's Full Review: EAS AdvantEdge Complete Nutrition Energy Bar, Choc... |
Some days really suck when you are dieting down. Things that normally wouldn’t bother you suddenly work your last nerve. The smell from the deli, a kid eating a candy bar, someone chomping on a piece of bubble gum and one of the brood opening up a Chocolate Peanut Crisp bar and asking me, in a very sarcastic tone, “Care for a bite mum?”. They know I can’t eat these bars but they tempt me with them. Their retort, “You always raised us to share with others” I don’t condone child abuse but there are days when I can understand how and why it happens [that was a joke]. I think I’ve had, at most, two or three of this particular flavor over the past few years so most of this review is going to come from memory, the few bites I had about ten minutes ago and some of the comments from the brood. I am not one of those nutritionally obsessed moms that insists that their kids eat three square meals a day but if they would rather have one of these bars over a candy bar, bag of potato chips or bowl of pretzels - I am not going to argue with them. As I always say, there are a lot worse things they could be snacking on.
EAS AdvantEdge Complete Nutrition Energy Bar
Chocolate Peanut Crisp
[soy protein, corn syrup, rice flour, condensed milk, evaporated milk, palm kernel oil, ground peanuts, crisp rice, sugar, toasted soy pieces]
A bar is only as effective as you make it, simply put, you can’t sit there and pound these in place of a meal and expect to get anywhere on a diet. Even if you aren’t concerned with losing weight, burning fat or toning up, you are ingesting 220 calories and a lot of sugar with these and eventually it will catch up with you. Sure you are getting some of the essential vitamins and minerals but this bar is at the bottom of the ‘food chain’ when it comes to the entire AdvantEdge series. Now, as far as taste goes, it is one of the better ones and leaves no rank after taste. It’s the double edge sword theory; you get great taste but at a price. There is no denying that the bar is ‘good’ for you but not if you are going to eat three of them a day. The kids really like this flavor and it does have a good bit of “crunch and chew” to it, most of that comes from the peanuts, soy nuggets and crisped rice.
Since the brood are the ones that usually consume these bars I asked them what they thought of them. They said that it had a great taste to them, didn’t taste like fake chocolate and didn’t make them fart. Ah yes, that is always a good thing when it comes to energy bars. If you are soy or lactose intolerant this bar could give you a bit of gas since it contains milk products as well as soy protein. One bar might not be enough to “set you off” but more than that and you could have some problems. If you are allergic to peanuts you will want to avoid this. While that might sound like a moronic thing to mention because the word “peanut butter” is in the title, you never know when someone is going to pick one up without thinking. Yes, it has happened so don’t even laugh. Be sure to check the underside of the wrapper for the expiration / best by date so you won’t get something that is going to scrape the enamel off of your teeth. These things do get extremely hard if you try to consume them more than a few months past their expiration date.
Useful As A Meal Replacement?
One thing that really irks me about EAS is the way they word things in their adverts and at their website. “It's convenient and tastes great as a snack on-the-go or as a meal replacement.” From that line you may thing that this bar can be used as a meal replacement. If you try to skip a meal and have one of these in its place you may be able to get away with it once or twice but not on a daily basis. I shouldn’t really preach about this kind of stuff because I am usually in some phase of a ketosis diet but even I know that this bar is not enough to qualify as a meal replacement. Yes, it has a great taste but it’s not filling enough to keep you from wanting to eat something about an hour later and let’s face it, it’s only two ounces.
The Stats
Calories: 220
Serving: 1 bar
Fat: 6 grams
Protein: 13 grams
Carbohydrates: 32 grams
Sugar: 19 grams
Fiber: 1 gram
Sodium: 170 mg
Compared to other bars in the AdvantEdge line, this one is low in the RDA [recommended daily allowance] of some essential vitamins and minerals. Other bars are high in Vitamins A, C, D, B6 and Zinc but this one scores pretty low with only 10% Vitamin D, 50% Vitamin A, 10% Zinc and 10% B3. If you are looking to get a healthy dose of vitamins and minerals from a bar, this isn’t one of the best to go with.
Price
In most cases you’ll be able to find the best price for these at places like Henry’s or a sports supply store but alas, Henry’s is thousands of miles away and damn, I miss that store! You can expect to pay anywhere from a dollar to a dollar fifty for these. As usual, gyms will inflate the price to make a few cents because it’s a supply and demand situation - you are hungry and they have something that’s fairly appealing. I wouldn’t pay more than a dollar for this bar, mostly because it’s high in carbs and that whole “meal replacement” phrase they throw around. You can buy these buy the box and get a price break but I suggest that you try all the flavors in this line first before you commit to a twelve bar / box purchase. Online sites will offer you the best price but watch out for high shipping fees and always ask what the expiration date is.
The Bottom Line
While I do admit that these aren’t one of the best AdvantEdge bars in regards to the vitamin and mineral content,. they are one of the best tasting. It’s got a smooth flavor blend to it but enough crunch that you feel like you are eating something that isn’t all air and fluff. If I weren’t doing a ketosis type diet almost all the time chances are I would eat more of these but as it stands I’m limited to sneaking a bite once in a while. I don’t mind buying these for the boys to have when they want something quick to eat or something that they can take with them if they want something between meals at home. Get them when they are fresh because once they hit that expiration date, the flavor isn’t as pleasing to the palette and they get pretty hard to chew.
As always, thanks for the read!
~^V^~ Freak ~^V^~
© 2006 Freak369
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Recommended:
Yes
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