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Somewhere in the course of the English food language, "meal replacement bars" mutated
into "protein bars" as a general term. It's just a petty thing for me, but not all meal replacement bars are
protein bars.
Anyway, there was a time when I was very very dependent on these bars. I was working as a consultant, flying all over the place, and was forced to eat in airports, in taxi cabs, at my desk, etc. Bars were easy and, in some cases, not too horrible tasting. But I have often wondered, are they really any better than a candy bar? As a short article in iVillage points out, these bars have the same number of calories, sometimes more, than say, a regular sized Snickers bar. These bars sure look like candy bars, and more and more, they have things like chocolate, marshmallows ("s'mores flavor"). If it's a meal replacement, they sure are small for a meal, for I've found that I often want to eat another one because I don't feel full.
Are the "diet bars" really helping people lose weight? What about the true protein bars that look like canned spam and taste like peanut butter mixed with tree bark? Are they really that useful for athletes? IVillage has a few tips about how to effectively make use of meal replacement bars if you have to.
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3-18-2006 @3:19PM garoo said... I can vouch for diet bars -- you can definitely lose weight with them.
First, not all calories are equal, because the body doesn't assimilate them the same way and at the same speed. So there's very little relevance in only measuring the number of calories in a bar.
Second, the point of diet bars is to feed you the essential nutrients and satiate you a bit so you can hold until the next diet bar (though it'll still take some willpower), whereas a regular Snickers bar is obviously not too healthy as a meal replacement and, more importantly, will leave you ten minutes later much hungrier than you were before eating it. (Sugar rush, etc.)
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3-18-2006 @8:19PM Jason Young said... Not everyone on a "diet" is trying to lose weight. Some of us are trying to gain weight! :)
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3-18-2006 @10:00PM Christina said... Most of these bars aren't intended to be meal replacements at all, but healthy snacks with a base that provides healthy energy.
Personally, I like a Luna bar now and then as a snack. At about 170-180 calories each, they're definitely not meal replacement bars, but they can tide one over between meals. Plus, they have a wide variety of flavors that taste pretty good too.
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3-18-2006 @10:07PM cybele said... A carefully chosen candy bar can rival a "meal repleacement" bar. The trick is to pick a candy bar that can deliver lasting energy and fulfillment with a balance of protein, fat and sugars.
A Snickers bar is a good start, as is a Payday bar. Really, any bar with a lot of nuts is going to be a good choice. Baby Ruth, Snickers Almond, Payday, Pearson's Salted Nut Roll, 5th Avenue and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups have pretty high protein ratios.
My favorite by far is M&Ms Almond.
The other thing I prefer about candy bars (besides the taste and the price) is that it's all real ingredients in there. Read the label on those "nutrition" bars sometime.
What I would prefer out of my "meal replacement" bar is something savory instead of sweet. Sometimes it's not the sweet that's satisfying, it's the salty, spicy stuff.
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3-19-2006 @5:06AM Kelley Ritchey said... I wonder if the move to make these bars more tasty is designed to expand the market opportunity.
Garoo says they can help achieve a diet objective, but I assume for very disciplined people only. But then I assume the discipline in eating only one and not as a precursor to other food is the real key to that success.
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3-19-2006 @4:34PM Myron said... They are generally very sweet. Look at the ingredients. Look at the grams of sugar. Now compare to snickers. There's not much difference.
The low carb ones are usually made of malitol, which gives many a tummy ache, or glycerine, which you otherwise know as astro-glide. Not very appitizing.
Its tough to find a shelf stable, low sugar, low fat snack or meal replacement.
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