Protein Bars

[turbosupra1313]

What are your thoughts? I eat about 1-3 of the PowerBar kind daily to offset appetite between meals, and sometimes as a small meal (one of the 5 a day for me). Just wanting opinions and info if anyone has any

[yocan]

keeps you thin, personally I like eating more meals, I need the food, but I set it back to no more than 5 (used to be 7) and I gained a little weight, I'm still skinny as all get out but yeah...

[east_stingray]

If you're skinny, protein supplements are a good way to make sure your body isn't eating your muscles during your day-to-day routine. Protein also curbs hunger a lot better than carbs.

Ignore all that crap you hear about how too much protein in your diet is a bad thing. There isn't any medical evidence to support those claims.

[Reeek]

I'm always on a high protein diet.

I eat 2-4 AdvantEDGE (EAS) Carb Control bars a day.

17 grams of protein, 4 net carbs, 240 calories.

They work great for me and they keep me regular which is an issue with high protein, low carb diets sometimes.

[aftershock]

some bars are better than others, read the labels...i do not like the powerbars b/c of there lack of protein

[east_stingray]

BTW, we have a lot of dietitians who work with us here at the clinic. They've all told me that they do not recommend long-term low carb diets. I'm not really sure what the basis for this is, and all any of them can say is that it's not healthy.

As medical students, we learn a lot about the molecular level processes the body uses to digest and use different forms of energy. While there are essential amino acids (protein) that your body needs, there's no such thing as an essential carbohydrate.

I'm not sure if there's a clinical basis for them recommending against the low-carb diets or not. A lot of studies have shown that high protein diets tend to lead to more heart and vascular problems, but that is not due to the protein content itself. Most of the doctors (PhD) who do research on this kind of thing have come to the conclusion that the heart problems are due to the fact that most high-protein diets include a lot of red meat, which contains a good amount of cholesterol.

It is my personal opinion, and it seems to be backed up by our professors (who are PhD and do this kind of research when they're not lecturing) that as long as you watch your red meat intake and seek out plant-based protein sources, you'll be just fine.

[The Knight Of Light]

I like the Muscle Milk bars and the Oh Yeah bars.

[turbo2ltr]

I lost some weight eating powerbar "Harvest" bars (along with exercise) . But after some time I developed a reaction to them...they give me heartburn now. I don't eat them anymore...and I've gained weight.. heh.

[akmjolnir]

I tend to supplement my meals with protein bars.... cheapest kind works for me. Lately though I've started to feel a little unregular and gassy after eating them.

You could try eating some other high protein foods, like tuna (plain, right out of the can) , yogurt, cottage cheese. I like tuna because of the omega-3 benefit and it really fills me up. Yogurt is good in the morning, and no one eats my cottage cheese because they're all scared of it. lol

[DocMedic]

Originally Posted by east_stingray

BTW, we have a lot of dietitians who work with us here at the clinic. They've all told me that they do not recommend long-term low carb diets. I'm not really sure what the basis for this is, and all any of them can say is that it's not healthy.

Depending how long a person has been on a long-term low carb diet. The body gets use to not having all those carbs in your system, and usally burns protein as well the little carbs you get for energy. If you Rebound (Giving up your diet) and start introducing all these extra carbs in your system. Your body doesn't know what to do with them, since you train your body to burn protein and very small portion of carbs for energy, the body will keep doing so, and all those carbs that your system didn't assorb goes strait to fat cells.