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The New Energy Bar

The New Energy Bar

Remember when the only retail product you could customize was your L.L. Bean backpack? Maybe your hand towels when you got married? Customization was usually relegated to slapping your initials on something and that’s it. Boy, have times changed!
 
ElementBars, hailing from Chicago, lets you customize energy bars when, you know, the grocery store options just don’t cut it! First, choose from the following bases: chewy, oaty, crispy or datey. Speaking of “datey,” the site even has a built-in warning to tell you if the ingredients you’ve chosen are “incompatible.” Sounds like an online dating site! Will you find a match? If not right away, the site will help you build your own bar based on a "few lifestyle-oriented questions."
 
Here comes the inevitable question: would you do this?!? Bars cost $3 a pop and you are required to buy a minimum of 12, so at $36, is energy bar customization worth it to you? What would be your recipe for the perfect energy bar?

Posted: 10/7/08
LMAYO9

Granola as health food is totally overrated. I saw in newsweek this week a comparison of a bowl of granola and a bowl of lucky charms cereal. the lucky charms actually had less calories and sugar than the granola!!!!!!

This bar is a nice idea, but it seems like something that will feel like a relic in two years when the economy weeds out ridiculous services like this...and making your own sneaker that costs $150.

  • By LMAYO9
  • on 10/8/08 10:34 AM EST
LauraLee311

Yeah, while the idea is cool, I probably won't try them. I'm not that big on energy bars or granola bars, so why would I spend $3 a piece on them? I agree that we could use a lot less choice. It's an American thing though. We're the only industrialized country that consistently wants/prefers a ton of options.

kristen

I heart peanut butter Larabars! I take them on every plane trip.

I just "made" a bar online and it had a whopping 300 calories and like 12 grams of fat (and that was just for the "core," one fruit and one nut choice!) It did force me to look at the ingredients and remember that just because it's labeled as healthy it doesn't mean it's always a good substitute for, say, a fiber-rich apple and some almonds. Energy bars are not a substitute for a balanced diet!

  • By kristen
  • on 10/7/08 3:09 PM EST
bella08

$3 a bar is a little intense. Plus, I don't want to be the one selecting the healthy ingredients—that's why I'm buying health bars, so I can have good food on the go that I don't have to think about.

My go-to bars are Lara bars. Link

They only have a few ingredients, are completely natural and taste absolutely amazing. Peanut Butter Cookie is my fave—it tastes just like a PB cookie and the ingredients? Dates, peanuts, salt. Doesn't get better than that.

  • By bella08
  • on 10/7/08 3:03 PM EST
springshine

This kind of thing makes me want to choke someone. I think we need less choice, not more. I'm already wasting precious time whenever looking for a beverage ... there are just too many to choose from!