Sunday, August 4, 2013

Can Protein Bars Help You Lose Weight?

By Stacey Johnston


Most of us snack on protein bars to give us energy after an extreme workout. They can likewise be a practical travel snack, a periodic mini-meal when we are short on time or a meal replacement if we are trying to reduce our food consumption.

In many of these cases, we are picking protein bars to remain healthy and often burn fat. Nevertheless, when you look at a grocery store shelf full of items, how do you know which ones are better for dropping weight?



What You Need to Know:

The bottom line is that we want to stay clear of sugar and processed foods. Some people search for "low carb" on product packaging, but you do not want to get tricked into eating a great deal of processed low carb garbage either.

However, There's an Obstacle ...

A big challenge is that a lot of protein bars contain a considerable quantity of sugar, and some have a variety of different kinds of sweetener. Some labels even note sugar as the main ingredient!

I realize that sugar boosts food taste, but protein bars which contain a great deal of sugar are essentially candy bars in disguise, in my opinion. This is similar to a chocolate chip breakfast muffin - isn't that actually a cupcake in disguise? Hmm ...

Exactly What to Search for if You Want to Lose Weight:

If you desire a very sweet protein bar, that's ok. It just will not help you in dropping weight. If you are aiming to lose weight or maintain your weight loss, search for healthy snack bars that have no added sugars.

This can be challenging, and you will typically need to try to find a natural food bar that does not include any processed ingredients. An example would be a trail mix bar that contains a combination of natural nuts and seeds with plain coconut or dried fruit.

If you are searching for low sugar, high protein bars, there are some nut and seed bars with protein powder included, like egg white protein powder. Many paleo athletes select these kinds of protein bars, since they do not consist of dairy products and they don't contain gluten as well.

Some Additional Benefits ...

An additional benefit to eating a low-sugar or no-sugar snack is that it will reduce your appetite for even more sugar. Have you ever consumed a high-calorie protein bar and instantly desired more? This is likely a sugar craving, and eating an additional bar will definitely not help you reduce weight.

Low sugar, unrefined protein bars are normally easier to digest and offer lots of nutrition naturally. Things like nuts and coconut are high in healthy fats, and are therefore helpful for satiating appetite and food cravings.

Paleo protein bars are low in sugar and usually contain a significant amount of protein. Too see a comparison graph of different choices, click here.




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