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Energyballs are made from dried fruit and nuts
Photo: Franziska Gabbert / dpa-tmn
Satisfy your hunger between meals – without reaching for a chocolate bar: there are always new snacks on the market that claim to be a healthier alternative.
The assortment ranges from protein and muesli bars to fruit slices and energy balls.
The products are often based on dates, nuts, almonds or dried fruit, and some contain protein powder.
How recommendable are these snacks?
Problematic: The often high sugar content
Nutrition experts like Rita Rausch from the Rhineland-Palatinate consumer center in Mainz are rather skeptical: "The range of all snacks is large, but many are more of a sweet than a healthy snack," she says.
The reason is the often high sugar content of the products.
This applies, for example, to fruit slices or muesli bars.
Some of the bars contained twelve grams of sugar - that's the equivalent of four sugar cubes.
Sometimes it's even more.
According to the recommendation of the German Society for Nutrition (DGE), you should not consume more than 50 grams of sugar per day.
“So anyone who eats a muesli bar has already consumed a good part of the daily amount of sugar,” says Rita Rausch.
This also applies if no sugar has been added to the products.
Because ingredients such as dates, dried fruit, rice syrup or honey affect the sugar balance of the products.
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After all, some snacks such as muesli bars score with a comparatively high fiber content, which keeps you full longer.
"Apart from the sugar content, a high fat content and added flavorings also have a negative impact on many snacks," says Rausch.
The Kempten nutritionist Elke Binder advises a critical look at the list of ingredients.
It can help to compare the information from different products.
How much sugar is in it?
how much fat
How long is the list of ingredients in total?
This gives you a feeling for which snack performs better in terms of nutritional values.
For whom are protein bars worthwhile?
Protein bars are designed to help the body build muscle and thus promote regeneration during exercise.
"However, the term protein bar is in principle misleading," says Elke Binder.
"Because the bar does not consist exclusively of proteins, i.e. proteins." Protein bars often contain sugar or substitutes such as glucose or invert sugar syrup.
And: The bars are often covered with chocolate, which makes them even more of a candy.
Quite apart from that: "For the majority of the population, this snack is simply superfluous," Rausch clarifies.
Recreational athletes would hardly have an increased protein requirement, even with regular training.
If you eat a balanced diet, you can get your proteins in this way - through some meat and dairy products and also through oatmeal, legumes or nuts.
"At most, for some high-performance athletes and people who do heavy physical work, such as construction workers, the consumption of protein bars in addition to the regular diet can make sense," says the expert Rausch.
Another disadvantage of the snacks: They are comparatively expensive.
A homemade snack is usually cheaper.
»Top a slice of rye bread with cheese and garnish with pieces of fresh pepper«, recommends Elke Binder.
Also a healthy snack for in between: "Eat fresh fruit," says Rausch.
This can be an apple or a handful of berries.
Vegetables - such as carrots, cucumbers and peppers - are also suitable: cut into bite-sized sticks, as travel provisions or as a snack during a hike.
Homemade energy balls
"Even a handful of unsweetened dried fruit is often a good choice when it comes to giving the body energy in between meals," says consumer advocate Rausch.
Anyone who would like to make their own energy balls will find a simple basic recipe at the Federal Center for Nutrition (BZfE): Mix 200 grams of dried fruit of your choice with 100 grams of nuts, kernels, seeds or cereal flakes in a blender.
This creates a sticky, viscous mass from which around 15 balls the size of pralines can be rolled.
If you like the energy balls to be particularly creamy, simply fold in a spoonful of peanut butter.
The snack balls can be refined with vanilla, cinnamon, poppy seeds, cocoa or grated coconut.
Another idea for a quick snack comes from nutritionist Binder: 125 grams of low-fat quark are mixed with two tablespoons of cream and water and one tablespoon of linseed oil.
Fold in a teaspoon of freshly ground flaxseeds – and fruit.
Finished!
wbr/dpa
