Protein
bars are the "portable", mess-free alternative to
meal replacement powders. As you know, I'm a big fan of meal
replacements -- they are a relatively cost-efficient way
of replacing a high-carb, high-fat meal with a high protein,
low fat, low-to moderate carbohydrate meal. Plus, meal replacements
take all the guesswork out of eating 5-7 small meals a day.
Protein bars (in theory, anyway), are supposed to do the same
thing.
And
what do protein bars have over meal replacements?
Convenience.
As
much as I like them, there is a down-side to meal replacements.
Some don't mix so well without a blender. And of course, there's
the small matter of finding something to mix the shake with!
And if you're somebody who spends a lot of time in your car...
Well,
large liquid meals and traffic jams just don't mix. ;-)
So
protein bars would seem like the obvious alternative, right?
Well...
Yes
and no.
Here's
the problem...
It's
much more difficult to create a great-tasting, moist, and generally
high quality bar without adding a ton of sugar, corn-syrup,
and/or fructose. Obviously, this is not an issue with meal replacement
powders, since you need to mix them with water or skim milk.
In
short, the problem with most bars is that the quality of the
bar is directly proportional to how it tastes. In short...
The
better the bar is for you...
The
worse it tastes.
The
better a bar tastes...
The
worse it is for you.
It's
a rather sad reality.
If
that isn't bad enough, there's another issue here...
There
is a serious problem with product labelling. In a recent series
of tests performed by ConsumerLabs (www.consumerlabs.com),
60% of the 30 bars tested
failed to meet their labelling claims.
Wow!
Here's
some of the disturbing statistics...
o
1 out of 12 protein bars met the labelling claims.
o
1 out of 8 meal replacement bars met the labelling claims.
o
4 out of 10 diet bars met the labelling claims.
o
2 products exceed their claimed amounts of fat.
o
50% of bars tested exceeded their claimed level of carbohydrates,
some by a significant amount.
Note:
The main reason for this is that a major ingredient in most
of these bars - glycerin (used as a sweetener, and to keep the
product moist), is not regarded as a carbohydrate by most manufacturers.
So
they don't include glycerin content in the total tally of carbohydrates,
"because it has a minimal effect on blood sugar levels."
Um...
so what? There are plenty of bona fide carbohydrates that have
a minimal effect on blood sugar levels, and they still count
as carbohydrates, right?
Exactly!
The
United States Food And Drug Administration says glycerin IS
a carbohydrate, and that's good enough for me.
This
is deceptive marketing, plain and simple...
This
is a "low-carb" bar simply because 2/3 of the carbs
in the bar aren't included
in the final count. Nice.
To
be fair though - I've found that bars that are formulated with
glycerin don't
cause the same "energy crash" that I find with traditionally-sweetened
bars.
In
other words, I'm not adverse to using glycerin to make a product
taste good.
I'd just like to have it included in the total carbohydrate
count so I REALLY know
what I'm getting.
Isn't
that fair?
o
Of the bars that passed, 40-70% of the calories were provided
by carbohydrates, mostly sugars.
In
other words, "protein bars" is a deceptive term, since
most bars contain far more carbs than protein. ConsumerLabs
says a typical bar contains...
o
49% of calories from carbohydrates, mostly sugars.
o
29% of calories from proteins.
o
22% of calories from fat.
The
ConsumerLabs report is a little annoying though...
They
don't report which bars failed their test. In other words, they
list and report on the 12 out of the 30 bars that passed, but
nowhere do they show which bars failed. Conspicuous in their
absence however are these brands...
o
Labrada
o
Muscle-Tech
o
Advantage (Atkins) Bars
o
American BodyBuilding
o
Jenny Craig
And
of course, just because a bar passes the ConsumerLabs test does
not mean it is worth buying...
It
just means it meets its label claims, and that all the nutrients
are reported in the Nutrition Facts panel.
Some
of the brands that DID pass...
o
GeniSoy Soy Protein Bar
o
Barry Sears, Ph.D. Zone Perfect Nutrition Bar
o
Balance Bar -- Nutritional Food Bar
o
Xetalean Diet and Energy Bar
o
Eas Myoplex Lite Nutrition Bar
o
Met-Rx Food bar
In
order to get a better grasp on the whole "protein bar extravaganza"
I've experimented with about 12 different brands over the last
couple of weeks.
Part
II:The best protein bars!
