Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Protein Bar or Candy Bar???

The world of "protein bars" is probably the most misleading and ingenious marketing idea ever. Most of the bars are loaded with sugar and low quality protein but since they are protein bars and not candy bars companies mark them up 100-200%. Plus they usually taste like garbage.

I was at the super market yesterday and found myself very hungry (it is never good to go to the market hungry). I went over to where they sell the protein bars and was extremely disappointed. Of course there were not Metabolic Drive bars (my first choice) but they didn't have any Greens+ bars either.

Here's what I did find...I won't mention the company name because it is too embarassing. The bar contained 360 calories. The first ingredient was a protein blend but the next three ingredients were corn syrup, brown rice syrup, and high fructose corn syrup. The bar had 51 grams of carbs, 25 of which came from sugar. Oh yeah it also contained partially hydrogenated soybean oil. Total crap.

The moral of the story is that it is extrememly important to read the labels before you purchase "health food" items.

3 comments:

Frank Gerratana said...

I used to hit up the protein bar section in supermarkets, but now I just visit the salad bar. Usually they have lean protein like grilled chicken or eggs, and obviously plenty of veggies!

Unknown said...

Where can you purchase Metabolic Drive Bars? The only place online that I could find is in Australia and they warn you to check with customs before ordering...

Mike Roussell said...

J,

You can get them at this link

http://www.t-nation.com/category.jsp?categoryID=34&pageNo=1&s=leftTable1

-Mike