“No Thank You, those things will kill you”

Posted on by Sarah Cooley

That’s what I was saying as I walked passed every person who tried to hand me a Zone bar at SXSW.

Now I normally don’t care what other people eat, but when you a handing out a product, telling people it’s a healthy choice, lets give them the facts here.

Here are the ingredients in a Zone Perfect bar (Double Dark Chocolate):

Soy Protein Nuggets (Isolated Soy Protein, Cocoa [Processed With Alkali], Tapioca Starch, Salt), Chocolate Layer (Corn Syrup, Sugar, Palm Kernel Oil, Unsweetened Chocolate, Invert Sugar, Cocoa [Processed With Alkali], Milk Protein, Soy Lecithin, Salt, Xanthan Gum, Carob Seed Gum, Gum Arabic, Vanilla Extract With Other Natural Flavors), Chocolate Flavored Coating (Sugar, Fractionated Palm Kernel Oil, Cocoa Powder [Processed With Alkali], Soy Lecithin, Vanilla), Corn Syrup, Soy Protein Isolate, Chocolate Drops (Sugar, Chocolate Liquor, Cocoa Butter, Soy Lecithin, Vanilla), Fructose Syrup, Chocolate Liquor, Cocoa (Processed With Alkali). Less Than 2% Of The Following: Glycerine, High Oleic Safflower And/or High Oleic Sunflower Oil, Chocolate Powder (Natural Cocoa Powder, Sugar, Chocolate Liquor, Cocoa Butter, Soy Lecithin, Vanilla), Natural Flavors, Caramel Color, Cocoa Fructose (Fructose, Water, Corn Maltodextrin, Cocoa [Processed With Alkali], Natural Cocoa, Salt, Carrageenan, Natural Flavors, Tocopherol, Ascorbic Acid), Salt.

Wow, my head hurts from reading that.

Now of course my statement of “No Thank You, those things will kill you” might have been a little harsh, but people don’t know what they are eating!

The product is pitched like this “Excellent source of protein (12g). 19 vitamins and minerals. Rich in antioxidants. [Vitamins C & E and Selenium.] ” But there are 14g of sugar and 210mg of sodium!

This is why next year I really want to get Whole Foods as a sponsor (their HQ is in Austin) and get people handing out Apples on the corners of SXSW.

Think about it, and apple is just as portable, it won’t spoil very quickly, it’s great for you, and best of all…there is only 1 ingredient, APPLE!

Please do not be confused by someone saying all natural to you. Corn syrup is natural, but it’s also REALLY BAD FOR YOU! Soy is all natural, but when it’s super processed the way most Americans find it in foods, it’s really unhealthy.

If you take away one thing from this post, please try and eat food as close to it’s natural state as possible. You will feel better, spend less money on food, and reduce your risk of getting sick. Just by doing that one thing!

I really hope that this post will be seen as less of a rant, and more of a conversation opener. Do you like zone bars? Why? Did you know what you were eating? Please feel free to leave your own opinions in the comments.

  • http://ocdchick.com/ Amanda Rykoff

    Wow, Sarah, this is a powerful conversation starter.

    I've been on and off the Zone diet plan for about 7 years. I have my meals delivered on a daily basis so it ensures that I'm eating healthy and balanced fresh meals. But I live in NYC and sometimes I'm racing around like a crazy person and can't stop for a proper meal or snack. When that happens, I grab a Zone Bar. I keep them in my pantry and usually throw one in my purse for just such an occasion. I like their flavors and portability. They give me a good burst of energy and they keep me on the plan. All told, I probably average 5 Zone Bars per week.

    That's why I was so happy to see Zone Bars being distributed free at SXSW. I gladly grabbed a couple each time and stockpiled them in my purse and hotel room. I brought a whole bunch back with me to NYC and planned to continue to use them as snack and meal replacements. Until you posted this.

    With this information about the ingredients, I will seriously reconsider how often I eat the bars. I'm not going to say that I'm cutting them out entirely, since that's basically impossible. But I will do my best to have a healthy, natural snack when possible. I do enjoy apples and am always glad when I have them. But I don't stock up on them at the market in the same way that I do Zone Bars. That will change.

    Thanks again for this eye-opening post. File it under “the more you know.”

  • http://randomsarah.com sarahcooley

    @amandarykoff thank you sooo much for this comment. I'm so glad you had a positive reaction to this post! If you live in NYC, we should totally meet up.

    And take a look around the rest of this blog for more health tips. I've lost 15 lbs in 6 weeks with the changes I've made.

  • http://www.purplecar.net/ PurpleCar

    Hey I follow this blog called Fooducate, and your post could've been right off it! Go check it out if you don't know about it already. And maybe you should write for them! http://www.fooducate.com/blog/

  • http://randomsarah.com sarahcooley

    Thanks, I will check it out.

  • http://rawfoodswitch.com Nathalie Lussier

    I totally agree about the Zone bars. I realize that everyone was just glad to have a snack because they were hungry, but one look at that list of ingredients and I never ate one.

    Thanks for writing this! You rock. :)