When trying to lose weight you should be careful when selecting protein bars. There are so many types of “health bars” and “protein bars” on the market today, how do you know if you are actually getting something healthy or just junk food in disguise?
If you shop for groceries you must learn how to read labels correctly, this is particularly important when you want to find a true health food bar. Most protein or health bars have a long list of processed trans fats, sugars and an endless list of chemicals as well as other overly processed ingredients.
To be honest, most of the bars out there are pure junk… candy bars with a little bit of protein disguised as a health food bar. I was bike riding with a friend a couple weeks ago, and needed a quick bar to make sure I had enough energy for the bike ride. Well, I needed a little something to eat so my friend gave me an extra slim fast bar he had.
Realizing I needed something to eat my friend passed me a slim fast bar he had extra. On the back of the slim fast bar label are all the nutrition facts and a statement saying they are a healthy weight loss alternative.
The truth is there is nothing healthy at all about a slim fast bar, not even remotely. If you ask me, they are worse for your health than a regular candy bar. When I began going through the ingredients list the shock continued. The first ingredient on this bar was corn syrup, next in line was sugar and hydrogenated oils. (No one would say they are healthy!) Nowhere on the list of ingredients was there anything that even pretended to be healthy. In addition to the above ingredients, there were also artificial flavors, colors, unhealthy processed soy, evil artificial sweeteners and more. Despite what you may have been told, processed soy is not good for the body.
When it comes to nutrition these weight, loss bars are nothing short of a disaster. If that weren’t bad enough, the taste is even worse. You can practically taste the chemical components of the bar. Can you say over processed and engineered?
Keep it simple when you are looking for a good bar to lose weight. The fewer the ingredients the better, but they should be healthy items such as seeds, nuts and fruits. When you can choose a bar with organic ingredients, most of the time these taste better.
Here are a couple of my personal favorites:
1. Organic Food Bars – This is the brand name. There are several flavors. Depending which one you choose, they usually contain a base of organic almond butter (or cashew butter) with a certain type of fruit, organic seeds, organic biosprouts (quinoa, etc), and organic rice protein. Some flavors even have an organic dark chocolate. You can buy their line of bars that use exclusively raw ingredients.
There are two things I like about this brand of bars; they are tasty as well as diverse. I have plenty of flavors to choose from including cranberry, high protein, chocolate chip and blueberry. Generally, grocery retailer will not carry these bars; you must go to a health food store.
2. Lara bars are simple organic health food bars; they contain just two or three raw ingredients. Generally, they contain a blend of crushed nuts and fruit; however, they offer many different flavors.
One thing you will never find on a Lara bar label is chemicals. They are delicious and healthy, nothing more. Fruits and nuts are just about all you will find on the list, as this is a quality health bar. These too will not be on your grocery shelves, but I have found them at certain health food stores.
When you need a quick snack, these bars are great, convenient for work or travel.
When you need a quick snack, it is good to have these bars at hand. You will no longer be tempted by junk food vendors or fast food chains. Of course, you must read the labels to ensure you are actually getting a health food bar and not a candy bar pretending to be healthy. You will find weight loss is much easier when you can control the cravings between meals.
Mike Grason is a author of many articles for Atlanta Weight Loss located at 235 Peachtree St NE Suite 400 Atlanta, GA 30303 Office: 404-585-5484. He gives many valuable tips and secrets to effective sustainable weight loss that are available at this site. Thinking about losing Weight? Check out the powerful strategies covered in the incredible ebook “The Truth About Abs”. Atlanta lose weight!