best and worse protein bars

thanks for all your help girls and boys!

 

Originally posted by kokopuffs:
>Also there is a link between excess protein intake and kidney damage - the glomeruli, aka the filtering apparatus, is slowly ruined over time. Americans seem to have the highest protein intake and rate of kidney failure in the world.

That is a very tenuous link!
Americans also have very high intakes of fat and carbohydrates and salt and have very high levels of obesity.
Thus Americans have high rates of hypertension, adult-onset diabetes mellitus, and atherosclerotic vascular disease.
These latter 3 are far more relevent to the reasonably high rates of kidney disease in the USA than is high protein diets!!!

 

patch i havent tried the detour bars yet, but i did try promax bars-- the cookies and cream one is awesome!! it's my new chocolate fix when i feel the need. theyr'e pretty pricey too $4.50 from teh Melbourne city baths. i don't know where else theyre sold.

 

The balance GOLD bars I have found to be awesome (caramel nut blast rules)..

However, dont take them on a ride, as they turn to mush.

 

Their are some awesome protein bars their called pure protein they have 32 g protein and very little crabs and tasted good too thats what i eat and i love them i would also try protein powders i use mega isolate it has 50 g protein and 3 crabs and taste really good as well you can found powder and bar at any gnc.

 

real food is better for you then those candy bars they sell at the supplement store...thats really all they are.

 

Yes but real food is also high in fat and crabs if you buy a protein bar or a powder then you get 2 or 3 carbs a 1% fat also eating protein bars is a lot easier then eat 5 preces of chicken and has alot more protein and thier not nasty you just need to know what to buy and not be picky

 

mm crabs are tasty.

 

joking aside, lets take a look at the comparison for snickers bar and a balance gold (approximately same size bar - snickers is a little bigger):

Calories:

Balance=210
Snickers=270

Fat:

balance = 7 gram
snickers = 14 gram

carb:

balance = 23g (13 are simple sugar)
snickers = 35g (30 are simple sugar) *ouch*

protien:

balance = 15 g
snickers = 4

vitamins:

balance= 100% rda of vitamins E and C, plenty vitamin A, D, B6, etc.. etc.. etc

snickers= none.

As you can see, theres a big difference between a "Candy" bar and an energy bar..

p.s Dont bother with the snickers crunch.. its smaller than the balance and has 400 calories, 21 g of fat.

As for powerbars - they have less fat, less protien, but 41 g carbs with 20 being from sugar, plus vitamins, etc.. unfortunately they taste like chalk.

 

You can get them online pretty cheap. ANYTHING at GNC is expensive.

There are two other kinds of "candy" protein bars: One Way bars, which are like a Reese's peanut butter cup, and U-turn bars, which are like a Milky Way. All three taste AWESOME and I have not had any other protein bars since these came out.

The Detour bar is still my favorite.

 

That has to be some kind of sin against God and Mankind.

 

Those wanting a good tasting Power Bar I have one for you. Get a Power Bar Protien Plus. Get the Vanilla Yogurt Flavor. They are extremly tasty. To me they taste like Candy. They are by far the best "bar" I have tasted. Plus they are about twice the size as a normal Power Bar.

 

Su - have you tried protein powder instead? Mix it in a fruit smoothie or chocolate almond drink (Breeze is the best). It works for me. I don't do those protein bars anymore because they are like candy bars and if you are addicted to candy bars you will become addicted to anything that tastes like candy bars. Eat a better diet and lose the candy/protein bars.

 

The "latest" I've seen on the carb/protein debate says that a four to one ratio of carb to protein results in fastest rate of carb conversion during exercise and best rate of muscle-sparing after exercise. It also seems that the protein content is much more important post-workout(of course) and the level of suggested protein during exercise is mostly dependent on gastro-intestinal effects. I take this to mean that a 4 to 1 ratio during exercise is ideal if you can tolerate the protein.

 

I remember reading the results of a few tests that have been done on a lot of those protein bars

the end result of most tests was that the protein bars almost always contained more fat and less protein than was claimed, sometimes the amount of fat was 2-3 times the label claim!!

As Ric pointed out there is no real good reason for eating a protein bar if you are primarily training for cycling (bodybuilding or weightlifting MAY be a different case)

besides i've never found one that didn't make me gag

 

With all due respect, I just don't believe most of what this post says.

Labels with as much error as you pont out may certainly exist out there somewhere but in most countries such mislabeling would be criminally negligent.

As for the no real good reason for eating a protien bar... I think it might be a convenient way to get part of a body's daily requirement of protien some of the time, particularly when training stresses are very high or when you're short on time.

That you don't like them... I can't disagree with that one.

They are clearly not a staple. It's a mistake to think they're a meal replacement - particularly for a cyclist. There is room for them to play a role as a nutritional supplement should anyone who enjoys the taste and texture choose to do so.

 

I think that making your own bars from home would be the best solution. You can control the taste factor and you will know what is really going into your body. I have tried Powerbar before in the past and I only enjoyed maybe one flavor. What flavor of Promax do you recommend?

 

I love the Kind protein bars and I always try to pick up a big pack of them whenever I go to one of those giant outlet type stores, but I do not go that often so I do not eat them as much as I wish. They have all sorts of nuts though, and I have always tried to get my protein from sources like nuts so it works well for me, and they are delicious.

 

I enjoy almonds especially. It's hard to find bars that are packed full of almonds. I used to buy Kind protein bars on Amazon. They are defiantly worth the money you are paying for. I have always wanted to try foreign bars. Like a Chinese brand protein bar.

 

Oats is one of those wonder foods that are too often underrated and best of all if prepared right they can really be delicious. Oats are my go to food if I want energy and endurance.