Homemade granola bars help maximize your nutrient intake
Granola bars are a modern staple. Tucked into kids’ backpacks, they provide a quick snack after school. Stashed away in your office desk drawer, they are something to grab when you have to work through lunch. Running out the door in the morning, they can provide a few nutrients to break your night fast, when otherwise you might go without eating anything.
But, let’s face it. Many granola bars are little more than a candy bar in disguise.
Sure, they contain oats, with their plethora of health benefits, but they are often studded with chocolate chips, or drizzled with a candylike coating. They taste good, but they can be more like dessert than a healthful snack or meal replacement.
As with many food items, if you make your own, you can make them more healthful.
Today’s recipe for “super-seedy” granola bars produces a product that is moist, chewy, nutty and delicious, containing a combination of nuts and seeds.
I had never used hemp seeds before, but they can be bought in bulk at Whole Foods. They are expensive per pound, but you need only ¼ cup for this recipe. Buying in bulk allows you to get just what you need, so the cost is nominal for this small amount. Hemp seeds are high in the two essential nutrients our bodies need regularly, linoleic acid and linolenic acid. An omega-3 fatty acid, linolenic acid is not as easily found in foods as its omega-6 fatty acid sister, linoleic acid.
Hemp seeds are also high in arginine, an amino acid our bodies use to produce nitric oxide. This substance relaxes blood vessels, helping to lower blood pressure and reduce heart disease risk. Taking in more arginine may also help lower amounts of Creactive protein, a marker that indicates inflammation in the body, and increases risk for heart disease and other chronic conditions. In data collected from the National Health and Examination Study from 1988-1994, researchers found that people with higher intakes of arginine had lower levels of CRP, and therefore, lower risk of heart disease.
In other studies, chia seeds have also been shown to lower CRP levels. In addition, they are quite high in fiber. Chia seeds are tiny and have a very mild taste, making them easy to add to all kinds of foods to boost nutrition. They are one of the ingredients in this recipe, but consider tossing them in the blender with smoothie ingredients, adding a tablespoonful atop your next bowl of cereal, or stirring them into yogurt. These also can be bought from the bulk bins at natural foods grocery stores, or you can purchase them in packages in the health food aisles at regular grocery stores.
This recipe would be a fun one to make with children. The preparation is mainly measuring, stirring and pressing the ingredients into the pan, then cutting into squares. I cut these into smaller squares than the original recipe recommended, but you can cut them into whatever size works best for you. They are not quite as portable as store-bought, packaged granola bars, because they are softer and would certainly wilt if they got too warm, but you could wrap individual bars and send them in your child’s lunch or backpack for summer camp. They keep well in the freezer too.
Once you have tried this recipe, you can adjust it to suit your specific tastes. Perhaps you prefer more cinnamon, or more chia seeds and fewer sesame seeds. Pumpkin seeds could be swapped out for the almonds. Or you might choose to use a different nut butter, or agave syrup instead of honey. Any way you mix them, they are definitely a leg up on the standard granola bar, and being so easy to make, you might never get your granola bars from the grocery food aisle again. Megan Murphy is a Tennesseelicensed registered dietitian and associate professor of nutrition at Southwest Tennessee Community College. Call 277-3062, fax 5292787, email Meganmyrd@aol.com