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Are protein bars well being meals?
Protein is prone to fill you up greater than easy carbs will, Dr. Rimm mentioned. Which may be as a result of protein helps our our bodies launch hormones that maintain starvation at bay.
However many protein bars are additionally stuffed with sugar. A chocolate chip Clif Bar, for instance, comprises 16 grams of added sugars, greater than what’s in a serving of Skinny Mints. A Gatorade protein bar within the taste chocolate chip comprises 28 grams of added sugars, twice the quantity in a Dunkin’ Donuts chocolate frosted doughnut with sprinkles.
“By and enormous, they’re extremely processed, excessive in sugar and salt — sort of a ‘Frankenfood,’” Dr. Slicing-Jones mentioned. Dr. Rimm agreed: Many protein bars are actually simply “sweet bars with much more protein,” he mentioned.
Protein bars may make sense for somebody who wants to extend their protein consumption — for instance, a vegan who doesn’t get sufficient protein from their eating regimen, or somebody who simply had an intense exercise, Mr. DiMarino mentioned. However for the typical particular person, including one other punch of protein into your eating regimen — notably when it comes with numerous added sugar — is just not going to make you more healthy.
“It’s a snack for if you’re in a pinch,” mentioned Stephanie Urrutia, director of efficiency vitamin on the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics on the College of California, Los Angeles, equivalent to “in the event you’re going up the aspect of the mountain, in the event you can’t seize a full meal.” But it surely’s not meant to be an precise alternative for a meal, she mentioned.
Some bars are worse than others.
Not all protein bars are created equal by way of their components and dietary content material. Should you do need to attain for a protein bar, take note of the vitamin information label. Go for these with components that you just acknowledge, Dr. Nestle mentioned. “In the event that they’re largely nuts and fruit — that’s not unhealthy,” she mentioned.
Should you’re having a protein bar as a snack or post-workout complement, purpose for a one which has roughly 200 energy per serving, Mr. DiMarino mentioned, with fewer than 5 grams of fats and 5 grams of added sugar. And the quantity of protein it comprises can fluctuate from bar to bar, however he mentioned you may need to purpose for one with 15 to twenty grams per serving.
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