There are four main bar types to choose from, each having a slightly different set of ingredients to cater for different tastes:

As with any food, moderation is key, there is no reason why you shouldn’t enjoy a Nature Valley bar occasionally as part of a healthy, balanced diet – but are probably best avoided if you are looking to reduce your weight. Nature Valley bars don’t contain any artificial colours, flavours or preservatives but they do contain refined sugar and oils. Canadian Maple Syrup – Crunchy cereal bars made with whole grain rolled oats and Canadian maple syrup. Oats & Dark Chocolate – Crunchy cereal bars made with whole grain rolled oats and dark chocolate pieces. Oats & Honey – Crunchy cereal bars made with whole grain rolled oats and honey. With many of the bars formed from ingredients such as honey, rolled oats, nuts, chocolate chips and coconut, the nutritional values can vary vastly. Whilst they provide a beneficial source of fibre and protein, they do also contain sugar and fats which need to be consumed in moderation. In this section of our review, we look at the nutrition values of the Nature Valley ranges. Carb count

Nature Valley bars have on average 10 syns for a 42g serving which is two bars, making them very high in syns, we would therefore suggest only having them as the occasional treat on the slimming world. Fibre is key to maintaining a healthy digestive system. The government guidelines state that an average adult should consume 30g of fibre daily. Most adults, however, eat much less than this. If you want to increase the amount of fibre in your diet, the Nature Valley Protein bar in coconut and almond flavour is your best choice, with 5.1g of fibre per bar coming from the use of the wholegrain rolled oats. Good fat vs bad fat Some of these bars are suitable for vegans. However, some of the bars contain honey which many vegans do not accept as a vegan-based food, as it produced by bees. Do Nature Valley bars contain gluten? Most of the bars also contain palm oil and shea vegetable fats. Palm oil has been in the news recently due to concerns about the impact of palm oil production on the environment, which might be an ethical decision for some people who chose not to consume products which contain palm oil. Calories in Nature Valley bars If you are gluten intolerant, then you should only consume the Protein Bar range, which the Nature Valley states are their gluten-free choice. So, just how healthy are Nature Valley bars?

These bars get their high syn value from the sugar and fat in them due to the maple syrup, oil and sugar inside of them, for example, a two bar serving has up to 7.5g of fat and 11.5g of sugar.

Nature Valley bars and weight loss

If a product has ‘nature’ in the title, is easy to believe it will be good for you. But that is not always the case. The bar does have its benefits with the Protein bar range scoring highly for protein and the Almond Nut Butter range providing a better option than the bars containing peanuts. Another plus point is the use of wholegrains for the base of the Crunchy range which provide fibre. The Sweet and Salty Nut bars are unfortunately high in fructose corn syrup and use palm kernel oil which is a processed saturated fat. Nature has been our inspiration since 1975. That’s why all our bars are made with great tasting ingredients like oats and honey. So whether you’re hiking through the forest or cycling the countryside, experience life the Nature Valley™ way!