I guess if I'm going to try to get more fiber in my diet, a chewy "granola bar" is a lot more fun than a bowl of cereal, especially when granola bars these days, taste a lot like candy.
As you all know, water and fiber are two things that have been lacking in my diet, and if you didn't know, well, now you do. FiberOne Chewy Bars are a product from the same General Mills line that makes the Fiber One Raisin Bran Clusters that I taste-tested last week. They come in two flavors: Oats and Chocolate and Oats and Peanut Butter. According to the package, these bars have 35% of the daily value of fiber that I should be consuming. That's quite a claim! I could eat three of these and eat steak and vanilla ice cream for the rest of the day!
I have to say that if Fiber One Chewy Bars were going for any other market besides the 30-35 year old, highly mobile, time-strapped, desperate-out-of-nutrition-depletion, they wouldn't do very well. But for me, their box with the giant logo that screams out "FIBER!" sure made sense! The wrappers on the individual bars were that exciting, too.
Packaging and marketing aside, the most important part of this Test is how it tastes, particularly how it stacks up against other chewy bars that may nto provide as much fibrous benefits. I tried the Oats and Chocolate ( I am not a huge fan of peanut butter). The bar itself looks like any other chewy granola bar, with lots of oats, rice and other grains. It isn't coated in chocolate, but does have chocolate chips, and is drizzled with chocolate on top.
When I pulled the bar apart, it was obvious that there was some sticky sugary ingredient that was holding everything together. Apart from its fiber content, the bar couldn't possibly be a part of a low-sugar diet.
The bar is chewy, and with all the grains, definitely tasted like it was full of fiber. However, it was way too sweet. Even with just a drizzle of chocolate on top (which I doubt was all that sweet), it was almost as sweet as a candy bar. I guess sweetness has to compensate in some way for the high fiber content in order for it to taste goo to the general public. I could have done without the chocolate, both chips and drizzle, and about half the 10g of sugar in each 140 calorie bar.
Overall, it wasn't a bad bar. If they were in my pantry, I wouldn't be opposed to snapping one up for a quick commute-fast (breakfast in the car on the way to work), but it was a little too sweet for me to go to the store and buy my own.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-28-2007 @ 2:48PM
Kassie said...
These are very popular with the Weight Watchers crowd, mostly because they taste like candy bars I think.
The biggest problem with them isn't the sweetness, it is the after effects. Hello gas. Hello other intestinal problems. I don't know what they put in them, but there should be a warning on them of the side effects, must like Olestra.
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8-28-2007 @ 4:48PM
spaceystace23 said...
I think it's the inulin they put in them to bump up the fiber content that gives you the bad side effects. At least that's what does it for me. I have to read labels much more closely now after figuring this out!
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8-28-2007 @ 6:28PM
Barry said...
I think they're ok, not great. They do provide sweetness at an affordable Weight Watcher point level. The thing that put me off them was when I bothered to read the ingredients. I'll find fiber some other way, thanks.
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8-28-2007 @ 7:51PM
missy said...
So tasty, but so much gas I couldn't stand to ever eat another one!
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8-28-2007 @ 8:48PM
Aaron Dearinger said...
Most people who experience the side effects of from high fiber are suffering from those "issues" because their diet is already pretty low in fiber. When I started consuming twice my daily suggested amount of fiber I suffed from side effects like crazy, but after a couple months, my body adjusted, and no more problems. People def. need to eat more fiber.
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8-28-2007 @ 8:49PM
rockphiler said...
I like 'em! Not remotely saw-dusty; and they don't give me gastro-intestinal issues, they just do what they're supposed to do.
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8-28-2007 @ 9:59PM
Carol said...
I tried these and thought they were waaaaay too sweet, they really grossed me out. I bought them because of the "fiber" on the label but I'd never eat these again.
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8-29-2007 @ 10:45AM
Michelle Lane said...
I always have a lot of fiber in my diet, as I am big on eating whole grain foods and plenty of fruits and vegetables. I bought a package of these from Walmart a month ago, and they taste great-very sweet like other people have commented. I won't buy them again though because my stomach was rumbling for hours after I ate one. I even tried a couple more on other days and I deduced that it was the Fiber One bars causing the intestinal distress.
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8-30-2007 @ 7:05AM
Kirsten said...
I love these hings - with the increase in fiber they keep you full longer, they are an easy thing to eat on the go and they taste great!
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8-30-2007 @ 4:40PM
Eric said...
These don't suck!
I eat a pretty high-fiber diet already (about 40 grams/day - thanks FitDay.com!), so I have had no ill effects despite four of them (!) in about 18 hours. The nutrient balance works pretty well on my plan, and unlike other sticky things, the gooeyness comes from inulin, a prebiotic fiber, rather than high-fructose corn syrup. This is not to say they're un-sweet - they're sweeter than a Snickers bar, by far. Almost like eating a Milky Way in terms of a sugar hit.
The lowdown, though, is that with 9 grams of fiber in a 140-calorie package that is not cursed with off flavors, with more protein than fat, it's not the worst thing you could eat, and it's easy for me to fit a couple into my eating plan. They're *VERY* satisfying thanks to the soluble fiber - you feel like you've had a legitimate meal replacement with two of them.
Eric
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9-02-2007 @ 1:20AM
Miss Tiffie said...
haha i just bought a box the other day. so instead of a candy bar when i crave a chocolate bar, i grab this. i mean, come on, it's GOTTA be healthier than a snickers hehe
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