Am I a glutton for punishment?...Ensure Bars
Written: Jul 15 '02 (Updated Aug 09 '03)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: pretty wrapper, price
Cons: taste, taste, taste
The Bottom Line: Not all-together appetizing!
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| kld718's Full Review: Ensure Bar |
After having a very bad experience with the Atkins Diet Advantage Bar, I was loathe to try a new bar. I thought I would just stick to my regular old Luna Bar, but no, I’m a glutton for punishment. I picked up the Ensure bar on a whim in Eckerd’s one day when I ran in to buy some beauty items.
I wasn’t really surprised with the results. I took these bars straight home and put them in the refrigerator. I guess my thought was that if they were cold, they might taste a little better. I am the type of person that is always on the go and find myself skipping meals here and there when time does not permit me to eat. That is the reason I usually have some kind of nutritional bar with me at all times.
Wrapped in a dark bluish and white packaging, this bar comes in the 2.12 oz. (60g) size and costs about $.99 for one bar. This bar has four flavors to choose from. Though I didn’t try all of the flavors, I was able to eat two different kinds, Chewy Chocolate Peanut and Cookies N’ Cream. The Chewy Chocolate Peanut was by far the better out of the two. There weren’t that many peanuts in the actual bar, at least not that I could tell.
What surprised me was the Cookies N’ Cream bar. I was expecting this bar to be so good! Ugh, was I sadly disappointed! It didn’t taste like cookies and cream at all...in fact, I don’t think I could begin to describe what it did actually taste like! All I know is that it had more of a chalk taste than the Chewy Chocolate Peanut. Though not a lover of peanut butter, I did expect the Chewy Chocolate Peanut bar to be a lot better tasting than what it was. No such luck, while it wasn’t overly nasty, the peanut butter didn’t really taste like peanut butter at all. And the chocolate covering didn’t taste like chocolate. I am not really a lover of chocolate either. Sure, I like to eat it every once in awhile, but I do not usually eat a lot of it.
I definitely know what chocolate is supposed to taste like though, and the chocolate on this bar did not taste like real chocolate. So I say to myself, what is the point in eating these bars? Besides the fact that it has high nutritional content, even though it contains a lot of sugar.
~ Nutritional Facts ~
Serving size: 1 bar = 60g
Calories: 230
Fat Calories: 50
Total Fat: 6g
Saturated Fat: 4g
Cholesterol: less than 5mg
Sodium: 135mg
Potassium: 150mg
Dietary Fiber: 1g
Sugars: 23g
Total Carbohydrates: 35g
Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Calcium, Iron, Vitamin D, Vitamin E, Vitamin K, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Folate, Vitamin B12, Biotin, Pantothenic Acid, Phosphorus, Iodine, Magnesium, Zinc, Selenium, Copper, Manganese, Chromium, Molybdenum, Chloride
~ Ingredients ~...from packaging for Chewy Chocolate Peanut
Corn Syrup, Milk Chocolate Flavored Coating, Sugar, Soy Protein Isolate, Caramel, Partially Defatted Peanut Flour, Graham Cracker Crumbs, Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Peanuts and Natural and Artificial Flavorings, Calcium Phosphate Dibasic, Magnesium Oxide, Ascorbic Acid, Salt, Ferric Orthophosphate, Alpha-Tocopheryl Acetate, Niacinamide, Zinc Oxide, Calcium Pantothenate, Copper Gluconate, Manganese Sulfate, Beta-Carotene, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Thiamine Monontrate, Folic Acid, Biotin, Chromium Chloride, Sodium Molybdate, Potassium Iodine, Sodium Selenate, Phylloquinone, Vitamin D3 and Cyanocobalamin
~ Some Flavors ~
Chewy Chocolate Peanut
Cookies N’ Cream
Chocolate Maple Nut
Cinnamon Oat N’ Raisin
~*~ My Thoughts ~*~
As I mentioned earlier, I wasn’t surprised with this bar, expecting it to taste just as bad as the Atkins Diet Advantage Bar. It didn’t taste nearly that bad. I was surprised when I tried my first bar and was actually able to eat the whole thing! I mean, how good could an Ensure Bar taste? I didn’t think the Ensure Bar was as bad as the Advantage bar because it did have some flavor to it, though not that much. It definitely was not as tasty as my Luna Bar, but I was able to eat it and that is a big plus. The Ensure Bar did leave an aftertaste that tasted almost like chalk, but it did not last as long as some of the other nutritional bars on the market. Afterwards, I did consume almost a whole bottle of water and was able to wash away the aftertaste.
While I did use these bars as a meal replacement both times, I found myself wishing that I hadn’t. Though they did fill me up where I couldn’t eat another thing, they were actually too filling. If this can make sense to you. It left me with the feeling of eating too much, and I attribute that to the flavoring of the bar. Along with this feeling came the nauseated feeling you get when you eat too much of something that your stomach does not like at all.
I think the only good thing about this bar is that it is an excellent source of vitamins and minerals. It contains a lot of protein and calcium, which makes it good for the bones.
Also, you usually see doctors recommending this product for older adults, but I am definitely not one of those and did not notice any after effects. While I’m not sure about letting children eat this bar, I do not see the problem with younger adults consuming it. I don’t know if I would ever try the liquid Ensure because it just doesn’t seem like my thing. In fact, I don’t think I would actually buy these bars again, because there are much better tasting nutritional bars out there and I just did not like the feeling that it gave me.
* Distributed by: Ross Products Division
Abbott Laboratories, Inc.
Columbus, Ohio 43215
Luna Bar
PowerBar Protein Plus
PowerBar Pria
Atkins Diet Advantage Bar
~ Thanks for reading!
Kim
Recommended:
No
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kld718
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Location: Central Florida
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