Mission: Nutrition (The Fat and Protein Edition)

What is protein?

Protein is a macromolecule comprised of many amino acids bonded together. Proteins have both hydrophobic and hydrophilic parts, and are held together by hydrogen bonds forming alpha helices and beta strands/sheets. Protein is the only food group that contains nitrogen.

How much protein in Kind Maple Glazed Pecan & Sea Salt Nuts & Spices Bar contributes to the % DV? What does that mean?  What ingredients contribute the protein?

It contains 5% of the daily value of protein. This means, for the average person on a 2000 calorie diet would be getting 5% of their protein intake by eating this bar as they should be eating about 100 g of protein in a day and are getting 5 g from this bar. The ingredients contributing the protein are the pecans, almonds, peanuts, chicory root fiber, rice flour,

How many calories in Kind Maple Glazed Pecan & Sea Salt Nuts & Spices Bar are due to protein? How can you tell?

There are 20 calories from protein in this bar. You can tell because there are 5 g of protein in this bar and each gram of protein has 4 calories in it. Therefore, 5 grams of protein with 4 calories per gram is 20 calories contributed from protein.

What is fat?

Fat, otherwise referred to as lipids or triglydcerides, are hydrophobic in nature due to the fact that they are non-polar. They are called triglycerides because they have three fatty acid chains and the alcohol glycerol. They are absolutely essential to our diets. So much so that baby formula is fortified with it. Fats can be solid, semi-solid, or liquid. They can be saturated – solid at room temperature – or unsaturated – liquid at room temperature. Unsaturated fats can be broken down further into groups that are mono- or poly- unsaturated. The polyunsaturated fats can be either cis or trans which refers to the atoms arrangements in their bonds.

Natural Triglyceride

Cis vs. Trans Fats

How much fat in Kind Maple Glazed Pecan & Sea Salt Nuts & Spices Bar contributes to the % DV? What does that mean? What ingredients are contributing the fat?

There is a total percentage of 26% Daily Value of fat in one bar. This means that in an average 2000 calorie diet, 26% of the fat you should eat in a day will be obtained from this bar. There is a total of 17 grams of fat in the bar and that comes from the pecans, almonds, peanuts, chicory root fiber, and rice flour.

What types of fats does Kind Maple Glazed Pecan & Sea Salt Nuts & Spices Bar contain? What are those different kinds of fats and why should we care?

This KIND bar contains 1.5 g total saturated fat, 10 g total monosaturated fat, and 5 g total polyunsaturated fat. 0 g of the fats in this bar come from trans fats. Saturated fats have only hydrogen bonds and make no double bonds. Saturated fats have a structure that makes it easier for them to stack which is why the fat is a solid at room temperature. Because it doesn’t have any double bonds, the build is straighter than the other fats. Mono- and poly- unsaturated fats are liquids at room temperature. Monounsaturated fats can only form one double bond (hence the prefix mono-), while polyunsaturated fats form multiple double bonds. We should care because saturated fats tend to cause more health problems than unsaturated fats because saturated fats can drive up a person’s total cholesterol. Mono- and poly- unsaturated fats are the healthier fats that have health benefits. They are essential fats in a person’s diet.

How many calories in Kind Maple Glazed Pecan & Sea Salt Nuts & Spices Bar are due to fat? How can you tell?

The nutrition label on the packaging says that there are 160 calories from fat in this bar, but if you take the total grams of fat in this bar (17 g) and multiply it by 9, as there are 9 calories per gram of fat, there are 153. I find it likely they probably round up on the packaging, but doing the math, there are 7 less calories from fat than listed.