The Trouble with Bars
July 19th, 2010
No, not that kind of bar.
We’re talking instead about the meal replacement bar. You know the type: Zone bars, Oh Yeah! bars, EAS Myoplex bars, Clif bars, Labrada bars, Power bars, Met Rx. The athlete’s best friend, right?
As a guy who used to eat one or two “protein bars” every day, I am writing from experience. Serously, I would crave my afternoon bar with a cup of coffee. When I made the switch to a mostly-Paleo diet, I was afraid to give up bars. I had no idea what I would use to fill those slots in my daily diet.
Consuming all those bars was not good for me–at all. And I want to share some insights (okay, warnings really) with those Firebreathers and others who have made the commitment to begin to eat a healthy diet. You could be doing all the right things at the box (in the gym) and consuming the recommended volume of calories and protein. But if you’re eating a couple meal replacement bars a day (like I was), you could be signalling your body to retain extra bodyfat by slowing its metabolism and contaminating it with unwanted toxins.
Beyond the health conscious crossfitter, mainstream America has fallen victim to the lure of meal replacement bars manufactured by the Big Food companies. Some are cleverly disguised and some are emotionally linked to beloved breakfast cereal brands. Have you seen those Special K bars, Snickers energy bars with protein, Dr. Atkins bars and any number of granola bars with some protein added. The trouble with bars becomes quickly evident when you take a look at what’s inside.
Let’s break down one of my old faves:
Big Colossal Super Cookie Crunch Bar
Trouble Sign #1 -way too much sugar – 26g to be exact. (That’s almost 7 teaspoons of sugar.)
Trouble Sign #2 – soy protein (Nobody needs to eat soy, especially not men. It is an estrogen mimicker.)
Trouble Sign #3 – too much high fructose corn syrup (Causes insulin to spike, which causes us to store fat. It also interferes with the production of collagen and elastin. Think soft, loose skin.)
Trouble Sign #4 – lecithin – an emulsifier / preservative which helps to keep the bar moist (Genetically-engineered additive that contains plant toxins. Our bodies don’t know how to process lecithin.) This is just one of many artificial additives and preservatives commonly found in meal replacement bars.
The job of a meal replacement bar is to, simply, replace a meal … to serve as a substitute for a meal. Any bar can cure your hunger for an hour. But what are you consuming in that “meal?” Are you getting a healthy balance of protein, carbohydrate and fat? Are you getting a reasonable amount of sugar–or way too much? And what about chemical additives and preservatives? You wouldn’t add those to your home-cooked meal; so don’t accept them in a meal replacement. The bottom line is that you have to read the label on any bar. Be smart and be aware of how much sugar you’re consuming … and how many additives.
Do any bars out there deserve to be consumed by a Firebreather? We’ll examine this question next time. Until then, please continue to post your meals to Comments, as part of your healthy dietary routine.
This post contributed in collaboration by Coach Lis and Tin Man Skip.
Posted in Post Your Diet Here
22 Responses to “The Trouble with Bars”
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7/19/10
9.5 hrs sleep plus afternoon nap…ahhh
1: 2 eggs, 3 slices center cut bacon, coconut milk
2: tuna, 1tsp mayo on lettuce with tomato, cucumber, apple with pb
3: small piece ice cream cake
4: steak, zucchini, cucumber, apple, coconut
water, sugar free crystal light, 3g fish oil, 2000iu vitamin D
Love this post Skip! I have tried to limit the bars over the last few months.
If anyone has examples of heathier options…please post
Tin Man and I are at the beach this week. We have supplied the condo with plenty of vegetables, fruits, and healthy options. Dinner out every night is usually the issue – not so much with food, but ETOH.
The only bars we are keeping around now are Larabars, not so much for the protein content but the fact that they are 100% real food. The typical Larabar has nuts, dried fruit and spices – nothing else. You won’t find a bunch of chemicals that you can’t pronounce or any HFCS, hydrogenated oils or toxic emulsifiers.
Lisa and Skip, have you tried making any of the bars from marksdailyapple? I saved a few recipes, but I haven’t gotten around to making them for fear I’d eat them all at once like I did with almond flour cookies. I’m pretty sure that’s not advisable.
Monday, July 19
10 hrs sleep
vacation foods & beverages
Thanks for this post…I’ve been eating at least one, sometimes two, Zone Perfect bars per day many days over the past few months.
So, that’ll be stopping now…
7-20-10
8 hrs sleep
1. 6 oz milk
2. 3 baked chicken “strips”, 2 slices cheese
3. Small chicken leg, sauteed eggplant, zucchini and onion/scallions, 1/2 ear fresh corn, roasted red pepper stuffed w goat cheese
4. Small wedge of brie , post wod milk w one scoop protein. Only one diet coke.today.
7/20/10
6.5 hrs. sleep
Meal 1: AdvantEdge shake post wod
Meal 2: Carbmaster yogurt
Meal 3: grilled chicken, chorizo and cheese sauce
Meal 4: few chips w/homemade salsa and guacamole
Meal 5: 3 eggs w/1/4 c. shredded cheese, 2 slices of munster cheese
1 mv., 4g. fish oil, 250mg. resveratrol, water, coffee, Diet Coke, 1 mini Reese’s pb cup, 1 mini Mr. Goodbar, 1 mini Special Dark
Here’s a “Bar” recipe from the Primal Blueprint Cookbook for a healthier sort of protein bar. Per Mark Sisson, the only downside is these bars need to be refrigerated to stay firm. He says that they are so delicious that he doesn’t think you will mind. I haven’t tried them yet, but here goes:
“Nut Butter Bars”
1 cup slivered almonds
1 cup hazelnuts
1 1/2 cups pecans
2/3 cup flax meal
2/3 cup shredded coconut (unsweetened)
1/4 cup unsalted almond butter (or other nut butter)
1/2 tsp salt (optional)
1 1/2 tsp. blackstrap molasses
1/4 cup melted coconut oil
(optional additions: 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips or dried fruit)
Place almonds, hazelnuts, pecans, flax meal, shredded coconut, nut butter, salt and molasses in a food processor. Depending on the size of your processor, you may have to put in half of the nuts, pulse a few times, and then add the rest. Process until the consistency is fairly smooth (but not completely) then slowly drizzle in the oil until a coarse paste forms. Stir in chocolate or dried fruit, if desired. Scrape the batter into an 8×8 pan lined with parchment paper and press down evenly to fill the pan. Chill in refrigerator for at least 1 hour, and preferably more, until the bars harden.
Note: I also found a recipe for “Primal Energy Bars” on the Mark’s Daily Apple website that contains more whole nuts if anyone interested in that one.
I never cared much for any of the protein bars, and now I’m very glad. Skip is correct. One day a friend who also carefully watches everything she eats told me, “Look at the label. You might as well eat a candy bar.”
7/21/10
6/5 hours of sleep
Meal 1: AdvantEdge shake post wod
Meal 2: Promax protein bar
Meal 3: string cheese
Meal 4: chicken, corned beef & cheddar sandwich on sourdough bread. Ate it “open faced”, just one slice of bread
Meal 5: sauteed cabbage, corn on the cob w/butter, cukes, fresh salsa and guacamole w/tortilla chips, 1/2 piece of zucchini bread
Meal 6: 1/2 c. ice cream
1 mv, 4g fish oil, 250mg resveratrol, water, Diet Coke, Crystal Light
Susan…those bars sound great!! If any of you are coming to the challenge this weekend and want to make some energy bars please do so. Lets see how many different “bars” we can get.
Wed, July 21
6.5 hrs sleep
Vacation foods including a 12 oz filet mignon and several glasses of vino!
Supplements: mv pack, baby aspirin, 4g fish oil, ginseng, vitamin C, coconut butter
Tues July 20
1: 1 hb egg, 2 turkey sausage links, carbmaster yogurt, blueberries, coconut milk
2: turkey with tomato between lettuce, cucumber, watermelon, peanut butter
PWOD chocolate milk
3: steak, squash, green beans, coconut milk, apple
3g fish oil, 4000iu vitamin D, water, sugar free crystal light
Wed: July 21
fast: due to stomach flu not by choice
Slept all day; chicken broth, water, ginger ale
no supplements
Thursday July 22
10 more hours of sleep
1: oh yeah shake
2: turkey and tomato between 2 large pieces of lettuce, cucumber, yogurt, apple pieces with tsp of Carmel sauce
PWOD chocolate milk
3: 2 eggs, 3 slices center cut bacon, carbmaster yogurt, blueberries, coconut milk
3g fish oil, 2000iu vitamin D, water, water with crystal light
Jimmie- hope you’re feeling better!
Sandy and Steve – great to “hear” your voices on the FF nutrition site. Thanks for joining the conversation.
Susan – thanks for sharing recipes!
Thurs, July 22
7.5 hrs sleep
Vacation foods – including lobster ravioli ala vodka and a glass of red wine
Supplements: mv pack, baby aspirin, 4g fish oil, ginseng
Thanks Skip, think I am back to normal today! Hope your enjoying vacation.
Friday
8.5 hrs sleep
1: 1hb egg, 2 turkey sausage links, carbmaster yogurt with blueberries, coconut milk
2: taco salad with grilled chicken, salsa, a few chips
3: small piece of ice cream cake
4: 4oz pork chop, yellow squash, zucchini, coconut milk, almonds
5: cheese, almonds, zucchini
2000iu vitamin D, 3g fish oil, water, ice tea
9 hrs sleep
1. 2pc turkey sausage links, 1 slice cheese
2. 3oz deli turkey, almonds
3. 4 grilled chicken strips, 1 chicken wing, salad with bleu cheese dressing (1tbsp)
4. Almonds
5 small slice of home made flan (very worth ever gram of sugar)
Resverstrol water diet coke
6 hrs sleep
1. Glass of milk
2. Mcdonalds grilled chicken wrap no sauce minus 1/2 wrap
3. 1pc beef jerky, almonds, pumpkin seeds
4. Hamburger patty, pepperjack cheese, fruit , raw veges
5. 4 crackers with hot pepper butter
Lots of water
Great job to everyone who took part (helping and com
Helping and competing ) at the challenge today. I thought it was a great success!!!
FF Challenge was a huge success. Looking forward to the WV games (Sept)and CrossFit Thunder’s Throwdown (Nov).
Pure Protein brand bars contain just 2-3g. of sugar, 180 kcal and 19g of protein. The protein is whey protein and milk protein. They also contain some soy protein isolate, but it’s pretty far down the list of ingredients. These particular bars have a decent flavor, but of course aren’t as good as some of the others with lots more sugar.
I don’t eat many of these, maybe one or two a week for the convenience.