Wednesday, May 2, 2012

My Dear Sweet Larabar!


Larabars.
When they came on the scene all us food naturalists were pretty stoked. Here was something that looked and tasted like candy but without all the hydrogenated oils, stabilizers and lab-created flavor coatings. With choices like "Key Lime Pie", "Cherry Pie" and "Chocolate Coconut Chew" we were just too excited to discover that they didn't contain any added sugars. No citric acid. No natural fruit flavoring. No added fructose. We could follow our Paleo rules but feel like we were cheating! It was kind of exciting.

But years have passed and we are so accustomed now to grabbing the newest flavor like "Blueberry Muffin" and knowing that there isn't going to be any sugar in it. We know because it's Larabar. They've been psyching us out for years with flavors that sound like they should be loaded in added sugars and bits and glazes. So we let down our guard. We stopped checking the ingredients.

WHAM!!

Sugar; it's in Larabars now. While part of me is a little bummed that they too submitted to demand to adding sugar and making "Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough", I realize that this is business. And I'd be lying if I said I'd never had one. I just know that these are indeed CANDY BARS and she be used as an occasional treat. They are not meant to be eaten everyday and certainly not to be mistaken as "just as good" as a whole cup of fresh picked organic raspberries splashed with coconut milk or pastured heavy cream!

This is a good reminder here that no one has your best interests at heart more than you do. 
YOU are responsible for your food choices and none of them are safe, not really. This isn't a bad thing, it's a natural environment thing. Even our hunter-gatherer ancestors had to look upstream before they drank to make sure no herd of animals was wizzing in the water just then. It didn't mean that stream wasn't EVER safe, it just meant it was smarter to assess a food/beverage source every time before consuming it.

Just in case you're a comparison kinda kid, next time you go to eat a whole Larabar as "just a little snack" remind yourself that an average Larabar has the same amount of sugar as an entire sweet potato.
Just saying :-)

All the best,
michelle

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