Protein Bars & Sugar Alcohols

Yes, we’re all busy. REALLY busy! Sometimes eating right is darn near impossible. Although there’s no real substitute for a good healthy meal, there’s certainly something better than a candy bar out of the snack machine: Protein Bars.

What makes these any better than a candy bar? Well, to be quite honest, in a lot of cases not much. You’ve probably seen a million ads for healthy snack bars: Nutri-this, Healthy-that. These really are just glorified candy bars. No, they probably don’t have as much bad fat in them, but since they’re also completely lacking any good fat or protein, they produce a tremendous sugar rush. Eat one, and your insulin levels will skyrocket for half an hour, then plummet causing even sharper hunger pains than you had a half hour before.

Some of the so called Protein Bars on the market are not much better. With only a little low quality protein, and lots of sugar, you have to be careful what you buy. That’s where the label comes in right? Well, kind of. Unfortunately, many manufacturers play a funny game with the labels as well. You see, it’s almost impossible to make a reasonably tasty bar with decent “mouth feel” and moisture without carbs (think beef jerky).

But there’s a little loop hole in the FDA labeling requirements. You see there’s such a thing as a sugar alcohol. It’s not really a true sugar, but it tastes like one, and it makes a bar palatable. What’s even neater is that the manufacturer doesn’t have to count it as a carb. This is derived from the fact that it won’t affect blood sugar levels to any significant extent in a diabetic.

The low carb food manufacturers use this as an excuse not to list them. They say that if it won’t affect ketosis (arguable since the liver still converts sugar alcohols to glucose in limited amounts), it won’t affect a low-carbr’s diet. Well they’re dead wrong. A gram of sugar alcohol is still 4.5 calories that end up right on your waste or hips.

So, what happens when we walk into the health food store and look at the rack of Health Bars? First we find one with some protein. At least 20 grams if not 30. It should also be good quality protein. Whey, Casein, and maybe some Soy, but if it says gelatin near the top of the list, stay away. Gelatin is a filler protein. Technically it’s still a protein, but it has near zero biological value.

Then we look at the Fat. A little fat isn’t a bad thing. It slows digestion and keeps you from getting hungry as fast. I’d stay away from any bar with too much saturated fat or trans-fats.

Now what about carbs? Most of the manufacturers of low carb bars count on the fact that you’ll look at the total carb count and be happy that it says 4grams. We know that’s not true because it would chew like a piece of beef jerky. You could add up the grams of carbs and protein and multiply that number by 4. Them you could multiply the grams of fat by 9 and add that to the other number. Subtract the number of calories on the label by this number, then you have the number of calories of “hidden carbs”.

Since this is a little complicated to do with every bar you look at, I recommend you just find the highest protein content with the lowest total calories and give it a try.

What bar do I recommend? I’ve given up on this question. These aren’t candy bars, and everyone seems to like a different bar. The bars I love, you might hate. Besides, it depends on what you’re looking for: Energy with some protein, super low carbs with less taste, or a balance. You can go to my web site (www.CarpmanFitnessTogether.com ) and click on “Supplements”, and you’ll find a couple different bars for different goals. They all have quality protein, and I think they all taste decent.

Just be careful! These are not zero calories! You can’t just eat them all the time and think you’re still controlling your diet. If it’s a 300 calorie bar, you need to subtract 300 calories of food from your diet for that day. I recommend that all my clients plan their diets with one “planned snack”. This can be eaten at any time when you just can’t make it to the next planned meal. That’s a great use for a protein bar.