Conquering Nature Valley

1. The ingredients in Nature Valley bars that are food are: whole grain oats, sugar, canola oil, yellow corn flour, honey, soy flour, brown sugar syrup, and salt.
   The only additives in these bars are soy lecithin and baking soda. Soy lecithin is a kind of emulsifier, and baking soda is a leavening agent.
2. The first vitamin is the most popular: Vitamin C. Vitamin C is an antioxidant, meaning it prevents certain molecules from oxidizing and creating free radicals, which are highly reactive. Vitamin C helps with collagen and connective tissue formation, it can prevent heart disease, decrease the total amount of triglycerides and bad cholesterol in the system, and aid immune function.
   The second vitamin is niacin, otherwise known as vitamin B3. Niacin is important in keeping a healthy cardiovascular system, balancing blood cholesterol levels, brain function, forming and maintaining healthy skin, and even helping and preventing diabetes. However, niacin has recently been studied to have side effects when taken in high doses.
   
3. The items contributing sugars are: sugar, honey, and brown sugar syrup. Sucrose, which is broken down more into glucose and fructose, is most likely the kind of sugars in Nature Valley bars.
   The items contributing fiber are whole grain oats, yellow corn flour, and soy flour. Because is it made of plant-based foods, there is mostly like a combination of soluble and insoluble fiber in the bars, coming from each of the foods. Most would be coming from the whole grain oats.
   One Nature Valley bar contains 15g of carbohydrates. Because carbs contain 4 calories per gram, one nature valley bar would contain 60 calories from carbohydrates.

References:
Babcock, Jillian. “Vitamin B3 / Niacin Side Effects, Benefits & Foods.” Dr. Axe, 10 Jan. 2018, draxe.com/niacin-side-effects/.

Weil, Andrew. “Vitamin C Benefits.” DrWeil.com, 11 Sept. 2017, www.drweil.com/vitamins-supplements-herbs/vitamins/vitamin-c-benefits/.