Protein Bar Article for Big Red Report

07-18-2007

More than just a convenience, today’s generation of sports bars provide nutrients and taste in a meal-on-the-go package.

There's more to sports bars than meets the eye or the palate. In a survey conducted of members of a Long Island, NY gym, a majority (84.7 percent) took supplements. Up to 42 percent of them regularly consumed protein shakes/bars at least five times per week. So clearly, there's a demand for what I call protein convenience.  Sometimes you just don't have time to cook skinless chicken or tasteless tuna. In that case, a sports bar with lots of protein is just what the doctor ordered.

Glycemic This And That

The rage these days is that you consume carbs that are preferentially have a low glycemic load. Or to put this in real life terms; If you consume a piece of candy that has a total of 20 calories, even if it is a high-glycemic confectionary, the glycemic load is so low that it's virtually inconsequential. Now let's say you consume oatmeal, a low-glycemic favorite of bodybuilders; but you consume 500 calories worth of it. Guess which carries the higher glycemic load? If you answered oatmeal then go to the head of the class.

Glycemic Index and Glycemic Load

The glycemic index (GI) measures how much circulating blood sugar a carbohydrate triggers — the higher the number, the greater the blood sugar response. So a low-GI food will cause a small rise, while a high-GI food will trigger a large rise in blood sugar and hence plasma insulin. The glycemic load (GL) assesses the impact of carbohydrate consumption that takes the glycemic index into account, but gives a fuller picture than does glycemic index alone. The GL also takes into account how much food you're actually eating. You need to know both things to understand a food's effect on blood sugar. That is where glycemic load comes in. The carbohydrate in watermelon, for example, has a high GI. But there isn't a lot of it, so watermelon's glycemic load is relatively low. A GL of 20 or more is high, a GL of 11 to 19 is medium, and a GL of 10 or less is low. Foods that have a low GL almost always have a low GI. Foods with an intermediate or high GL range from very low to very high GI. Another example is how folks avoid carrots because of a supposed high glycemic index. You'd have to eat more carrots than a starving Bugs Bunny in order for it to make a difference. So go ahead and eat those carrots.

By reducing the glycemic load of the diet, this is an effective strategy in increasing satiety, reducing mindless eating and possibly improving fat oxidation by reducing insulin demand. This is, in my opinion, a better strategy than doing the low-fat strategy espoused by the American Dietetics Association (clearly a failed strategy).

There are a few studies looking at glycemic and insulinemic response to food bars. For example, scientists studied a total of 20 healthy adult subjects who, after an overnight fast, were fed 60-gram portions of one of five meals, which were as follows: a low carbohydrate bar, a moderate carbohydrate bar, a high carbohydrate bar, white bread and chicken breast. They found that compared to white bread, plasma glucose area under the curve (AUC) for the meals was: 71 percent lower for the low carb bar, 50 percent lower for moderate, 4 percent higher for the high, and 83 percent lower for the chicken breast. The scientists concluded that the “substitution of other macronutrients for carbohydrate is effective for reducing postprandial glycemia. However, the insulin response may not decrease to the same degree and, for some bars, may actually be elevated compared with white bread.”

It's All About Taste And Quality

Ever since Detour came out with a protein bar that basically tasted like candy, the race was on for all sports bar makers to get rid of the cardboard-tasting stuff and get with the program. With food technology as advanced as it is, there is no reason why any of today's food bars should taste like your old Hush Puppies. In fact, if there is one commonality in this category, it's that they all taste good. So what, besides taste, should a consumer look at to decide if this bar is for him or her?

Macronutrients: One of the first things I look at whenever I pick up a bar, or any food product for that matter, is the 'Nutrition Facts' or 'Supplement Facts' panel. Usually from that alone, you can make a reasonable guess as to how best to use these bars. Food bars are calories, just like any other food. For instance, a hamburger from Burger King has 310 calories, 17 grams of protein, 30 gram of carbs, and 13 grams of fat.7  So in total calories, many bars are comparable to a burger. But what the burger doesn't provide is the amount of protein found in these bars. That's why bars are such a convenient way to get protein when you don't have time to cook a meal. Also, the processed carbs (white bread) used for burgers isn't exactly on the top 10 list of must-have bodybuilding foods.

Post-workout nutrition

Besides being a convenient mid-day snack, many of these bars are actually ideal as a post-workout meal. For instance, research shows that consuming as little as 100 calories (40 percent of it being protein) is sufficient to “enhance muscle protein deposition, but it also has significant potential to positively impact health, muscle soreness and tissue hydration during prolonged intense exercise training.”

In general, if you want to expedite recovery post-workout, try to consume slightly more carbs than protein (with men consuming more total calories than women). As a snack, probably a balance of protein and carbs would work best.  The higher protein content's thermic effect.