What's in that raw Snickers bar? The truth about 'healthy' treats

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You're hitting the gym most days before work, you're eating clean, you're avoiding sugary drinks. Yet that stubborn layer of fat refuses to shift. You can't figure out the problem – you only eat natural, unprocessed foods, and the occasional healthy treat … and if the treats you eat are refined-sugar free, they must be OK. Right? Wrong.

All around us, we see an abundance of "healthy" treats, from raw Snickers bars, to salted caramel protein balls, to sugar-free chocolate. They fill the shelves in health food stores and hipster cafes, and have even started appearing on supermarket shelves. They often contain unprocessed foods – dates, nuts, seeds, cacao, honey, coconut oil, dried fruit, and so on. However, when it comes to weight maintenance or weight loss, they may just be your undoing.

Accredited dietitian Dr Naras Lapsys, from The Body Doctor in Sydney, believes the high kilojoule density of these treats is something many people aren't aware of.

We've got to remember nuts and seeds are going to be quite high fat, so as healthy as they are they've got quite high calorie density.

"Calories are still important, and we can overconsume calories. We've got to remember nuts and seeds are going to be quite high fat, so as healthy as they are they've got quite high calorie density," he says.

Many of these treats contain sugar or energy bombs we are unaware of, Lapsys says. He recommends keeping in mind portion size, and the number of kilojoules we should be consuming daily before choosing so-called healthy treats.

Another factor to take into consideration is the abundant use of sweeteners. "A lot of these products will use things like honey as the sweetener, and again it's still a form of sugar," Lapsys says.

While he believes stevia, a more natural sugar replacement, is a better alternative for weight loss or maintenance, stevia products found on grocery shelves are usually highly refined, often containing a mixture of other sweeteners, and very minimal actual stevia.

Dates are another natural form of sugar commonly used as sweetener. According to Nutrition Journal, each medjool date contains 16 grams of sugar, the equivalent to 89 per cent of the total carbohydrates in the date. In fact, 100 grams of dates is the equivalent to a massive 1150 kilojoules.

As many of these treats are largely made up of dried fruits such as dates, they can end up containing about 60 per cent sugar content. Even with natural sugar, this is a significant energy and carbohydrate hit, so they are unlikely to be nutritionally balanced.

Superfoods such as maca, reishi and turmeric are also often added but Lapsys reminds us to be wary of marketing spin. He believes if we're not eating healthily otherwise, these "healthy" treats aren't going to do much for us nutritionally, as it's almost impossible they contain enough of these superfoods to have any actual effect.

When we compare these treats to regular sweets, such as milk chocolate, the results are surprising. A 100 gram serving of Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate contains 2230 kilojoules, 56 grams of sugar and 18 grams of saturated fat. Whereas a 100 gram serving of Loving Earth Coconut Mylk chocolate, containing no cane sugar or dairy, has 2600 kilojoules 31.6 grams of sugar, and 33.6 grams of saturated fat. So we can clearly see that while it may be lower in sugar, it actually has more energy than your traditional Dairy Milk bar, and more saturated fats, despite having only unrefined ingredients in it.

Similarly, a recipe for raw, unrefined energy protein balls by Sports Dietitians Australia, containing dates, oats, peanut butter, protein powder, honey and coconut contains 2217 kilojoules per 100 gram serve, with 35 grams of fat.

So while the ingredients in these healthy treats may sound healthier, they're often higher in energy than our less "virtuous" sugar-laden favourites. Lapsys urges us to consider serving size, and consume in moderation in order to avoid weight gain from these treats.

"You could have eaten one of these treats when all you really needed was the nuts, and a small handful of almonds would have done the job. You didn't need the honey, or the protein powder, or the maca, and all the other things that went into it."

It's important to tune in to your body to figure out what you're truly craving – is it the protein hit, the carbs or the fats you really need? Use this to figure out what wholefoods will really hit the spot.

And instead of regularly snacking on treats, turn to a piece of fruit, some roasted vegetables (sweet potato will hit your sweet spot), some avocado on crackers, or some nuts and seeds. Because wholefoods are always superior – even to unrefined, unprocessed competitors.

At a glance

Medjool date (one date)
16 grams of sugar (89 per cent of the total carbohydrates in the date)

Medjool date (100 grams)
1150 kilojoules

Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate (100 grams)
2230 kilojoules, 56 grams of sugar and 18 grams of saturated fat

Loving Earth Coconut Mylk Chocolate (100 grams)
2600 kilojoules, 31.6 grams of sugar and 33.6 grams of saturated fat
No cane sugar or dairy

Raw energy protein balls (100 grams)
2217 kilojoules, 35 grams of fat
Sports Dietitians Australia recipe