Snickers Marathon Long-Lasting Energy Bar: Great Taste With Only 2 - 3g Impact Carbs
Written: Aug 23 '05
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Nice flavors, good sized bar, low carbs, available everywhere, low glycemic index.
Cons: Don’t get scared of the 21 grams of carbs, only 2-3 are from sugar.
The Bottom Line: It does what it says and has low carbs ..
|
|
|
| Freak369's Full Review: Snickers Marathon Long Lasting Energy Bar |
When I saw the Snickers Marathon bars at my local sports nutrition store I had to laugh. Snickers, the candy bar company, was making a low carb energy bar? A sales rep saw me looking at the display and offered me a couple of sample bars to try out to ‘convince’ me that these were legit energy bars that were indeed low carb. When I tossed them in my backpack it seemed to irk him a little, “You aren’t going to try them?” I explained that I needed to get back to work and that was all he needed to get his foot in the door. He started asking me where I worked, if we sold sports stuff and if he could drop off some samples. No matter how hard I tried to explain to him that no one would have any interest in them, he wouldn’t let up. I gave him a card and he said he would stop by later in the day. Hey, if he wants to give me stuff that’s fine by me. To appease him I did try out the Peanut Butter flavored bar while we were talking and I have to say, it wasn’t bad at all.
Snickers Marathon Long Lasting Energy Bar
It was only a matter of time before Snicker’s jumped on the bandwagon. They created a low carbohydrate ‘long lasting energy bar’ to try and cash in on the energy bar market. The thing that sets this apart from most is that it has only 2 - 3 grams of carbohydrates from sugar [depending on the flavor] so when you see that this has a total of 21 grams of carbs and you are scratching your head wondering how this can be a “low carb bar” - that’s why. Only two to three grams are ‘impact carbs’, that’s the equivalent of half of a piece of beef jerky or two extra large eggs. These aren’t skimpy bars either - they are 1.76 ounces and have a good texture to them. They aren’t soft but they aren’t like chewing taffy - but there is enough body to them that it takes a while to eat them. If you are someone that is doing a low carbohydrate diet or wants some quick energy, this is a bar that you should definately check out. Since it is a Snicker product it is widely available at grocery stores as well as places like Wal-Mart and Target.
One of the best things about this series of bars is that they are a “low GI” food - meaning that they break down slower in the body so you don’t get sugar spikes that you do with other foods or bars. To me this is a great selling point for the bar but ultimately - most people are going to judge it on taste. Only the hard core people who are sticking to a low carb lifestyle are going to appreciate what this bar has to offer in that context. For me these are a nice treat to have around and they taste a hell of a lot better than most of the other low carbohydrate bars on the market. There’s no after taste from them either, some of them come back to haunt you a half hour after you eat them but these go down smooth, satisfy your hunger and don’t screw up your low carb routine.
Flavors
So far I have only had the chance to try out the Peanut Butter and Chocolate Fudge Brownie flavors [the vendor assured me that they would be introducing other flavors]. I got a case of each as a promotional item from a vendor that thought that these might be something that would sell at the shop. I had to give him a rather strange look ... “Uhh, pal, this is a tattoo shop, not a gym” but far be it for me to look a gift horse in the mouth. Without a doubt the peanut butter one has a much better taste than the Chocolate Fudge Brownie one but when you are doing a low carb diet and need something with chocolate, this tastes like heaven. Sadly, I loved the peanut butter ones so much that I munched my way though the box in short order and now I am trying to choke down the Chocolate Fudge Brownie ones. They don’t have a bad taste to them but visually .. well, I’ll leave that up to your imagination. The Chocolate Fudge Brownie ones are crunchier than the Peanut Butter ones so it all depends on what kind of a ‘food mood’ you are in.
The Stats
As I mentioned, I blew through the box of the Peanut Butter ones so I am going to use the stats from the Chocolate Fudge Brownie one to give you an example of what these bars have. This bar is also a good source of vitamins and minerals; based on a 2,000 calorie a day diet this bar provide you with 100% of the RDA [recommended daily allowance] of Vitamin E, Thiamine, Riboflavin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Folic Acid, Vitamin B12 and Biotin.
Calories: 170 per bar
Fat: 7 grams
Protein: 13 grams
Carbohydrates 21 grams
dietary fiber: 7 grams
sugar: 2 - 3 grams [depending on flavor]
sugar alcohols: 3 grams
Price
Surprisingly enough, these bars sell for about $1.25 a piece at the grocery store. Most bars of this nature sell for upwards of two dollars a piece so this is a great bargain. The bars are a nice size so you can have one of these between meals or after you leave the gym to hold you over without feeling bloated or still hungry for something sweet. If you want to buy them by the case [18 to a case] you can save some money but if you are ordering them online make sure you don’t get spanked when it comes to shipping and handling. These are something that the whole family can consume without worrying about the amount of sugar they contain; the boys tried a few of them and liked the Peanut Butter ones but passed on the Chocolate Fudge Brownie.
The Bottom Line
I really can’t knock the taste of these or the impact carbs per bar. They are filling but they are not meant to be a meal replacement. The funny thing is that I threw the cases on the counter with the “Free Sample” sign above it and they sat there for the better part of three weeks. It was more than hysterical to see customers look at the small display like it was some foreign object and even though they were free, no one ever took one so I [cough] forced [cough] myself to eat them. If you aren’t sure about they different types of sport bars that are on the market or which one would work best for you, check out my How to Buy Nutrition Bars editorial. If you are someone that is doing a low carb diet and wants to have a well rounded low carb snack, you should check these out! For more information about these bars, availability and stores that carry them, please visit the official website at www.snickersmarathon.com
As always, thanks for the read!
~^V^~ Freak ~^V^~
© 2005 Freak369
Other sport and nutrition bar reviews ...
• Power Bar Pria • Genisoy Xtreme Snack Bars • Labrada Lean Body Bar • Atkins Endulge Chocolate Candy Bar • EAS Myoplex Lite Performance Nutrition Bars, Chocolate Fudge • Slim Fast Optima Meal Bars • Atkins Endulge Vanilla Creme Wafer Crisp •
Zone Perfect Bars ...
• Chocolate Mint • Chocolate Raspberry • Fudge Graham Cracker • Apple Cinnamon • Chocolate Peanut Butter • Strawberry Yogurt •
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.