Quest Products

chrisc3888

I have seen multiple things saying quest chips/bars/cookies are healthy alternatives but I have also seen several things posted that they are just as bad if not worse for you. I’ve had the chips before and they are great tasting, just don’t know if I’m helping or hurting my diet. Any information is appreciated

janejellyroll

Generally when people say something is bad for you, there should be some sort of reason provided. You can then take a look at what they're saying, research it for yourself, and make the determination.

If someone just tells me that something is "bad," but doesn't give a reason, I'll usually ignore it.

You can see all sorts of things posted on the internet, it's the reasoning behind statements that will let you know if it is worth listening to or not.

chrisc3888

@janejellyroll the post I saw saying they were unhealthy was from supposedly a group of personal trainers. That’s the only reason I had questioned it. They make great tasting products, just not sure of the healthy or unhealthiness of them.

janejellyroll

chrisc3888 wrote: »

@janejellyroll the post I saw saying they were unhealthy was from supposedly a group of personal trainers. That’s the only reason I had questioned it. They make great tasting products, just not sure of the healthy or unhealthiness of them.

There are some amazing, well-read, and informed personal trainers who limit their practice to what they're actually trained to do (advise people on meeting their fitness goals). There are personal trainers who are poorly trained and eager to pose as authorities on stuff they don't know much about.

If a personal trainer is telling you something is bad for you, they should be able to explain WHY.

As far as I know, Quest Products are just snack foods with extra protein. I'm not sure what would be bad about them. Sure, you could eat an amount of them that could crowd out other nutrient-rich foods you need, but you can do that with anything. It doesn't mean they're bad.

cwolfman13

chrisc3888 wrote: »

@janejellyroll the post I saw saying they were unhealthy was from supposedly a group of personal trainers. That’s the only reason I had questioned it. They make great tasting products, just not sure of the healthy or unhealthiness of them.

Look at the label...then evaluate within the context of your diet as a whole. Nobody can say something is "bad" in a vacuum outside of known toxins. I personally can't imagine how they would be somehow nutritionally worse than other chips or bars or whatever. What context did these trainers give you? My guess is none...zero...zip...nada.

I don't personally eat any of their products...but that's because I can get any of the nutrition they provide from other sources, and frankly if I'm going to have chips or a candy bar, I'm going to have chips or a candy bar...and in the context of my diet as a whole, that's all pretty irrelevant.

chrisc3888

@cwolfman13 from what I remember from the post, they said that quest products have ingredients that are more toxic and harmful to your body than the real thing. Not sure how true that is or not. I do however like the idea of if you want something, just eat the real thing. I guess at that point it’s a moderation thing

janejellyroll

chrisc3888 wrote: »

@cwolfman13 from what I remember from the post, they said that quest products have ingredients that are more toxic and harmful to your body than the real thing. Not sure how true that is or not. I do however like the idea of if you want something, just eat the real thing. I guess at that point it’s a moderation thing

What is the "real thing" in regular peanut butter cups or nacho chips that is better for you than the ingredients that are used in Quest? Quest products are just food, like the regular versions. You can flip the products yourself and look at the ingredients, ask them to tell you what is "toxic."

Here's the ingredients for their peanut butter cup: WHEY PROTEIN ISOLATE, ERYTHITOL, UNSWEETENED CHOCOLATE, COCOA BUTTER, PEANUTS, PALM KERNEL OILM SOLUBLE CORN FIBER, SODIUM CASEINATE. CONTAINS LESS THAN 2% OF THE FOLLOWING: SUNFLOWER LECITHIN, SEA SALT, BUTTERFAT, NATURAL FLAVOR, PEANUT OIL, SUCRALOSE. CONTAINS: MILK, PEANUTS. PROCESSED IN A FACILITY THAT ALSO PROCESSES SOY, WHEAT, AND TREE NUTS.

I'm not a huge fan of most lower carbohydrate/higher protein products because the taste usually doesn't measure up for me (note: I've never had Quest stuff, they could be perfectly lovely), but it comes down to how you want to spend your calories. If these particular versions make more sense for you and you like the way they taste, I don't see how they're going to harm you unless you're one of those people who have intestinal discomfort due to erythitol.

Note: I hope I don't read as annoyed at you, I'm not at all. I'm annoyed with these trainers who are fear-mongering.

cwolfman13

chrisc3888 wrote: »

@cwolfman13 from what I remember from the post, they said that quest products have ingredients that are more toxic and harmful to your body than the real thing. Not sure how true that is or not. I do however like the idea of if you want something, just eat the real thing. I guess at that point it’s a moderation thing

They don't have any ingredients in particular that aren't already heavily used in highly processed food goods. Here's a label from a Quest bar...



There isn't anything on there that isn't in a whole host of other foods. Like any chip or candy bar, etc, Quest Bars and products are highly processed food goods...whether that matters or not really comes down to individual concerns about such things. In that regard, I'm also of the belief that context matters a lot.

I sometimes eat RX bars for convenience doing things like long hikes or if I have a very early morning meeting along with a long commute and don't have time to eat anything, etc. They're highly processed, but also contain valuable vitamins, minerals, and macro-nutrition and calories for situations like that. In the context of my diet as a whole they are a pretty negligible part of my diet...I have a box of them and they've been in my pantry for two months. If something like that made up a substantial part of my diet and was replacing daily meals and whatnot, I might be concerned...but having one of those bars out of convenience once in awhile is really immaterial to the big picture.

I will say that the "healthy" marketing can and may lead many to believe they can just snack away on these things...because "healthy"...and in general, they're going to have higher protein counts, fiber counts, and often higher vitamin and mineral counts than a traditional candy bar or something (you can compare labels side by side)...but calorie wise, most of these things carry a pretty good calorie load comparable to just having a snickers or something...and that's something I think a lot of people outside of calorie counting do not take into account.

That's why I personally usually just opt for the "real" thing when I want something like that. A few more grams of protein or whatever from eating a Quest bar or some other thing isn't really going to make a significant difference in meeting my nutritional needs...and usually when I'm having a treat, that means I've already met my nutritional needs for the day anyway, and I'm not getting extra credit for 5 more grams of protein or more broccoli...

glassyo

In my opinion, unless you're allergic to it and/or you don't choke on it and it kills you, it's healthy.