07
26

POSTED IN Nutrition // Comments (6)

How to Choose the Best Protein Bar

Thanks to the fun group of friends that joined us in the park this morn­ing! We had a nice break from the rain, but made up for it with sweat. We hope you enjoyed the work­out as much as we did… and we hope to see you out in the park with us next month! Sign up today →

Excerpted from Active​.com

We spend more than $1.5 bil­lion each year on food bars—carbohydrate, pro­tein, meal-replacement, even gender-specific. Is the dough being spent a huge waste, or worse, cre­at­ing huge waists?

We found a guide on Active​.com that out­lines dif­fer­ent bar types and how they can help, or hurt, you. Today we will focus on Recov­ery (pro­tein) bars.

Recov­ery Bar (AKA Protein)

THE BASICS: High in muscle-building pro­tein, these bars are mar­keted as much to the Gold’s Gym bench-pressing crowd as to pedal-pushing cyclists look­ing for post ride and post-training recovery.

PURPOSE: Helps usher carbs back into your mus­cles after a hard work­out, and pro­vides amino acids to rebuild your mus­cles. These sup­ple­ments work quickly so your body begins recov­ery immediately.

LOOK FOR: Qual­ity pro­tein in the form of whey, milk and soy. There is much debate over which is best, but many bars con­tain a blend, which may help deliver the ben­e­fits of each.

WATCH OUT FOR: Too many calories—some con­tain as many as 500. These bars are essen­tially a small meal—one can have as much pro­tein as 3 ounces of chicken and as many carbs as a cup of brown rice.

Tune in next week when we review Meal Replace­ment Bars!

• Please con­sider sharing:
• Rec­om­mend on Facebook
• Buzz it up
• Share on Linkedin
• Share with Stumblers
• Tweet about it
• Sub­scribe to the com­ments on this post

6 Responses to “How to Choose the Best Protein Bar”

1. Shazia says:

   July 26, 2011 at 12:41 pm

   Super fun work­out amidst the buck­ets of sweat. Leigh thank you for the sprints. Randy– you will have to turn it up a notch next time you sign up. You are a speedy now think of what 2 months in a row would do for you and your vol­ley ball games:)))
   Almost to the fin­ish line. See every­one on Thursday.
2. Mary Ellen says:

   July 26, 2011 at 1:08 pm

   Is it just me or does the pro­tein bar in that pic­ture also kinda look like a sand­wich? Specif­i­cally, a chicken salad sand­wich on lumpy pumper­nickel with a slice of tomato.

   Nice to see so many friends out there this morn­ing. Shout out to group ONEd­er­ful and espe­cially to Ash for stick­ing with it today!

   M.E.
3. Kathleen says:

   July 26, 2011 at 1:46 pm

   Great turn out for try us day, and what a tough work­out in this heat.

   Optional work­out tomor­row. Same time and place. Bring a yoga mat or beach towel and a set of light weights if you have them.
4. Susan says:

   July 26, 2011 at 2:25 pm

   So nice to meet so many new Friends and see old Pals! Thanks for com­ing out this morn­ing! It was a tough one, but very fun at the same time! “Team Trois” rocked it!! Thanks Andy for lead­ing the way! Hope to see all of you back next month!
5. Daniel says:

   July 26, 2011 at 2:43 pm

   Throw­ing this out there and see­ing if it sticks…

   If any­one would be inter­ested in another Happy Hour this Fri­day at the Nook around 6 PM please let us know.

   Thanks,
6. Julie says:

   July 27, 2011 at 7:41 pm

   Huge thanks to my friend, Jason Rhoades, for mak­ing it out and prov­ing I do have friends

   Daniel, I am game for Fri­day happy hour, sad I missed the last one. (But no one is allowed to talk about calo­ries or fat or sugar or carbs in my drink choices.)