When Good Companies Do Bad Bars

Nutrition bar. These two words together get me thinking of old joke about Military Intelligence being an oxymoron.

I don't eat nutrition bars, I don't make them and I don't suggest others consume them either. I can hardly begin to count the number of people whom I've talked to who have told me "I can't seem to loose this excess weight..." who I later discovered were replacing meals with nutrition or energy bars.

The problem is it's hard to balance the need people have for these bars to taste like a candy bar with any reasonable level of nutrition quality. And then, of course, you throw on the profit issue and it's like tossing gas on the fire.

Here's another great example of why they're are for the most part a bad choice: WIRED magazines look at the PowerBar Protein Plus bar.

If you have to have a bar--and believe me there are times when they are convenient--here are a few guidelines:

1. Make sure it's really a serious need not just a reaction to be too lazy to invest 2 minutes blending a rich, nutrition shake, like Full Strength. I'm talking some travel situations and more often long biking or hiking sessions, etc.

2. Choose a better bar which means your likely not going to get one as a primary protein source--accept that they are likely and best used for carbs. This is why I prefer something in the CLIF line or a natural version with Larabar... which is much smaller but can work at times.

3. Don't make a habit out of these things... use them like you'd use a crescent wrench, now and then when it's the right tool for the job.

Here's to your strength and freedom.

Shawn

Comments

[Eduardo Renteria]

Shawn,

I have been looking for a good quality meal-replacement/nutrition shake since I understand how convenient and efficient these can be.

However, I am disappointed so far because I have not found a single product that contains good quality (natural) sweeteners such as stevia.

Even the "Full Strength" or Myoplex shakes contains "sucralose" a potential carcinogen. Any comments?

Thanks,
Eduardo

[Don]

Would a Cliff bar be okay during a 4 hour round of golf? If not, then what? What about those weekend rounds that can take upwards of 5 hours? Any other suggestions?

Also, similar topic. It's 100+ during the day, I'm playing golf and sweating like crazy. Do you still say no sports drinks? Should I simply drink water only? I always thought it was the heat that was making me tired as a round drug on; but after reading Strength for Life, perhaps it's a sugar crash from the funny-colored drinks?