Healthiest snack bars for weight loss

Additionally, while protein bars are very convenient, they are much more expensive than purchasing whole foods.

In fact, some protein bars cost three times more than buying whole foods with the equivalent amount of protein in them, but contain more calories, sugar, and unfamiliar ingredients that your body doesn't need. Why do you want to include protein bars in your diet? Are you trying to lose weight or gain muscle? Protein is essential for muscle recovery after exercise, and to allow your body to build new muscle.

Not eating enough protein can delay your muscle recovery and could cause your muscles to shrink instead of growing. When choosing a protein bar to help you recover from a tough workout, you will want to find one that is high in calories and protein. If you are trying to lose weight, protein is also an important part of fat burning. Its high thermic effect causes it to use a lot of energy in order to break down. If you are replacing a snack to help you lose weight, you don't need a protein bar that is high in calories. Make sure you recognize all of the ingredients on the list.

You don't want to consume a lot of chemicals in the process of eating your convenient snack.

The fewer ingredients a protein bar has, the healthier it probably is. Calories: Calories are important to help you recover from a workout, but you should make sure you don't eat protein bars that have excessive calories if you don't need them because this could lead to weight gain. Protein content and protein type: Some protein bars actually contain very little protein. You want to find a bar with no fewer than five grams. In general, when you're buying the best protein bar, you can assume that the more protein it has, the better it is. But this is only true if that protein is high quality.

The preferable proteins to consume are milk and whey. Some bars have soy protein, which is of lower quality and can possibly lead to an upset stomach. Carbohydrates: If you want to lose weight, choose a low-carbohydrate bar because you likely do not burn as many carbohydrates as you eat in an average day.

Excess carbs are quickly converted to fat and can lead to ongoing carb cravings. For post-exercise protein bars, carbs are important to help you recover. When eaten after exercise, carbohydrates are quickly moved to your muscles and liver to create glycogen and fuel your next workout. Sugar alcohols: To make their bars sweet without using sugar, many manufacturers use sugar alcohols. While this makes a bar low in sugar, it does not make it healthy. Sugar alcohols are sweet and low calorie, but can lead to an upset stomach, bloating, and diarrhea.

They can even cause you to have sugar cravings later in the day, which will negate the fact that your bar was free from sugar.

Looking for the Best Protein Bars?

If you want the healthiest protein bar, look for those that are free from artificial sweeteners and sugar alcohols. Fiber content: Fiber is important to consume in order to maintain the health of your digestive system and make you feel fuller for a longer amount of time.

Fiber also will not add calories to the bar, which means that a high-fiber bar is a healthy one. Fat content: Just because a diet is low in fat does not make it a healthy diet, because your body needs some dietary fat. Omega 3 and omega 6 polyunsaturated fats and monounsaturated fats need to be a part of your diet.

But saturated fat contains a lot of excess calories that you don't need in a healthy protein bar. You want to consume protein bars that contain healthy fats but have less than 3 grams of saturated fat per bar. You definitely want to steer clear of trans fats. These are processed fats that are extremely unhealthy and should be avoided. Hydrogenated vegetable oils can be hidden in protein bars, and these are a common source of trans fats.

Carbs-to-protein ratio: Finding the best carbs-to-protein ratio can help maximize your energy levels, help you maintain a healthy body weight, and allow you to stay full for longer after you eat. The recommended dietary allowances for protein is 46 grams for females and 56 grams for males, and the recommended dietary allowances for carbohydrates is grams per day for all adults. Unless you have specific protein and carb ratio requirements, aim to consume at least the recommended daily amount for carbs and protein every day. Before investing a lot of money into a protein bar, check reviews to see if the manufacturer is reputable.

This way, you can get advice from people who have had experience with the product and either trust or don't trust the people who make it. Making your own protein bars is always a good way to know exactly what is in them. Mix some peanut butter and your favorite protein powder or some almonds and dried fruit together to create a bar that you will enjoy. One great thing about making your own protein bars at home is that it ends up saving you a lot of money in the long run.

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Now that you have an idea of what you are looking for, here are some of the best options available on the market today. These bars compromise neither taste nor quality in their delivery of a convenient, on-the-go snack. The company behind these protein bars was founded by Luke Tolley, who has a Ph. He pairs his 20 years of experience in making bars with his knowledge of molecular chemistry to make a bar that he himself loves—and believes you will too. The nutritional profile of each bar varies slightly, depending on its flavor, with the range of calories being from to Consumers can design their own flavor variety boxes or just stick to their favorite option.

As far as the taste goes, consumers find these bars to be much less dense or chalky than other options. Whey protein isolate is a complete protein, meaning it contains all of the essential amino acids. Erythritol is the sugar alcohol used to sweeten these bars.

This means that people who suffer from diabetes can consume products such as these bars without having a spike in their blood sugar. Because sugar alcohols can cause intestinal distress, many avoid them, however, erythritol has fewer carbon atoms than other sugar alcohols, which makes it much more tolerable than other sugar alcohols. Maltodextrin is the source of soluble fiber in these bars, and it also helps create their unique texture. However, maltodextrin is well-tolerated by most, and these bars typically cause no digestive distress.

Looking for the Best Protein Bars?

Starting with protein content, Quest Bars contain a respectable 20 grams. Whey protein is the go-to option for most protein bars, so nothing groundbreaking in that department. Quest Bars have a strikingly high fiber content relative to the protein and fat content.

The fiber content is notable because it makes a big difference in the number of net carbohydrates in the bar. If the label is accurate, Quest Bars have, by far, the best protein to carbohydrate ratio of any protein bar on the market in their category. The one real drawback about Quest Bars is their texture. These bars are exceedingly chewy. As it turns out, when you condense that much whey protein and fiber into a small bar, you end up with something resembling licorice in texture.

They can even double as meal replacement bars at calories per bar. Everything about these bars is over-the-top. They pack 32 grams of protein, which is more than any other bar on this list.

Each bar has 14 grams of fat and 26 grams of sugar. In terms of ingredients, these bars have everything, but the kitchen sink thrown in.

With 3 grams of protein and only 6 grams of sugar, these salty-sweet granola bars should keep you satisfied between meals.