Are Breakfast Bars healthy? Can you eat them regularly for breakfast?

This post answers your questions about Breakfast Bars – and whether they could be suitable for everyday consumption.

Imagine – you are rushing around frantically, packing your gym supplies in tandem with prepping your lunch, while also on an important last-minute Zoom Meeting as you get ready for the day. Sounds horribly stressful, right? So should it be surprising that most of us would tend to skip breakfast in that scenario? Not really. We all know that “breakfast is the most important meal of the day”, but it is fair that we forget that when we have a lot on our plate – metaphorically, that is. However, there is one thing that could save us from the consequences of skipping breakfast – you guessed it! Breakfast Bars indeed.

Breakfast Bars – they are without a doubt a blessing in disguise! You no longer have to worry about skipping breakfast on particularly busy days, nor compromise your health by munching on some unhealthy fast food for breakfast. A couple of these pocket-sized snacks are more than enough to see you throughout the day, not to mention that they are surprisingly filling Furthermore, they are best suited for people who do not have enough time or patience to prepare breakfast.  But are they really good enough f0r everyday consumption? Let’s find out.

What are Breakfast Bars made of?

Breakfast Bars are compact, finger-sized food items. They contain and cover all the essential macronutrients you would find in a typical, nutritionist recommended breakfast. The base of the bar is comprised of whole grains like rice, wheat, oats, or a combination of these. When compared to rice and wheat, oats are the most frequently consumed grain since it combines both carbs and proteins, with the latter in greater proportion. Millets have now become widely available in breakfast bars in recent years due to their excellent nutrient content, which includes high quantities of protein, polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), fibres, calcium, and other necessary vitamins and minerals.

Another important element in most breakfast bars is that they contain dry fruits and nuts. In fact, they are so tightly packed with dry fruits and nuts that you get them in every bite! Dry fruits like raisins, prunes, apricots, figs, cranberries, etc. are most commonly used. They provide our bodies with enough amounts of carbs to do work but also do not overload them. Plus, these dry fruits add sweetness to the breakfast bar without the sugars! Truly a win in our books!

Proteins, Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids (PUFAs), Good Cholesterol, and Vitamins are present in a plentiful amount in nuts. Among these nuts, Almonds are found in almost all breakfast bars because of their high content of Vitamin E – a natural Antioxidant.

To bind these all ingredients together, a binding agent is needed – and honey is one of nature’s best binding agents. Honey has various antioxidative properties and adds natural sweetness to the breakfast bars.

For all the savoury-lovers out there – if you thought Breakfast Bars have to be sweet, think again. Various start-ups have released a variety of savoury bars that keep you seeking out more.

Are Breakfast Bars really good?

In one word, yes. Breakfast Bars are compact and portable, enabling you to have your meal on the go. They are richly packed with healthy ingredients that provide all the necessary nutrients. Also, a single, tiny bar is able to keep you full until lunch. That’s not something you’d expect from a finger-sized bar, and yet it delivers!

However, like everything else, too many of these bars are not always good. The average bar contains about four heaping tablespoons of sugars in every serving of a bar. That’s a really concerning statistic for those who thrive on these bite-sized snacks alone! 

Moreover, commercial breakfast bars contain a lot of artificial agents. These include sweeteners like saccharin and aspartame, binding agents like xanthan gum and preservatives like sodium benzoate. Though these additives are approved by FSSAI and HACCP and constitute a minor part of the breakfast bars, they still may cause some mild to moderate levels of side effects in us. Aspartame tends to degrade and lose its sweetness at high temperatures. That explains why some of them that’s been left to sit in the sun taste bland! In addition, Xanthan gum and odium Benzoate are used in industrial products and Overdosage of these two is associated with gastrointestinal problems.

Breakfast Bars are truly a boon for us all on busy days, there’s no denying it. However, it is essential to remember that nothing truly replaces a hearty, home-cooked breakfast.

You can purchase breakfast bars here at Foodvez.