If you've ever walked down the health-food aisle at the grocery store in search of a nutrition bar, chances are you came away overwhelmed.

High protein, high energy, low fat, low sugar -- it seems each bar does something different. Worse yet, it's difficult to tell if the bars truly are good for you (many of them aren't) and whether they taste good or like a chunk of peanut-butter-flavored cardboard.

Well, we're here to take out some of the guesswork.

With the help of Clifton Johnston, a personal trainer at Bally Total Fitness, asap breaks down nine of the most popular nutrition bars on the market. Johnston also works at The Vitamin Shoppe, so he'll handle the good-for-you part. JOHN MARSHALL has struggled to find a nutrition bar he likes, so he'll tackle the taste testing.

See the gallery here

___

John Marshall is asap's sports writer, based in Denver.

___

Want to comment? Sound off at soundoffasap@ap.org .

©2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy.