Over the past month, I have had the awesome opportunity to work with registered dietitian and UNL Extension Educator Alice Henneman! She taught me some great things about food blogging and online nutrition education. With her help, I was able to create a blog post about these yummy granola bars. You can find that post at cookitquick.org.
I thought for my lovely readers, I would add a little info here about the awesome nutrients in these bars. While the peanut butter used may be high in fat, over half of that fat is in the form of monounsaturated fatty acids. As The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics explains, this type of fat can actually improve blood cholesterol levels. Peanut butter is also a good sources of magnesium, a major mineral that plays a role in many body functions and may help protect against diabetes by improving insulin action.
The rolled oats used in the recipe are high in soluble fiber which has been associated with a decreased risk of heart disease. They are also an important source of B vitamins, folate, iron, magnesium, and selenium. The raisins are a great way to add some sweetness without adding fat or sodium; they have a considerable amount of dietary fiber and potassium. The coconut used is also a good source of dietary fiber. It is high in saturated fats; however, they are medium chain fatty acids so they increase both "good" and "bad" cholesterol equally. Carrot shreds are another ingredient in these granola bars [I promise you won't even notice when you taste them ;) ]; they have antioxidants called carotenoids which may lower the risk of some cancers and boost eye health.
Finally, I'd like to talk about the honey. In this recipe and many others, it serves as a sweetener; thus, it contains sugars! This means that it is not a particularly low calorie option if you're substituting equal parts honey for sugar since it weighs more per tablespoon.That being said, because it is not just sucrose like table sugar, it has greater sweetening power. Ultimately, this means that you can use less honey than you would table sugar and that's how you save calories. There are also a variety of antioxidants and beneficial phytochemicals found in honey that boost its nutritional quality so that you're not just consuming "empty calories" like those in table sugar. Find out more from the National Honey Board.
Overall, these granola bars are what we call "nutrient dense." For their weight and calorie content, they have many of the nutrients your body needs to keep functioning at its best!
I thought for my lovely readers, I would add a little info here about the awesome nutrients in these bars. While the peanut butter used may be high in fat, over half of that fat is in the form of monounsaturated fatty acids. As The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics explains, this type of fat can actually improve blood cholesterol levels. Peanut butter is also a good sources of magnesium, a major mineral that plays a role in many body functions and may help protect against diabetes by improving insulin action.
The rolled oats used in the recipe are high in soluble fiber which has been associated with a decreased risk of heart disease. They are also an important source of B vitamins, folate, iron, magnesium, and selenium. The raisins are a great way to add some sweetness without adding fat or sodium; they have a considerable amount of dietary fiber and potassium. The coconut used is also a good source of dietary fiber. It is high in saturated fats; however, they are medium chain fatty acids so they increase both "good" and "bad" cholesterol equally. Carrot shreds are another ingredient in these granola bars [I promise you won't even notice when you taste them ;) ]; they have antioxidants called carotenoids which may lower the risk of some cancers and boost eye health.
Finally, I'd like to talk about the honey. In this recipe and many others, it serves as a sweetener; thus, it contains sugars! This means that it is not a particularly low calorie option if you're substituting equal parts honey for sugar since it weighs more per tablespoon.That being said, because it is not just sucrose like table sugar, it has greater sweetening power. Ultimately, this means that you can use less honey than you would table sugar and that's how you save calories. There are also a variety of antioxidants and beneficial phytochemicals found in honey that boost its nutritional quality so that you're not just consuming "empty calories" like those in table sugar. Find out more from the National Honey Board.
Overall, these granola bars are what we call "nutrient dense." For their weight and calorie content, they have many of the nutrients your body needs to keep functioning at its best!