Protein Bars
pdmitra
Posts: 35 Member
I have recently started the Turbo Fire program and it focuses on a nutrition plan that is divided as follows
Carbs - 40%
Protein - 40%
fats - 20%
Now I not much of a meat eater and hence protein is a bit of a concern to me. I have just bought a couple of protein bars which are quite high on the protein content but pretty high on calories as well!! ( about 200 calories a bar! )
I am concerned about the following
1. Is it healthy to have these bars?
2. When is the best time to have protein bars?
3. Are there other supplements that I can have which have a less calorie content?
Thanks!
Carbs - 40%
Protein - 40%
fats - 20%
Now I not much of a meat eater and hence protein is a bit of a concern to me. I have just bought a couple of protein bars which are quite high on the protein content but pretty high on calories as well!! ( about 200 calories a bar! )
I am concerned about the following
1. Is it healthy to have these bars?
2. When is the best time to have protein bars?
3. Are there other supplements that I can have which have a less calorie content?
Thanks!
0
Replies
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I would choose real food over protein bars. they are full of so much rubbish!!
you say you don't eat meat, but what about eggs, fish, good quality dairy? you can also get protein from beans etc, but this will add to your carb count a lot too.0 -
Hmm... makes sense. I have been quite skeptical of using the bars so far but thought I'd give it a shot. So any artificial supplements are a no no then I assume.
I do eat eggs and dairy. I love my dairy products and as much as I can I have low fat dairy products. Unfortunately I don't eat sea food. I am more on the vegetarian spectrum.
I have been using soya nuggets too to keep the protein intake high. Any other suggestions?0 -
I love Quest protein bars, especially in the chocolate chip cookie dough flavor. There's nothing wrong with having a protein bar or shake in your day along with other foods. Greek yogurt is a fantastic source of protein, too. I buy the plain and either add honey to it or use it to make a savory dip for fresh veggies.
40% protein is more than I could stand, though. I keep mine at 25%.0 -
I love protein bars and shakes and usually eat them every day. I actually had a Luna bar yesterday for lunch. I don't often use them as a meal replacement, but if I'm running and don't have time for anything else, I will. I also love the Core Power Lite protein shakes. I will often have one in the afternoon when I feel a little sluggish.0
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Hmm... makes sense. I have been quite skeptical of using the bars so far but thought I'd give it a shot. So any artificial supplements are a no no then I assume.
I do eat eggs and dairy. I love my dairy products and as much as I can I have low fat dairy products. Unfortunately I don't eat sea food. I am more on the vegetarian spectrum.
I have been using soya nuggets too to keep the protein intake high. Any other suggestions?
I avoid most protein bars and powders as I want to avoid the fillers and additives, and artificial sweeteners really don't agree with me! I have a WPI and WPC that have no flavours, fillers, additives, sweeteners but I use less than or scoop a day. If you want flavour, but also want to avoid the other stuff, there are proteins sweetened with stevia and flavoured with vanilla and cacao. You can add it to your yoghurt, smoothies, bake with it or make pancakes etc.
I'd avoid soy with a 10ft pole...0 -
While it's nice to eat whole foods when possible, there's absolutely nothing wrong with a protein bar or any other supplement-type food, so if a protein bar is helping you hit your nutrient targets, then go for it. Other good non-meat sources of protein are dairy (especially greek yogurt, cottage cheese, ricotta - plain milk's great too), eggs/egg whites, lentils, quinoa. Some veggies are fairly high protein (I think spinach and mushrooms are good, if I remember correctly). You could always try a veggie-based protein powder too if you're really struggling.0
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Generally speaking, you can get a much better bang for your buck in terms of quality macros for calories by eating real food instead of "protein bars." If you're not much of a meat eater, it's a bit harder, but still definitely doable with dairy and/or eggs.
Learn to love plain greek yogurt. No real reason to mess with lowfat food options if you're eating at a deficit, but if that's what you want to follow, then that's fine. You can use greek yogurt as a base for so many things, and swap it out almost universally with sour cream or mayonaise in tons of recipes. For you, possibly most notably, you can buy some packaged ranch seasoning and mix it into plain greek yogurt and it's instant veggie dip.
Watch out for blanket percentages in terms of setting your dietary macros, thought. To be quite honest, I'd be wary of any program that used them. They're kind of silly.
You want 1-1.5g of protein per lb of lean body mass. You need to know your bf% to work that one out, though, so most people just go with 1g per lb of body weight.
Get about .4-.5g of fat per lb of body weight.
Fill the rest with carbs.0 -
I'm a veggie and I've been trying to find a good way to get more protein into my diet without adding tons of unnecessary calories
I'm not too keen on protein bars, I've tried a few, but most contain tons of other added stuff (sugar or aspartame, artificial flavourings...), and some are very high in calories as you said. I don't like the taste too much either - I'd rather just have the real chocolate/peanut butter/whatever bar!
If you like bars as a convenient snack, you could check out some vegan/raw options, like Trek bars or Nakd (the "Nakd crunch" versions have a little more protein than the others), or whichever you find in a health food shop. Some of them are still high in calories, but that's mainly from nuts and dried fruit, which I'm more comfortable with.
Otherwise, I'd suggest just getting a protein powder and having shakes/smoothies instead, that's generally the less calorific option, or having low fat greek/strained yogurt as someone suggested. Oh and if you don't mind wheat gluten, any kinds of seitan products are quite good, the "Wheaty Spacebar" is really tasty and fairly high in protein.0 -
It really depends on you. I prefer the Met-Rx Big Colossal Protein bars. But I don't eat them daily, nor do I believe that they are particularly healthy, however they do serve a purpose: Meal Replacement. I travel a lot and it is hard to find healthy meals on the road, so when my choice is McDonalds, Protein bar, or starve, i choose the bar.0
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I use protein bars when I don't have time for real meals. It's maybe a few a week. I'm down 10 lbs in 2 months (my goal is 1 lb/week, so I'm on par). If you have the room for the calories, feel free. Otherwise find other alternatives. I'm finding hard boiled eggs and fresh veggies are helping me and are low on calories, so then if I want a protein bar, I have the room for it.0
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They're fine. They're a nice way to boost your protein intake if you have a sweet tooth. Just look for some with at least 17g of protein and some fiber. Quest bars are the healthiest.0
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bars are not going to be a good enough protein source for you to hit a 40% protein diet.
It's just that simple. You'd need more things that are in the 60%+ protein range to hit those macros. Bars just aren't going to help you if you struggle elsewhere hitting that macro.
3. a slew of protein powders from various sources (whey and soy probably being most prevalent) have "low calories" or about as much protein as you can get in their calorie amounts. Powders with at least 75% calories from protein are where I'd start looking at preferred flavors.0 -
bars are not going to be a good enough protein source for you to hit a 40% protein diet.
It's just that simple. You'd need more things that are in the 60%+ protein range to hit those macros. Bars just aren't going to help you if you struggle elsewhere hitting that macro.
Yeah that's true. I could never do 40% personally though, heck most days I struggle to reach 30% (and I think 40% is way unnecessary anyway).0 -
Thank you so much everyone who have contributed to the post. Being mostly a vegetarian I agree it will be quite a task to hit the 40% protien mark, but I will have to incorporate a lot more of dairy products and eggs to my diet. I also agree with francl27 that perhaps doing 40% is not even necessary, as long as the remaining is carbs and not fats.
When I was going thru the labels of all the protien bars available in my next door supermarket, it was clear to me that they are super high in calories and should be had only when absolutely required. I'll just have to get some other suppliments and incorporate it in smoothies or fresh juices or something if I need to really hit the high protein mark. I guess I can try that for about two to three weeks and see what the results are and then continue or discontinute depending on that.
Fingers crossed!0 -
QUEST BARS!!! QUEST BARS!!!
Most only have a few clean ingredients!! Great for an on the go pre/post workout bar!0 -
I eat one a day just to help me with my protein goal...plus they are a bit of a treat. I just look for bars that are low in sugar.0
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Hmm... makes sense. I have been quite skeptical of using the bars so far but thought I'd give it a shot. So any artificial supplements are a no no then I assume.
I do eat eggs and dairy. I love my dairy products and as much as I can I have low fat dairy products. Unfortunately I don't eat sea food. I am more on the vegetarian spectrum.
I have been using soya nuggets too to keep the protein intake high. Any other suggestions?
I avoid most protein bars and powders as I want to avoid the fillers and additives, and artificial sweeteners really don't agree with me! I have a WPI and WPC that have no flavours, fillers, additives, sweeteners but I use less than or scoop a day. If you want flavour, but also want to avoid the other stuff, there are proteins sweetened with stevia and flavoured with vanilla and cacao. You can add it to your yoghurt, smoothies, bake with it or make pancakes etc.
I'd avoid soy with a 10ft pole...
ugh, theres nothing wrong with soy0 -
Thank you so much everyone who have contributed to the post. Being mostly a vegetarian I agree it will be quite a task to hit the 40% protien mark, but I will have to incorporate a lot more of dairy products and eggs to my diet. I also agree with francl27 that perhaps doing 40% is not even necessary, as long as the remaining is carbs and not fats.
When I was going thru the labels of all the protien bars available in my next door supermarket, it was clear to me that they are super high in calories and should be had only when absolutely required. I'll just have to get some other suppliments and incorporate it in smoothies or fresh juices or something if I need to really hit the high protein mark. I guess I can try that for about two to three weeks and see what the results are and then continue or discontinute depending on that.
Fingers crossed!
Well, arguably the 160 calories Quest bars still give you some of the best protein per calorie, just a bit under chicken breast and fish, but you get a lot of fiber too.0 -
There isn't anything right with soy right??!!?? I love soy nuggets.. I dont like soy milk as much.. but I could eat the nuggets all the time! its a great source for proteins!Hmm... makes sense. I have been quite skeptical of using the bars so far but thought I'd give it a shot. So any artificial supplements are a no no then I assume.
I do eat eggs and dairy. I love my dairy products and as much as I can I have low fat dairy products. Unfortunately I don't eat sea food. I am more on the vegetarian spectrum.
I have been using soya nuggets too to keep the protein intake high. Any other suggestions?
I avoid most protein bars and powders as I want to avoid the fillers and additives, and artificial sweeteners really don't agree with me! I have a WPI and WPC that have no flavours, fillers, additives, sweeteners but I use less than or scoop a day. If you want flavour, but also want to avoid the other stuff, there are proteins sweetened with stevia and flavoured with vanilla and cacao. You can add it to your yoghurt, smoothies, bake with it or make pancakes etc.
I'd avoid soy with a 10ft pole...
ugh, theres nothing wrong with soy0 -
Some people are pro soya, some people are anti soya, just as with probably every other food (wheat! any grains! dairy! meat! fruit! fish!). Just search online and you'll find loads of information...
I generally believe that eating too much of the same thing can't be great, so trying to get all your protein through soya products (yogurt and milk for breakfast, nuggets/burgers etc for lunch, more of that for dinner...) will be a pretty one-sided diet. Same if you only get animal protein through dairy and eggs.
Variety is a lot more fun and you'll get loads of different nutrients. Just search for lists of (vegetarian/vegan) foods that are high in protein and add some to every meal!0 -
Hmm... makes sense. I have been quite skeptical of using the bars so far but thought I'd give it a shot. So any artificial supplements are a no no then I assume.
I do eat eggs and dairy. I love my dairy products and as much as I can I have low fat dairy products. Unfortunately I don't eat sea food. I am more on the vegetarian spectrum.
I have been using soya nuggets too to keep the protein intake high. Any other suggestions?
I avoid most protein bars and powders as I want to avoid the fillers and additives, and artificial sweeteners really don't agree with me! I have a WPI and WPC that have no flavours, fillers, additives, sweeteners but I use less than or scoop a day. If you want flavour, but also want to avoid the other stuff, there are proteins sweetened with stevia and flavoured with vanilla and cacao. You can add it to your yoghurt, smoothies, bake with it or make pancakes etc.
I'd avoid soy with a 10ft pole...
ugh, theres nothing wrong with soy
isn't there? can't say I've read anything to convince me that it would be a good thing to include in my diet.0 -
I'm just going to echo the sentiment on Quest bars. I like them because they have 20g of protein and I can pronounce the names of the ingredients. They're also delicious!0
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Don't be afraid of fat. Healthy fats are good for mood and hormone stabilation. They also help lower bad cholesterol while boosting good cholesterol. dietary fat is also a good macronutrient that provides energy. Just try to keep it to "good" fats such as nuts, seeds (chi & sunflower) , peanut butter, avocado and olive oil.
I am a vegetarian also and try to eliminate dairy when I can. Quest bars are great for a snack especially if you have a sweet tooth. You can can them anywhere. They have the least amount of "junk" and are a good source of protein and fiber.
They come in so many favors and they are all good. Microwave for a few seconds and they are even better!
Good luck!0 -
Hmm... makes sense. I have been quite skeptical of using the bars so far but thought I'd give it a shot. So any artificial supplements are a no no then I assume.
I do eat eggs and dairy. I love my dairy products and as much as I can I have low fat dairy products. Unfortunately I don't eat sea food. I am more on the vegetarian spectrum.
I have been using soya nuggets too to keep the protein intake high. Any other suggestions?
I avoid most protein bars and powders as I want to avoid the fillers and additives, and artificial sweeteners really don't agree with me! I have a WPI and WPC that have no flavours, fillers, additives, sweeteners but I use less than or scoop a day. If you want flavour, but also want to avoid the other stuff, there are proteins sweetened with stevia and flavoured with vanilla and cacao. You can add it to your yoghurt, smoothies, bake with it or make pancakes etc.
I'd avoid soy with a 10ft pole...
ugh, theres nothing wrong with soy
isn't there? can't say I've read anything to convince me that it would be a good thing to include in my diet.
and theres no real PROOF that including it in your diet is BAD for you. So relax.0
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