I am quite an adventurer. And to be honest I have traveled quite often to the high mountains for a trek. And believe me the views where mountains wearing a snow-gown makes it dramatically beautiful. The air is fresh and more importantly I get away from my usual life and embrace the internal peace for a moment. I think everyone should do the hike or travel at least once every two months. I started my passion for high altitude hiking when I first went to Annapurna Base Camp. That was immensely high and difficult for me. For, a guy who had walked a couple of hours to reach the spots at 2500 m of altitude, going for a straight 4,130m was so difficult.
As I already knew that hiking would burn the energy hell out of me. I was prepared with some of the extra chocolates that would boost me up. And just in case: I packed up a bunch of Snickers to have as they were my favorite.
Now when you have hiked for more than 4 straight hours, completely dehydrated, carrying a heavy backpack and taking out your favorite chocolate which you thought was the best energy bars for high altitude hiking’s was useless. Imagine how disappointed one would be ? All that Snicker did was feel my tummy. Though they have their great taste.
Coming back home with this awful snicker experience, I searched what would be best to take. Regardless, of those picturesque photos, tiredness from a week and memories of the beautiful scenarios, the first thing I do after reaching home was searching “Why doesn’t snickers boost your energy?”.
And after some research on Snickers, I went to Best Energy Bars for High Altitude Hiking. And the science I found during then was traumatizing. Woah, the stress and information was too much to take that night.
And after nearly six months when my semester break started, I tried to do the high altitude trekking and chose the best destination. Guess where: The Everest Base Camp (5,634 m). And this time I was prepared.
I could see how debilitated I was after a straight hike for hours. And my imaginary best energy bars for hiking didn’t work well. So, I researched well this time. To cut off the time and numbers of information, I will list you some of the best energy bars for high altitude trekking as well as hiking.
But let us know why energy bars are needed during a hike. Except to boost your energy there’s something more. So, basically what the energy bar does is that it increases the calorie level in our body and gives us extra energy to do certain activities.
In fact, most of the athletes and players grab the energy bar to run or to play or just normally do their activities. If you want to impress your friends with by drifting across the pool first or win a medal in the race, whatever the case be, a high quality energy bar can come handy.
Nutritional requirements at high altitude
Okay let’s have some nutritional information and requirements that you need at high altitude hiking.
The high altitude breaks all the energy, proteins and chlorine during the hike. So, an energy bar sets you up to do the hike with extra energy. The diet at high altitude offers only the basic nutritional value. So, extra nutrition is required to reach the destination. The energy bar perfectly mixes with the blood streams and divides into Calorie, Energy, Protein, Fats and many more.
So, there are plenty of things before grabbing an energy bar to high altitude.
What Energy Bars to avoid in High Altitude?
Whether to eat or not, the ingredients in the energy bar are what matters. So on a prior note, some of the main ingredients that are used to make Energy Bars are listed below:
Nuts: The nuts are solid fruits that contain a high amount of calories and a lot of fats.
Sweetener: If you aim for a high altitude hike, avoid sweeteners in your energy bar like cane sugar (sucrose) or corn syrup and alternatives of raw honey or fructose.
Fruit: Fruits are the flavorings of energy bars. They contain fructose that will provide you with a low-GI sugar source.
Caffeine: Caffeine is a great option to boost your energy. Caffeine makes you feel less tired and increases your energy level.
Protein: Not only for good hiking, proteins are useful for your good health also. These proteins are included by the mixture of eggs by most of the energy bars.
Flavoring: Flavorings that are used from natural sources like fruits, species or unsweetened chocolates must be taken. You can check them on the packaging.
And on an important note, ingredients that are even difficult to pronounce should not pass by your mouth. They are extremely unhealthy to our human health. It’s better to avoid it.
Most popular best energy bars for hikers
List of energy bars:
- RXBAR – Includes rich amount of protein
- KIND Bars – Perfect amount of sugar and protein with great taste
- CLIF Bars – The most well-known and favorite bars for hikers
- Pure Protein Bars – It’s delicious and without gluten providing great protein
- Nakd Bars – Contains total fruits and sweets to give you a little push
How are the taste of Energy Bars?
RXBAR
The bar is chewy with an extremely high amount of protein made with egg whites. Including nuts, cashews, and other ingredients the bar has the real taste of 100% chocolate sprinkled with sea salt.
| Pros | Cons |
| High nutrition | Not a complete meal replacement |
| Made with real food ingredients Tastes Great | High Price |
KIND Bars
The blend of taste and quality is a great choice for your taste buds and health. A grab of KIND Bar gives you a bunch of extra energy with enough protein. You can take the whole bar or just leave rest for some other time before you do your workout, hike or any other activities.
| Pros | Cons |
| Amazing taste | High calorie and sugar content |
| Made with Natural Ingredients | High Price |
CLIF Bars
Energy Bars have been there since decades. The bar is highly popularized among travellers and trekkers. With the great taste and the price for it is extremely affordable. CLIF Bars are chewy and sweet at its most.
| Pros | Cons |
| Variety of flavors | contain processed ingredients |
| Nutritional balance (carbohydrate ,protein, Fats and other minerals and vitamins) | can be extremely sweet for many people |
Pure Protein Bars
If you want to change your body to whole different levels, then you can pack a bag of Pure Protein Bars that will shower your taste buds with their really good taste. These bars form their energy from all natural products, so it’s definitely a good try.
We can see the amount of calories in the bars, they are the highest of than Energy Bars. The ingredients are packed sufficiently, that will make you feel like you are eating a whole food rather than the bar only.
| Pros | cons |
| Low sugar content | Highly processed |
| Gluten-free | Too chewy or less enjoyable to other brands |
Nakd Bars
These bars are smooth and loved by a huge number of people. With only 100% natural ingredients, the bar still manages to be sweet and delicious. Excluding extra syrups, added sugars, and being a gluten free product, it still contains calories, carbohydrates, fats and protein that gives you extra boost for work.
These bars are smooth and loved by a huge number of people. With only 100% natural ingredients, the bar still manages to be sweet and delicious. Excluding extra syrups, added sugars, and being a gluten free product, it still contains calories, carbohydrates, fats and protein that gives you extra boost for work.
| Pros | Cons |
| Gluten free and vegan options | High in natural sugars |
| Includes raw fruits and nut | limited protein content |
Among all the Energy Bars for High Altitude Hiking, I personally suggest the Clif Bar most. It contains a good balance of all carbohydrates, calories, proteins and tastes. With overall 20 flavors to choose from, one can specifically pick his best. Additionally, the bar is moist and chewy, which makes the taste of the bar delicious.
The bar also boosts your energy when your energy level in body starts to drown. You can eat the energy bar before an hour to make the ingredients mix into your blood completely. That’s where energy comes from.
If you are wondering when to eat the bars during your hike. Let me tell you something. The bars have different forms of ingredients that mix into different parts of your body. So to gain the energy you have to wait for the ingredients to completely mix in your blood streams.
What we can do is predict the time that we will be exhausted. In a hike you can guess how long you could walk more. Just then grab the bite of your energy bar and walk. You will have energy to walk normally until the ingredient mix into the blood. When your energy burns out completely, the energy bar does its magic.
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