Kind Bars Vs Reality

A few years ago,  I looked closely at the idea of the granola bar. I bake my own granola then bar-ify it with a heady mix of nut butters, molasses, egg and other ingredients. There has been a big market for pre-made granola bars since the 70s; however as time went on they kinda devolved into candy bars with just a whiff of "health" on them. A block of sugar and fat with a few oats stuck in them is still candy.

A more modern phenomenon is a new class of good-for you bar that is kinda like a granola bar, but dispenses with the rolled oats -- the nut bar is exemplified by Kind bars. With a vaguely hippy-dippy stoner name, modern packaging whose block colors look like an abstract rainbow, and an ingredient list that features nuts front and center, it has replaced the granola bar among the health conscious set as the go-to grab-and-go convenience snack. However, all may not seem like it is.

At least four of Kind LLC’s self-proclaimed healthy bars are in violation of “healthy” labeling requirements, according to the Food and Drug Administration, which sent a warning letter to the company.
“Your products do not meet the requirements for use of the nutrient content claim ‘healthy’ on a food label,” William Correll, director of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, said in the letter, dated March 17 and released publicly on Tuesday. “You should take prompt action to correct the violations.”

The FDA's definition of healthy is simply a limit on the amounts of things like trans fats, salt and sugar. While Kind correctly argues that whatever the fat-content of nuts may be, they are nutritionally sound, but it's not the whole story.

Kind has rapidly expanded and has introduced a wide variety of both flavors of nut bars and other products, like granola (excuse me, "Oat Clusters") and granola bars (nope, "Healthy Grains Bars"). You don't have to go far in this expanded product line to find something like the "Almond & Coconut" kind bar whose trans fat are a multiple of what the FDA recommends and triple the sugar load, and further variations that involve chocolate and other trappings of candy. The system demands expanding profits at all times, so in the food world, that always means devolving into finding the broadest possible appeal...which means increasing salt, sugar and fat.

Serving for serving, not hella different nutritionally than a Reeses.  OK, a little bit more fiber.

I get my kind bars in bulk from Costco, and they come in 2 plain-jane flavors, basically fancy names for vanilla and chocolate. Looking at the list of ingredients, all the nuts are in front, but as one "mixed nut" ingredient, and each one has several sweeteners, including sugar, honey, glucose, and "chicory root fiber", which is another fancy term for a low glycemic sweetener. Straight up according to the listing, each bar contains about a teaspoon of sugar. This isn't just a bunch of nuts pressed together, this is a bunch of nuts bound with sugar. The truly "kind" thing would to simply eat nuts and not a processed bar.

I'll continue to eat kind bars for the same reason I'll continue to juice vegetables every morning. My juicing is not a replacement for my twice daily raw vegetable salads -- it is a supplement to get more nutrition in that otherwise would be overwhelmed by too much fiber. I sparingly eat nuts -- almonds with my 2x weekly yogurt, a serving of cashews once a week to keep away the hunger, and the kind bar is a convenient way to keep some variety and decadence without feeling like I'm hurting myself. 

But make no mistake -- it is a highly processed, packaged and marketed product that is not as good as just eating nuts. 

Chuck D was talking about food marketing, right?

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WEEKLY AVERAGE: 3091
Weird week, cycling kept me hungry, though I wonder if following my hunger to these higher calorie counts is the way to go. Will know in  a week or so. Just so much going on, don't have the mental space to focus too much on the food thing...

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MONDAY COUNT: 2940

SLEPT: 11pm - 5am, 6hrs

AM SNACK: 5:15 am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 8am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 11am, Fage yogurt with honey, almonds, vanilla, 450 cal  

LUNCH: 2pm, falafel, split pea soup, health salad, pickle, 620 cal

PM SNACK: 4:45pm, momma salad, cheezits 310 cal

PM SNACK: 5:15pm, poppa salad, 200 cal

DINNER: 7pm, chicken sausage, asparagus,  poppa salad with dressing, 600 cal

EVENING SNACK: 7:45pm, popcorn, +/-400 cal

EVENING SNACK: 8pm, flourless chocolate cake,+/- 400 cal

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TUESDAY COUNT: 3040

SLEPT: 11pm- 6am, 7hrs

AM SNACK: 5:30 am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 8am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 11am, Steel cut oatmeal, 450 cal

LUNCH: 2:30pm, grilled chicken, steamed string beans, Mushroom curry, pickles, 600 cal

PM SNACK: 4pm, momma salad, cheezits, 310 cal

PM SNACK: 5pm, poppa salad, 200 cal

DINNER: 6:15pm, Chipotle burrito, 880 cal

EVENING SNACK: 7:30pm, kind bar, peanut butter cracker, 420 cal
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BIKE CREDIT: 1260 cal
WEDNESDAY COUNT: 3090 cal

SLEPT: 9pm-2am, 4am-6am, 7hrs

AM SNACK: 6:15 am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST 1: 7am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

AM SNACK: 8:15am, half a horrible ham and cheese biscuit thing, +/- 150 cal

BREAKFAST: 9:30am, Fage yogurt, honey vanilla, almonds, 150 mg caffeine, 450 cal

BIKE SNACKS: 12-2:30pm, 1 homemade granola bars, digestive cookies, 730 cal

LUNCH: 3:45pm, tiapia, health salad, pickle veggie straws, 650 cal

PM SNACK: 4:30pm, momma salad, cheezits, 310 cal

DINNER: 8:15pm, bibimbop, seafood pancake, kimchi, various little plates, +/- 1000 cal

EVENING SNACK: 10pm, waffle & ice cream, digestive cookies, +/- 800 cal
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BIKE CREDIT 640 cal
THURSDAY COUNT: 3295

SLEPT: 11pm -4am,  5 hrs

AM SNACK: 4:15am, iced green tea, 150 mg caffeine

BIKE SNACK: 6am, homemade granola bar, 235 cal

BREAKFAST: 9:30am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 11am, steel cut oatmeal, 450 cal

LUNCH: 1pm, sauteed shrimp,  poppa salad and dressing, 400 cal

PM SNACK: 2:15pm, momma salad, cheezits, 310 cal

PM SNACK: 4pm, peanut butter crackers, 480 cal

DINNER: 5:30pm, pizza, salad, +/- 900 cal cal

EVENING SNACK: 7pm, pecan pie, tea, ice cream, +/- 500 cal

EVENING SNACK: 10pm, kind bar, peanut butter & chocolate syrup, +/- 500 cal

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FRIDAY COUNT: x

SLEPT: 11pm-7am, 8 hours

AM SNACK: 7:15am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 11am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 12:30pm, fruit smoothie, 450 cal

Things got busy....