Finding the Perfect Protein Bar

When trying to pick an on-the-go snack, you may try to pick out a protein bar. There is a lot of decision-making that happens when trying to pick the perfect protein bar. Protein bars all have different goals and ending results, so based on what you want to accomplish, that is what you should be taking. Some of them help promote muscle growth while others try to help fat loss, which still have a lot of proteins. The six factors are total calorie count, total number of carbohydrates, presence of sugar alcohols, ingredient panel listings, dietary fat content, and the carbohydrates to protein ratio. 

We'll take a look at the first of these six important factors when choosing a protein bar. If you are looking to lose weight, then taking a high calorie protein bar might not be the best option. In order to build lean muscle mass, then taking in this high calorie protein bar might be exactly what you need to fill up the required number of calories needed for the day. Based on what you hope to accomplish, this should change your intake of calories per protein bar. 

The total carbohydrate count should be lower if you are trying to lose fat. 30 grams of carbohydrates are typically the most amount of carbohydrates you should take in depending on your diet. However, if taken after a workout, then the carbohydrate count can be higher because a person after working out should take a higher amount of carbohydrates. When trying to pick a bar for a post-workout mean, try looking at getting something that is very low in fat, while also being high in carbohydrates. 

There are many symptoms that can arise if a protein bar is taken that has a low number of total carbohydrates. Some of these major symptoms include bloating, diarrhea, cramps, and the passing of really bad gas. These issues must be looked at just in case because these are very common side effects of taking these protein bars that are low in carbohydrate count. 

Ingredients, of course, are one of the major things to look for when trying to eat any food in general. The main thing you want to look out for is sugars and high-fructose corn syrup. High-fructose corn syrup is only good in moderation, but should not be consumed regularly, making it a bad choice as a main ingredient in a protein bar. By examining the form of carbohydrates that are contained in the protein bar, you should try not to consume a lot of high-fructose corn syrup. The order in which the ingredients appear on the side help to determine how much of it is used when creating the product. When the list of ingredients appear, then the order is determined by how much of each substance is used. Therefore, the earlier it shows up on the list, the more of it was used. 

Saturated Fat Molecule vs. Unsaturated Fat Molecule

The fat content is one of the major things to look out for when deciding to buy a protein bar because you want to buy a bar that does not contain that much fat. However, it is necessary for the protein bar to contain some fat in order to slow down the release of carbohydrates into the blood steam to provide a more balanced protein bar. The saturated and trans fat should be as low as possible because these fats are not good for you. The other fats are a much better addition to your diet plan. These kind of fats that are better for you are generally used in protein bars, but not as much as in granola bars, which include saturated and trans fat as well. 

The sixth and final factor to consider when getting a protein bar is the carbohydrate to protein ratio. This basically measures the amount of carbohydrates to protein in the bar, which should be different based on your goals. If you are trying to lose fat, then a 2:1 ratio of carbohydrates to proteins, but a 1:1 ratio would work as well. If you are looking to build muscle and eat the protein bar after a workout, you want to get closer to a 1:2 ratio.