best and worse protein bars

su22

i dont let myself eat chocolate and all those lollies anymore, so im trying to find alternatives, but i dont think protein bars have quite taken their place.

I just bought this protein bar-- Musashi P40 (Australian made/owned). It has a massive 40 grams of protein per serve, and comes in 3 flavours: Choc berry, choc hazlenut, and banana choc.

The choc berry one was ok after about 5 bites, but then it got this awful bitter/artificial cherry taste. the only good thing about it was the choc coating-- but that's real chocolate and not helpful. for $4 (Aust) it has a whole lotta nutrients (plus omega 3 fats) but it's reminiscent of being forced to eat horrible medicine.

Why can't they make yummy protein bars that actually taste like what they say? Promax (i think they're US) have some pretty yummy looking flavours like blackforest cake, choc chip, blueberry cheesecake. The blackforest cake one was pretty good.

i think the vanilla crisp Powerbar is probably still the best. They're a bit tough on the teeth though, and it's a fair chew, but they taste the best (probably cuz they're so sweet).

Has anyone come across an energy/protein bar that tastes almost as good as chocolate? it's probably wishful thinking.

--Su

leona

Designer has put out 3 "candybar" protien bars.
Detour, and two others, but I can't remember the names) Just like eating a snickers bar, REALLY.
Meso-tech bars are yummy, but they are meal replacements, so they have less protein proportionatly, but they are yummy.
IMO, have a small real chocolate bar (100-200cal), and a couple of scoops of whey(100-200cal) (separatly of course) since most of these bars are 300-400cals anyway. Why put up with the extra fat and crap and bad taste?

ric_stern/RST

More to the point why would you want a protein bar in the first place?

One of the better tasting energy bars i've had is from urwhatueat.com very nice. scienceinsport.com also make nice tasting energy bars.

Ric

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su22

ill have to look out for those snickers kind of protein bars.

i just feel so guilty eating real chocolate, and think that protein/energy bars are nutritionally better (even if they may have the same amount of energy-- at least it's not as high in fat/sat fat). i also think pyschologically, the plastic wrappers around choc bars and energy bars have the same effect on me-- i hardly ever buy packaged/pre-made food and eat food i prepare myself pretty much all the time. so i think part of the reat for me is unwrapping and eating something not homemade! im not relying on protein bars for nutrition.

ric_stern/RST

The point i was alluding to was that extra protein isn't useful during exercise. you need extra carbohydrates, as this will directly help and fuel the muscles to enable you to go further/faster.

protein requirements are quite low, with the highest protein requirements for massively strenuous exercise (i.e., riding a grand tour, such as vuelta, le tour etc), but even this requirement is fairly low, with an upper limit of 1.8 to 2.0 g/kg body mass. This can easily be met by a normal diet (including vegetarian). at more normal levels of sport, protein requirements are far more modest (0.8 - 1.2 g/kg to 1.2 to 1.5 g/kg) body mass, and you'd have to eat a quite strange diet to not meet that requirement.

Ric

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2WheelsGood

As always, that depends on who you ask. Read #15 CLICK.

And this one: #4 CLICK.

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Eric Konarske
http://www.leavethebox.com

su22

no i dont eat protein bars before/during exercise, only after. i find it fills me up more than eating the same calorific value of carbs (eg. 1000kJ of protein instead of 1000kJ of carbs). a boiled egg (~900kJ i think) leaves me feeling fuller than eating a honey sandwich (which would have the same amount of energy).

fuelrider

Try Tigers Milk bars. They are like .69 cents and taste great.

HellonWheels

The BEST IMO is the Powerbar Harvest DIPPED Double Chocolate. If I didnt know better I'd think it was a junk food candy bar. I usually eat one in place of breakfast (I dont have much of an appetite in the early AM before my workout)..it fills me up till noon!

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"He who conquers himself is the mightiest warrior"--Confucius

KRASH187

The majority of protein bars in the stores are very inferior. They use cheap protein, all kinds of unknown fats, and who knows what else. I make my own, very easy recipe, and much cheaper. Here is the recipe:
3 1/2 cups of oats
1 1/2 cups of non-fat dry milk (I use Carnation blend)
4 scoops of chocolate whey protein powder
2 egg whites
1 cup of sugar free maple syrup
1/4 cup of natural apple sauce
1/4 cup of orange juice
mix all ingredients in a bowl. Use a 9x12 cookie sheet. Spread evenly in sheet, spray w/non-stick cooking spray first. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes. Cut into 10 individual bars, they taste great, and it's all natural ingredients. Enjoy!!!!!

The Joker

I am definately going to try your recipe!

KRASH187 do you know if baking effects the protein? is it just as good as having it with water?

My advice to the original question is not to eat protein bars; I've had a few and felt quite ill each time...just make a shake [or the recipe] from powders. buy a big 5lb or 10lb tub [that way it's cheaper]. Incidentally if anyone's from the UK; tmof.com make a nice chocolate whey at a good price...

su22

wow thanks for that recipe KRASH. im gonna make them tomorrow cuz i hate long days at uni when im too broke to buy anything that i wouldnt touch anyway cuz it's too fatty/sugary/salty/i could make it better myself.

to the Joker: ive done a bit of biochemistry and here's how i could explain what happens with baking:

take an egg as an example. it has protein.

proteins are made of amino acids (aa's-- of which 20 are totally necessary for us to be healthy), which are like basic building blocks. It's pretty hard to chemically change the structure of these aa's; heat won't do it. so your question can be answered here: you're still taking in the same aa's when protein has been baked/exposed to heat. so a raw egg and cooked egg will give you same essential aa's. the main difference is the change in texture because of a non-essential aa: albumin-- this is what makes the egg solid when it's cooked.

you can put aa's together like a chain. This chain is fairly strong, and can't be broken by heat (in our body, strong enzymes cut up the protein chain in your small intestine). the only thing that can be broken/changed by heat is the next level of structure... Think of twisting the chain of amino acids so that it sits in this 3D kind of form (picture a curly phone cord). the heat will disrupt bonds holding the chains in this 3D structure-- so that's why albumin makes egg liquid when raw, and solid when cooked. The heat changes albumin's 3D structure, but not the chain or aa sequence, or the aa's themselves.

so taking protein with water or without still makes it the same. water doesnt affect it's composition. heat may change its texture (like in meat and eggs) but the quality of the essential of protein we're most concered about is the same.

hope i havent confused you, but that's a scientific explanation.
cheers, Su

The Joker

Thanks! Excellent info there. I'm going to start mixing it in with everything now...

su22

Hang on Joker,
before you start pigging out on protein powder, here's a few thigsn to remember:
1) this is my own little theory but i think it makes sense-- hopefully someone can correct me: i think there's only so much protein the body can break down in one go. the enzymes needed to chop up the proteins are secreted from your pancreas into the small intestine. so if you ate heaps of protein, lets say 1kg for example (which would be more than 1kg of meat!), your body may only be able to release so much enzyme to break down maybe 100g of it. basically i think there's a limit as to how much can be broken down in one go, because the of the enzyme running out as it would be used faster than it was made/resynthesised. --> maybe this would suggest that we should eat protein in small amounts but more frequently for most digestion?

2) i think we only need 50g of protein a day (if your daily intake is 2000cals or 8400kJ). if you follow a normal diet, you should meet this requirement. the best is to calculate the total mass (g) of protein you eat a day by looking at the labels of foods and figuring it out. check the net for protein values for meats/fish/eggs etc. if you're under, then it justifies taking protein powder to help you out.

3) the body simply excretes excess protein, so don't waste your money on those expensive tins of protein powder if you know it'll go straight through you.

oh and i tried KRASH's recipe-- it turned out ok, but i thought greaseproof paper was non-stick. It's not!! so dont do what i did... maybe use a teflon tray instead. i added sunflower seeds and some chopped walnuts. gives it a nice texture