What To Know About Protein Bars
Protein powder is a convenient option if you don’t have time to eat a meal. But what if you’re so busy that you can’t even find the time to pour powder and other ingredients into a vessel, fill it with liquid, shake or blend it, and then drink and clean up?
First of all, you’re not that busy!!!
Secondly, if you are that busy, that’s where protein bars come in!1YOU’RE NOT THAT BUSY!!!
Coming in a variety of types and flavors, protein bars are snack-sized bites of protein goodness that have the potential to help you reach your fat loss or muscle-building goals but there are some things to know that you probably don’t…
The first thing to know is that according to estimates, the price of a protein bar is 3x that of the equivalent amount of protein in shit that requires a wee bit more effort to prepare and eat!2Exactly, think of it as a laziness tax! So when protein bar shopping, you might want to ask yourself whether or not the convenience of getting your protein from a bar is worth the bang for your buck. Considering your financial situation, it more than likely isn’t. But whatever. You have an image to maintain as a baller, so buy that protein bar, baby!!!
Other than cost, which is a big deal to you because you’re broke but won’t admit it because you’re trying to keep up appearances, something else you should know is that not all protein bars are in fact “protein bars”. Yeah, that’s right! Some protein bars are just glorified candy bars with their high calorie, sugar, and carb content.
To make sure that you’re eating a protein, not candy, bar, the bar should contain more than 10g of protein, around 5g of fiber, less than 5g of saturated fat, no more than 140mg of sodium, and, most importantly, less than 35 percent of total calories should come from sugar.3More specifically, your bar should also contain a 2:1 ratio of protein-to-carbs if your goal is weight loss and a 1:2 ratio of protein-to-carbs if using the bar after a workout or for some activity that requires sustained energy.
After checking out the nutrition panel, take a gander at the ingredient list. If sucrose, brown rice syrup, high fructose corn syrup, cane sugar, dextrose, agave nectar, or any other sweetener is listed as one of the first three ingredients, then you might want to choose another bar!4While being first is usually a good thing, it’s not in this case because what appears first on a nutrition label is the highest quantity ingredient in the food product. Because you want a protein bar, egg whites, nuts, seeds, whey protein, and other protein sources should take primacy. Be on the lookout also for sugar alcohols (e.g. xylitol, erythritol, sorbitol, maltitol, mannitol, isomalt, lactitol) and partially hydrogenated oils (i.e. trans fats).
Walk into almost any grocery or convenience store and you’ll see snack bars with the word “protein” in big neon lights on wrapper after wrapper. And because protein is an important part of any healthy diet, that snack bar with “protein” printed on it has to be a healthy snack, right?
At first glance, protein bars appear to be a healthy food choice but as we now know upon our closer examination, that’s not always the case, as some of the ingredients may be less than desirable. Another little known tidbit about protein bars is the expense.
But even without these things and you were to find a protein bar with ideal contents at a price that isn’t marked up with an exorbitant convenience fee, protein bars, like protein powder, shouldn’t be your primary source of protein because they’re generally wont of the vitamins, minerals, healthy fats, antioxidants, and fiber found in fruits, vegetables, grains, beans, seeds, nuts, meat, fish, and dairy. That should go without saying but *sigh* here I am saying it because it has to be said *sigh*
Glossary: calories, diet, dietary fat, fat, goal, muscle, workout
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