Lunchtime? Grab one. Want a snack? Grab another. Heading to the gymnasium? Scoff down one for a quick energy boost. Done with your workout? Heck, one more energy bar for the road.
Originally a staple of endurance athletes and sold through alternative channels like health-food stores, energy bars are now within everyone's reach.
They are sold at supermarkets, cafes, gyms or even petrol kiosks as a quick meal replacement or snack.
The demand for energy bars has been escalating over the years, thanks mainly to the worldwide fitness craze, including in Singapore.
Next month's Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon alone will see a record 50,000 participants, almost 10,000 more runners than last year.
Market analyst company Mintel predicts that energy-bar sales in the United States alone will total US$982 million (S$1.5 billion) by 2011, up from less than US$200 million in 1997.
But do you know which bar is right for you? There are high-carb bars that consist mainly of sugar like corn syrup and grains like oat and rice.
There are also high-protein bars, which pack more protein than a fistful of meat (but usually flavour-enhanced with harmful saturated fat).
Then there are 40-30-30 bars (named after the ratio of carbs to protein to fat and touted to help lose weight faster and boost athletic performance), meal-replacement bars, breakfast bars, cereal bars, women-only bars... the list goes on.
Research, though, has shown there is no magic to energy bars.
As Singapore Sports Council's (SSC) head sports nutritionist Png Weileen puts it: 'If you're going to pay $3 or $7 for a bar, you might as well get the same, or even more nutrients, from a plate of food cooked healthily with staples, protein and vegetables.'
Of course, for athletes or the time-constrained, bars are ideal grab-and-go fuel.
Spoilt for choice?
The Straits Times' expert panel - Pan Pacific Singapore's food and beverage director Joseph Martin, ultra-endurance runner Martin Gottlob and SSC's Png - tastes and rates them. No holds barred.
This article was first published in The Straits Times on November 22, 2008.
