Toast A Year Of Healthy Kids with The PowerBar Dipped Harvest Bar
Written: Sep 13 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Tastes good, first ingredient is whole oats, lots of vitamins and minerals.
Cons: Lots of sugar, minimal amount of protein.
The Bottom Line: I am impressed with the PowerBar line though that surprised me. This is a tasty bar with lots of good ingredients (except the sugar) for only $1.35.
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| jo.com's Full Review: Power Bar Harvest Chocolate Dipped |
I am once again reviewing a PowerBar. This time it is the PowerBar Dipped Harvest Energy Bar specifically the Toffee Chocolate Chip flavor, although at this point I have tried several of them. I have also eaten the PowerBar Harvest, which isn’t dipped in the Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip flavor. I do try to compare products and since I reviewed PowerBar Pria also considered a nutritional energy bar, I was curious to see the differences between the two and which one I liked better.
About the bar
The first thing I noticed was that the Dipped Harvest is touted as a “whole grain energy bar” and you can see at the website www.powerbar.com that it is advertised as “a good way to kick start your day.” I would start my day with just about anything dipped in chocolate and all the Dipped Harvests are either dipped in yogurt or chocolate.
I only paid 79 cents for the Pria bar but it is only 28 grams, .98 ounces (less than one ounce) versus the Dipped Harvest, which is 65 grams and 2.3 ounces. The Dipped Harvest is more than twice the size of the Pria bar so I will take that into consideration as I look at them. The Dipped Harvest costs about $1.35 which is a great deal for the size!
The Dipped Harvest has 230 calories per bar about twice that of the Pria which makes them the same in terms of calories. If you ate a whole Dipped Harvest, though you will be ingested twice the amount of calories, as you will if you eat a Pria Bar (110) so keep that in mind.
The Dipped Harvest has 5 grams of fat versus 3 grams of fat making it the one with less fat per ounce (2 of which are saturated in both bars).
The Dipped Harvest has over twice the amount of sodium with 100 mg versus 30 mg of sodium. Taking the size into consideration it still has more sodium.
It has a whopping 45 grams of carbohydrates versus only 16 grams of carbohydrates in the Pria (doubling that still only makes it 30 grams).
Here is a huge difference- the Dipped Harvest has 20 grams of sugar (daily intake should be about 16 grams total) versus 5 grams of sugar in the Pria Bar.
It only has 7 grams of protein versus 5 grams of protein in the Pria bar. According to the website 11-12% of the calories in the Dipped Harvest come from protein. In addition the Pria Bar’s 5 grams of protein is made up of 4 grams of soy protein which is a positive aspect of that bar. It seems the 5 grams of protein are made up of 4 grams of soy protein since we are told that it contains 4 grams of soy protein. There is soy in the Dipped Harvest, which you can see in the list of ingredients but is a bit too far down in the list to be highly significant.
The Dipped Harvest has 16 vitamins and minerals and the Pria Bar has 23. That also is a big difference. The Pria Bar packs a lot of nutrition into a small package.
The PowerBar Company and most bar companies suggest that the bar be taken with a glass of juice or water to help you stay hydrated.
It comes in an easy tear open wrapper. The expiration date is a bit hard to see but it is there. And it isn’t in code. It is next to the nutrition facts rather than under the wrapper, which I have found in other bars.
Who and what is it for?
PowerBar Dipped Harvest, although it is called an energy bar, is not for the intense exerciser. In fact the website itself suggests that it is a good choice 60-90 minutes before you exercise (You shouldn’t eat a meal any closer to exercising not matter what you are eating.) The website tell us that the Dipped Harvest is better for less strenuous workouts like golfing. PowerBar® Performance bar or PowerBar® PowerGel® are recommended for intense exercise. I haven’t had either of them but I have had and reviewed PowerBar Protein Plus and recommended that for more strenuous exercise.
The amount of carbohydrates in the Dipped Harvest will certainly keep you going along with the sugar rush, but it can’t be called a meal replacement bar and the lack of protein and the amount of sugar will wear off quickly leaving you tired if you are doing an intense workout. (These are my thoughts as a personal trainer.)
The website says this about the Dipped Harvest, "It is a great snack for active, growing children because it is low in fat, high in vitamins and convenient. Kids love the real fruit and crisp rice that give the bar a natural sweetness and crunchy, chewy texture. For children 6 or older, a whole bar is an appropriate addition to a balanced diet. Young children, aged 4 to 6, should be limited to ½ to 1 bar per day. Consult your pediatrician for additional information."
Flavors
Carrot Cake
Double Chocolate
Banana Nut
Cinnamon Roll
Iced Oatmeal Raisin
Toffee Chocolate Chip – The one I am reviewing.
The Carrot Cake and Double Chocolate are new and I have a feeling I will be picking up some of them!
Ingredients from the website:
Whole Oats, Brown Rice Syrup, Rice Crisps (Milled Rice, Sugar, Salt, Barley Malt), Chocolatey Coating (Sugar, Fractionated Palm Kernel Oil, Alkalized Cocoa, Whey Powder [from milk], Nonfat Dry Milk, Soy Lecithin, Vanilla), Evaporated Cane Juice Syrup, Brown Rice, Roasted Soy Beans, Chocolate Chips (Sugar, Unsweetened Chocolate, Milk Fat, Cocoa Butter, Soy Lecithin, Vanilla), Honey, Pear and Grape Juice Concentrates, Soy Protein Isolate, Almond Butter, Glycerin, Natural Flavors
Minerals: Calcium Phosphate, Magnesium Carbonate, Zinc Gluconate, Iron (Ferrous Fumarate), Copper Gluconate
Vitamins: Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid), Vitamin E Acetate, Vitamin B3 (Niacin), Pantothenic Acid (Calcium Pantothenate), Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine Hydrochloride), Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin), Vitamin B1 (Thiamin Mononitrate), Folic Acid, Biotin, Vitamin B12.
Made on equipment that also processes peanuts and nuts.
The website has a chart with the percentages of each vitamin and mineral. These bars have impressive percentages of daily values – many 50% and some 100%. I am quite impressed with those numbers so this bar really cannot compete with a Milky Way!
Enough already, what does it taste like?
I am a chocoholic. There I have said it. I have had, however, many bars that are chocolate flavored or covered in chocolate that are bitter or leave an aftertaste. Those are usually what I consider to be the healthiest. (For me that means a good ratio of carbohydrates to protein, not a lot of sugar or sodium and a nice amount of vitamins and minerals.) Some people do not even take a multi vitamin so for them a bar like this really comes in handy especially if they are going for something sweet. These leave no aftertaste and are not at all bitter.
My toffee flavored bar smells delicious. I am not sure I have written that about a bar before, but it is true. Unlike many bars, this is not coated in chocolate. It sits on a layer of chocolate with huge pieces of chocolate chips in the toffee part. It looks like a combination of a Health bar, a Butter Crunch bar and a Granola bar. It tastes very good. It is not as sweet as you would think primarily because it isn’t coated in chocolate. It is crunchy with a consistency very, very similar to a Granola bar, which, I think, is why it is advertised as a morning bar. Whole oats are a great first ingredient. It is crunchy and chewy at the same time, making this a bar that will last you a while.
Oatmeal and yams are two of the healthiest foods on the planet. They are also quite filling, as is this bar. You probably will find yourself eating 1/2 of it and saving the other half to eat a bit later. It will make you thirsty as many bars do but that is good since it is recommended you eat this with 8-16 ounces of water or juice, preferably, in my opinion water, unless you are not feeling well during a workout and you need even more sugar.
My thoughts
I thought I would have an easier time deciding between the two bars. The fact is that the company recommends the Pria Bar as a mid afternoon snack rather than for any meaningful type of exercise. I would have no problem suggesting that you take this along (or pack 1/2 to a whole one in your child's lunch bag or have them in the house so your older child can take one with him or her after soccer practice) with you and eat it before a workout or take a few bites during one.
It is not a meal replacement bar so if you eat it after a workout it will give you a boost because of the carbohydrates and sugar but it doesn’t have enough protein to be considered as a meal. So I am taking the easier route out and not choosing between the two. They serve different purposes but are both delicious. The Dipped Harvest is packed with vitamins and minerals but the Pria Bar has a lot going for it also.
It is not a perfect bar thus I am rating it 4 stars. There are ingredients that I could do without but I haven't found the perfect bar especially since I use them for a variety of reasons.
I am going to recommend this bar. It is satisfying, it keeps me full for a long enough time, it gives me a boost both before and after exercising and it is inexpensive.
I have had these in my house all summer. My daughter, who will be 22 next week, raided my cabinets and refrigerator all summer using my powders and bars. She liked the Dipped Harvest Energy Bar. When she went off to medical school a few weeks ago, I made her a basket with a blender, protein powders and bars. The Dipped Harvest was one of them.
This is my entry into the write off hosted by Kids & Family/Education and Health/Beauty. Thanks to MaryTara for organizing it. Let's all toast our children wishing them a healthy year!
The other participants in this write off are:
MaryTara, sblaydes, Shantel575, cntaur5, chrisceb, kristinafh, pogomom, pluckyduck, mountainhigh, Donnie013, MumMumMum, mind-full, melissasrn, vbfc, kurt_g, bops_mom, maggsmomm, cathyjones, tritter72, bonniesayers, jillmkk, klueger, arjita, ritag11
Recommended:
Yes
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