“It all starts with proper nutrition”.

That is the first thing we say when we explain our concept. The power of our functional food does not only come from the supplements, but in the combination of supplements with whole food ingredients as a basis.

Whole foods are unprocessed (“whole”) ingredients/products such as nuts, dates, coconut, cocoa and oats. The advantage of whole foods is that they are full of flavor, easily digestible and rich in easily absorbable nutrients, fibers, vitamins and minerals. At the same time, they are free of added sugars, binders and E-numbers such as flavor enhancers, colorants and preservatives. This makes whole foods ideal for supporting your health, feeding your muscles and brain and giving you long-lasting energy without peaks and crashes.

In this blog article we look at the ingredients of the Energy Bars to find out what makes them so suitable as an energizer on-the-go, 4pm pick-me-up or natural (pre-)workout snack.

Which Whole Foods are in the Energy bar ?

Looking at the Energy bar ingredients list we see the whole foods dates, gluten free oats, almonds and hazelnuts, Celtic sea salt and Ceylon cinnamon powder. The 80% dark chocolate is technically not a whole food, but it does have valuable ingredients – we’ll come back to that later.

Dates – The Most Complete Sweetener

In all our products we use organic Dalia Sukkary dates as a sweetener. With their caramel-like taste and soft, fleshy texture, this date is ideal for making raw bars and rawnola. They are also full of fiber and rich in potassium, calcium, magnesium and iron. They even contain some protein and healthy fats, making them a much more complete and healthy sweetener than natural alternatives such as honey and maple syrup.

We use organic dates from Yogi & Yousef. This wonderful company has everything under its own management. From growing and harvesting in Saudi Arabia, to distribution and processing into our date paste here in the Netherlands. And the sunflower oil you see on the ingredients list? We would rather skip that too, but a tiny amount is needed to prevent the date paste from getting stuck in the machine. Luckily the amount that ends up in the bars is so little that it is negligible.

Gluten-free Oats – Power Food for Long-lasting Energy

Oats are of course an indispensable ingredient for concentrated feed. They are full of complex (or "slow") carbohydrates and fibers (11%!), which ensures that they are digested gradually and release energy over a long period of time.

In addition, half of the fiber in oats consists of “beta-glucans”. These give a feeling of satiety and contribute to healthy blood sugar levels and balanced cholesterol levels. They also strengthen the immune system – just like the beta-glucans in our mushroom extracts do. In addition, beta-glucans are “soluble fibers”. Together with the resistant starch in oats, these are nutrients (“pre-biotics”) for your mibrobiome (or "gut flora").

Finally, oats also contain a lot of protein. With 14 grams of protein per 100 grams, oats contain up to 2x(!) as much protein as other plant-based protein sources such as cooked chickpeas or black beans.

Oats are naturally gluten-free. Gluten-free oats are isolated during production so that no gluten from other grains (cross-contamination) can get into them.

Almonds & Hazelnuts – Complete Nutrition

Almonds are the nuts with the highest protein content – with 21 grams of protein per 100 grams they are comparable to chicken and beef. They are also full of healthy fats and contain a lot of vitamin E and B2, magnesium, manganese and copper.

Hazelnuts have a little less protein, but with 15% they are still an excellent plant-based protein source. They are also full of good fats (including omega 9 fatty acids) and are rich in fiber, vitamin B1, B6 and B9 (important for energy production and oxygen transport), E and the minerals manganese, copper and magnesium.

For the almond-hazelnut butter, the nuts are roasted in their own fat to enhance their flavour and improve their digestibiltiy. They are then ground into a paste, which gives the bars a wonderfully smooth texture.

Ceylon Cinnamon – Regulate Your Blood Sugar Levels

Ceylon Cinnamon (the only “real cinnamon”) has a mild, warm cinnamon flavor. This cinnamon is full of antioxidants and has a stabilizing effect on your blood sugar levels. It can reduce blood sugar peaks and increase insulin sensitivity. This means that the sugars you eat are converted more evenly and you get energy for longer. It is therefore not surprising that cinnamon tastes so good with all kinds of sweets.

The counterpart, “Cassia cinnamon”, has a sharper and more bitter taste and is a lot cheaper. This cinnamon, unfortunately the standard in the Netherlands, contains relatively much “coumarin” – a substance that is harmful to your liver, kidneys and lungs at high doses.

That is why we invest a little more and use the higher quality and healthier Ceylon Cinnamon.

Celtic Sea Salt – The “Original” Mineral Supplement

The last whole food on the ingredient list is Celtic Sea Salt. What we call “salt” comes from the taste of the mineral “sodium”. Standard sea salt is pure sodium and we all know that too much salt (too much sodium) is bad for your blood pressure, heart and bones.

However, sodium is also an essential mineral for our bodies. The great thing about Celtic sea salt is that, in addition to sodium, it also contains traces of about 70 other minerals, such as magnesium, calcium and potassium. This gives it a more complex taste than regular “sea salt”. As a result, you need less of it to flavor your meal, and it also contributes to your daily mineral intake.

Dark Chocolate 80% – Soft, Creamy and Healthy

As I wrote earlier, chocolate is not a whole food since it is processed from multiple ingredients. But the cocoa mass, cocoa butter and vanilla pods from our chocolate have valuable properties nonetheless.

Cocoa is full of antioxidants and is the plant product with the highest concentration of magnesium – a mineral that we often get too little of in the standard Western diet. Cocoa is also rich in protein and contains a lot of healthy fats, which gives chocolate that delicious smooth flavor. Cocoa also contains theobromine and a little caffeine, these substances make you alert and have a positive effect on your mood.

We mainly know vanilla as a tasty flavouring for everything sweet. But “real” vanilla (so not vanilla flavouring) also has a lot of beneficial properties. It is a natural anti-inflammatory, protects your nervous system and, like cocoa, contributes to a good mood.

And the cane sugar in the chocolate ? We'll take this little bit for granted, because with 9% protein and the delicious combination of almond and hazelnut, this chocolate gives the Energy Raw Bars a delicious cheat flavor that is altogether super healthy.