What Are the Best Ingredients for Energy Bars?

Whether you’re smack dab in the middle of a hardcore hundred-mile bike ride, on a long nature hike, or just need a quick pick-me-up before a morning or evening workout, energy bars can be a convenient way to get some easy-to-digest calories into your body to support physical performance. In a pinch, such as during a morning commute to work or when you’re on an airplane, they can be a decent portable meal too.

The prooblem is that many, many energy bars are simply blends of concentrate sugar, GMO wheat and soy, highly processed ingredients, heated vegetable oils, commercial dairy, and other ingredients that may be concentrated sources of calories, but frankly, aren’t too great for your body.

While there are certainly some decent bars out there that actually contain natural, organic ingredients, it’s really not that hard to make your own energy bars. Can you stir? Can you use a food processor or blender? Great. That’s all you need to make energy bars.

One of my favorite websites called “Greatist,” has a fantastic article jam-packed with specific recipes for “34 Healthy Energy Bars You Can Make at Home.” While that article contains all the instructions you need to whip up a batch of energy bars, in this episode, I’m providing you with a list of some of the best, most nutrient-dense ingredients to include in your homemade energy bars—or even to look for on the label of an energy bar you buy.

Without further ado, here are the Get-Fit Guy’s top seven energy bar ingredients

1. Cacao: Raw chocolate, also known as cacao, is a great energy booster. You can put a tablespoon of cacao powder into a morning smoothie or a handful of crunchy, raw cacao nibs into your energy bar recipe for a dose of natural antioxidants and also cacao-based phenethylamine, which can increase focus and alertness.

   Cacao is also a great transition ingredient if you are trying to move away from the use of unhealthy chocolate bars made from primarily milk and sugar. When selecting cacao, look for raw cacao if possible, preferably processed without alkali. You can even get your own whole cacao beans and grind them up yourself.

2. Goji Berries: Goji berries are dark red, chewy, tart berries that are jam-packed with protein (just 1/4 cup of goji berries provides 8 grams of protein!). Goji berries can also provide you with a significant calorie boost without adding a lot of bulk (a 1/4 cup also provides about 230 calories). Additionally, Goji berries are an especially rich source of beta-carotene.

   The berries blend well, and also, to complement the crunch cacao nibs, offer a good chewy texture to energy bars. I’d recommend you be somewhat picky about where you get your goji berries from, and that you only purchase certified organic goji berries.

3. Maca: Maca is a root vegetable that originates in South America and is sold in the United States and most other countries as a nutritional supplement, considered to be a “superfood.” Maca is often taken to balance hormones, boost libido, and enhance sexual well-being. It’s also used to increase energy and stamina.

   When selecting your maca, try to choose organic, raw maca root powder, which usually comes in bags. Maca pills or capsules, on the other hand, only give you trace amounts of maca. Expect a distinct “nutty” taste from a good organic, raw maca root powder—a taste which can become overpowering if you use more than about 1-2 tablespoons in a serving of energy bar.

4. Sea Vegetables: Sea vegetables such as nori, kelp, and dulse are extremely dense sources of minerals. For vegans and vegetarians, they are critically important sources of iodine (just a single teaspoon of dulse flakes can provide about 100% of daily iodine needs).

   As with most of the other energy bar ingredients I’m recommending, choose organic when you get sea vegetables and look for versions that have been tested for heavy metals and other contaminants. However, your sea vegetables don’t need to be “raw” like the cacao and the maca, as sea vegetables are not deleteriously affected by the drying and heating process.

5. Chia: Chia seeds are nourishing and soothing to the gut lining, and also an excellent source of amino acids and omega-3 fatty acids. They are more digestible than another fatty acid packed seed (flax seeds), and if you soak them for 10-20 minutes in a glass of water prior to blending or mixing, they provide wonderful bulk and a nice, nutty flavor.
6. Hemp: Hemp is a high quality, non-meat protein source and a great way to pack protein into an energy bar (unless you want your bar tasting like beef jerky from ground-up bacon bits!). You can find hemp as organic hemp powder, or as blended or whole hemp seeds, and like chia seeds, it’s a great source of both fatty acids and amino acids.
7. Algae: Algae is an excellent non-meat-based source of the EPA and DHA omega-3 fatty acids. While flax seeds, chia seeds, and other plant sources of omega-3 fatty acids contain the short-chain ALA form of fatty acids, only algae oils contain the same, highly absorbable long-chain fatty acid forms that are typically only found in fish and fish oils.

Since the human body has a limited ability to synthesize the long-chain omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA from the short-chain ALA found in seeds and nuts, algae sources such as spirulina and chlorella can be fantastic, nutrient-dense additions to energy bars.

So, now that you’ve got your hands on cacao, goji berries, maca, sea vegetables, chia, hemp, and algae, how can you make your own energy bar? While the Greatist article I alluded to earlier is full of ideas, here’s a quick recipe for you that uses all the ingredients in this article:

Get Fit Guy’s Superfood Energy Bars

Prep time:

10 mins

Makes 8 energy bars

Ingredients

• 1 cup cashews
• 1 cup goji berries
• ½ cup chia seeds (preferably soaked)
• ½ cup spirulina or chlorella powder
• ½ cup cacao powder
• ⅓ cup rolled oats
• 2 tablespoons raw honey or, for lower sugar version, 1 teaspoon stevia
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil, melted
• 2 tablespoons hemp seeds
• 4 tablespoons maca root powder
• 1 tablespoon dulse, kelp or sea salt

Instructions:

1. Line an 8-inch baking pan with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Pulse cashews in food processor until crumbly, place in a separate bowl.
3. Pulse goji berries in food processor until finely chopped. Add all other ingredients to the goji berry mixture and process until well combined. If goji berries are a bit too spendy for you, you can use dried apricots instead.
4. Add the chopped cashews to the mixture and pulse until well combined.
5. Firmly press the entire mixture into the baking pan, using the flat surface of a measuring cup to create a flat even layer.
6. Place pan in the freezer for one hour, then remove and cut into 8 rectangle bars (or more or less, depending on desired size).
7. Place in an airtight container and store for up to one month in the fridge.
8. Enjoy!

Homemade energy bars image courtesy of Shutterstock.