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http://www.needtobuildmuscle.net/store/Protein-Products/Better-Protein-Bars-p18.html <---- all natural protein bars,better protein bars,best protein bars,healthy protein bars
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 (ConsumerLab.com - independent tests of herbal, vitamin, and mineral supplements), 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.
In order to get a better grasp on the whole "protein bar extravaganza" One must become very wise to label laws and ingredient facts and knowledge.
quick look at some of the ingredients that are in most protein bars. Keep in mind this is just the tip of the iceberg
soy protein=crap
Natural Grain Dextrin= ya sure sounds nice don't it.
Dextrins are a group of low-molecular-weight carbohydrates produced by the hydrolysis of starch. They have the same general formula as carbohydrates but are of shorter chain length. In other words shitty useless carbs.
They are used as water-soluble glues, as thickening agents in food processing so only reason its there is because it was cheap and it bad the bar harder.
Glucose Syrup= HAHAHAHA some label tricks on this one. Glucose Syrup=Technically any liquid starch hydrolysate of mono, di, and higher saccharides. Again label trick. This could be corn syrup, High-fructose corn syrup, or a fructose/glucose syrup bland of any kind. Point being the fact that they chose to call it (Glucose Syrup) rather then its exact name shows and intent to hide something. Ether way what ever it is is more shitty worthless (very un natural) and no good for you in any way shape or form.
Canola= Man I am sick of this fucking oil
where does canola oil come from? Olive oil comes from olives, peanut oil from peanuts, sunflower oil from sunflowers; but what is a canola? There is nothing in the name enlighten us,
There are plenty of official Canola sites lauding this new "wonder" oil with all its low-fat health benefits. It takes a little longer to find sites that tell the less palatable details.
Here are just a few facts everyone should know before buying anything containing canola. Canola is not the name of a natural plant but a made-up word, from the words "Canada" and "oil". Canola is a genetically engineered plant developed in Canada from the Rapeseed Plant, which is part of the mustard family of plants.
Canola - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
According to AgriAlternatives, The Online Innovation, and Technology Magazine for Farmers, "By nature, these rapeseed oils, which have long been used to produce oils for industrial purposes, are... toxic to humans and other animals". (This, by the way, is one of the websites singing the praises of the new canola industry.)
Rapeseed oil is poisonous to living things and is an excellent insect repellent. Rape is an oil that is used as a lubricant, fuel, soap and synthetic rubber base and as a illuminate for color pages in magazines. It is an industrial oil. It is not a food. Rape oil, it seems, causes emphysema, respiratory distress, anemia, constipation, irritability, and blindness in animals and humans.
Rape oil was widely used in animal feeds in England and Europe between 1986 and 1991, when it was thrown out. Remember the "Mad Cow disease" scare, when millions of cattle in the UK were slaughtered in case of infecting humans? Cattle were being fed on a mixture containing material from dead sheep, and sheep suffer from a disease called "scrapie". It was thought this was how "Mad Cow" began and started to infiltrate the human chain. What is interesting is that when rape oil was removed from animal feed, 'scrapie' disappeared.
We also haven't seen any further reports of "Mad Cow" since rape oil was removed from the feed. Perhaps not scientifically proven, but interesting all the same. US and Canadian farmers grow genetically engineered rapeseed and manufacturers use its oil (canola) in thousands of processed foods, with the blessings of Canadian and US government watchdog agencies. The canola supporting websites say that canola is safe to use. They admit it was developed from the rapeseed, but insist that through genetic engineering it is no longer rapeseed, but "canola" instead.
Except canola means "Canadian oil"; and the plant is still a rape plant, albeit genetically modified. The new name provides perfect cover for commercial interests wanting to make millions.
Canola oil from the rape seed, referred to as the Canadian oil because Canada is mainly responsible for it being marketed in the USA. The Canadian government and industry paid our Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) $50 million dollars to have canola oil placed on the (GRAS) List, "Generally Recognized As Safe". Thus a new industry was created. Laws were enacted affecting international trade, commerce, and traditional diets. Studies with lab. animals were disastrous. Rats developed fatty degeneration of heart, kidney, adrenals, and thyroid gland. When canola oil was withdrawn from their diets, the deposits dissolved but scar tissue remained on all vital organs. No studies on humans were made before money was spent to promote Canola oil in the USA.
Adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD) is a rare fatal degenerative disease caused by a build up long-chain fatty acids (c22 to c28) which destroys the myelin (protective sheath) of the nerves. Canola oil is a very long chain fatty acid oil (c22). Those who will defend canola oil say that the Chinese and Indians have used it for centuries with no effect, however it was in an unrefined form (taken from FATS THAT HEAL AND FATS THAT KILL by Udo Erasmus).
Rape seed oil used for stir-frying in China found to emit cancer causing chemicals. (Rapeseed oil smoke causes lung cancer) Amal Kumar Maj. The Wall Street JournaL June 7, 1995 pB6(W) pB6 (E) col 1 (11 col in).
Compiled by Darleen Bradley.
Canola oil is a health hazard to use as a cooking oil or salad oil. It is not the healthy oil we thought it was. It is not fit for human consumption, do not eat canola oil, it can hurt you. Polyunsaturated or not, this is a bad oil.
Be Sure to also read this informative report written by leading health expert Tom Valentine, Canola Oil Report.
Go to Ask Jeeves yourself: Ask.com Search Engine - Better Web Search and type in (Where does Canola Oil come from?) and see what you come up with.
Vegetable Glycerine is a clear, colorless, and odorless liquid
Its used in soup,shampoo,and other cleaning agents. More man mad crap. This is prob one of the lesser evils though.
Artificial Flavors= I fucking love this one. This could mean anything.
The word Artificial says it all though I guess!!!!
Monoglycerides= man I am getting board already. Lets make it short. Its a shitty fat!!!!
Lecithin=
What is soy lecithin?
In the early 1900’s, the yet to be named ’soy lecithin’ was just a waste product produced during the “degumming” process of soybean oil. By 1908 the soy bean crushing and soy oil refining companies had expanded and they were having trouble disposing of the large amounts of foul smelling, fermenting waste product. Soy plants in Germany decided to name this waste product ’soy lecithin’ and looked for ways to utilize it. By 1939 scientists had found more than 1,000 different ways to use soy lecithin.
It’s important to note that solvents are used during the “degumming” process of soybean oil, so soy lecithin itself is likely to contain chemical solvents!!!!!!!!
So is there a protein bar worth eating. YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!
100% all natural un processed un refined better protein bars from http://www.needtobuildmuscle.net/store/Protein-Products/Better-Protein-Bars-p18.html
Not only are the the healthiest bar ever made. But they taste great to. Just do a search around elitefitness about them. Top it all off they are half the price or less then 90% of the bars on the market.
Whats not to love Better Protein Bars
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 (ConsumerLab.com - independent tests of herbal, vitamin, and mineral supplements), 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.
In order to get a better grasp on the whole "protein bar extravaganza" One must become very wise to label laws and ingredient facts and knowledge.
quick look at some of the ingredients that are in most protein bars. Keep in mind this is just the tip of the iceberg
soy protein=crap
Natural Grain Dextrin= ya sure sounds nice don't it.
Dextrins are a group of low-molecular-weight carbohydrates produced by the hydrolysis of starch. They have the same general formula as carbohydrates but are of shorter chain length. In other words shitty useless carbs.
They are used as water-soluble glues, as thickening agents in food processing so only reason its there is because it was cheap and it bad the bar harder.
Glucose Syrup= HAHAHAHA some label tricks on this one. Glucose Syrup=Technically any liquid starch hydrolysate of mono, di, and higher saccharides. Again label trick. This could be corn syrup, High-fructose corn syrup, or a fructose/glucose syrup bland of any kind. Point being the fact that they chose to call it (Glucose Syrup) rather then its exact name shows and intent to hide something. Ether way what ever it is is more shitty worthless (very un natural) and no good for you in any way shape or form.
Canola= Man I am sick of this fucking oil
where does canola oil come from? Olive oil comes from olives, peanut oil from peanuts, sunflower oil from sunflowers; but what is a canola? There is nothing in the name enlighten us,
There are plenty of official Canola sites lauding this new "wonder" oil with all its low-fat health benefits. It takes a little longer to find sites that tell the less palatable details.
Here are just a few facts everyone should know before buying anything containing canola. Canola is not the name of a natural plant but a made-up word, from the words "Canada" and "oil". Canola is a genetically engineered plant developed in Canada from the Rapeseed Plant, which is part of the mustard family of plants.
Canola - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
According to AgriAlternatives, The Online Innovation, and Technology Magazine for Farmers, "By nature, these rapeseed oils, which have long been used to produce oils for industrial purposes, are... toxic to humans and other animals". (This, by the way, is one of the websites singing the praises of the new canola industry.)
Rapeseed oil is poisonous to living things and is an excellent insect repellent. Rape is an oil that is used as a lubricant, fuel, soap and synthetic rubber base and as a illuminate for color pages in magazines. It is an industrial oil. It is not a food. Rape oil, it seems, causes emphysema, respiratory distress, anemia, constipation, irritability, and blindness in animals and humans.
Rape oil was widely used in animal feeds in England and Europe between 1986 and 1991, when it was thrown out. Remember the "Mad Cow disease" scare, when millions of cattle in the UK were slaughtered in case of infecting humans? Cattle were being fed on a mixture containing material from dead sheep, and sheep suffer from a disease called "scrapie". It was thought this was how "Mad Cow" began and started to infiltrate the human chain. What is interesting is that when rape oil was removed from animal feed, 'scrapie' disappeared.
We also haven't seen any further reports of "Mad Cow" since rape oil was removed from the feed. Perhaps not scientifically proven, but interesting all the same. US and Canadian farmers grow genetically engineered rapeseed and manufacturers use its oil (canola) in thousands of processed foods, with the blessings of Canadian and US government watchdog agencies. The canola supporting websites say that canola is safe to use. They admit it was developed from the rapeseed, but insist that through genetic engineering it is no longer rapeseed, but "canola" instead.
Except canola means "Canadian oil"; and the plant is still a rape plant, albeit genetically modified. The new name provides perfect cover for commercial interests wanting to make millions.
Canola oil from the rape seed, referred to as the Canadian oil because Canada is mainly responsible for it being marketed in the USA. The Canadian government and industry paid our Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) $50 million dollars to have canola oil placed on the (GRAS) List, "Generally Recognized As Safe". Thus a new industry was created. Laws were enacted affecting international trade, commerce, and traditional diets. Studies with lab. animals were disastrous. Rats developed fatty degeneration of heart, kidney, adrenals, and thyroid gland. When canola oil was withdrawn from their diets, the deposits dissolved but scar tissue remained on all vital organs. No studies on humans were made before money was spent to promote Canola oil in the USA.
Adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD) is a rare fatal degenerative disease caused by a build up long-chain fatty acids (c22 to c28) which destroys the myelin (protective sheath) of the nerves. Canola oil is a very long chain fatty acid oil (c22). Those who will defend canola oil say that the Chinese and Indians have used it for centuries with no effect, however it was in an unrefined form (taken from FATS THAT HEAL AND FATS THAT KILL by Udo Erasmus).
Rape seed oil used for stir-frying in China found to emit cancer causing chemicals. (Rapeseed oil smoke causes lung cancer) Amal Kumar Maj. The Wall Street JournaL June 7, 1995 pB6(W) pB6 (E) col 1 (11 col in).
Compiled by Darleen Bradley.
Canola oil is a health hazard to use as a cooking oil or salad oil. It is not the healthy oil we thought it was. It is not fit for human consumption, do not eat canola oil, it can hurt you. Polyunsaturated or not, this is a bad oil.
Be Sure to also read this informative report written by leading health expert Tom Valentine, Canola Oil Report.
Go to Ask Jeeves yourself: Ask.com Search Engine - Better Web Search and type in (Where does Canola Oil come from?) and see what you come up with.
Vegetable Glycerine is a clear, colorless, and odorless liquid
Its used in soup,shampoo,and other cleaning agents. More man mad crap. This is prob one of the lesser evils though.
Artificial Flavors= I fucking love this one. This could mean anything.
The word Artificial says it all though I guess!!!!
Monoglycerides= man I am getting board already. Lets make it short. Its a shitty fat!!!!
Lecithin=
What is soy lecithin?
In the early 1900’s, the yet to be named ’soy lecithin’ was just a waste product produced during the “degumming” process of soybean oil. By 1908 the soy bean crushing and soy oil refining companies had expanded and they were having trouble disposing of the large amounts of foul smelling, fermenting waste product. Soy plants in Germany decided to name this waste product ’soy lecithin’ and looked for ways to utilize it. By 1939 scientists had found more than 1,000 different ways to use soy lecithin.
It’s important to note that solvents are used during the “degumming” process of soybean oil, so soy lecithin itself is likely to contain chemical solvents!!!!!!!!
So is there a protein bar worth eating. YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!
100% all natural un processed un refined better protein bars from http://www.needtobuildmuscle.net/store/Protein-Products/Better-Protein-Bars-p18.html
Not only are the the healthiest bar ever made. But they taste great to. Just do a search around elitefitness about them. Top it all off they are half the price or less then 90% of the bars on the market.
Whats not to love Better Protein Bars
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