Issue link: http://www.wacmagazine.com/i/697572
22 | Washington Athletic Club Magazine | JULY / AUGUST 2016 W ith nutrition bars being more popular than ever, how do we go about choosing the right one? Do high protein and fiber counts make a bar healthy? What about "organic" and "natural" bars with higher fat content? Finding the answers—and the right nutrition bars to help you reach your goals—isn't always easy. The following tips should help. First, determine a bar's intended goal. Is it to provide immediate energy, a workout recovery, or a meal delay? Second, look beyond the wrapper to determine a bar's ingredients and nutrient composition. Use the breakdown on the following page to determine which bar type is right for you. CONSIDER THE SOURCE After you determine which type of bar you want, the next step is to ensure quality ingredients, balanced nutrient composition, and a taste you enjoy. When analyzing a bar's makeup, ingredient quality should always come first. Many people forget to look at the ingredients of a bar and instead stick to the nutrition facts, looking at the protein, sugar and fiber. at's a good start, but it doesn't tell us where the protein, fiber and sugars come from. Common ingredients we absolutely want to avoid include soy protein isolate, corn syrups, and partially hydrogenated oils. Here's why. Wellness By Eric Chen, WAC Nutritionist I f you think all soy is good for you, think again. Yes, soy has lots of protein and some important phytonutrients, but it also contains various harmful agents that reverse many of its benefits. For example, soy creates a goitrogenic effect, limiting the body's ability to absorb iodine for proper thyroid function. It also contains high quantities of phytates that effectively block mineral absorption in the gut, leading to mineral deficiencies. Furthermore, soy contains a hefty dose of trypsin inhibitors. Our bodies need trypsin to digest protein. In other words, we often can't even absorb the protein in the soy we eat. is month's Wellness article looks at some of the downfalls of soy in a greater context—nutrition bars. As you'll see, many of these bars contain soy protein isolate, which food manufactures use widely because it's cheap, in the worst sense of that word. WAC Nutritionist Eric Chen addresses the different kinds of nutrition bars and how you can bet- ter match a bar to your needs—and avoid the ingredients that might be doing you more harm than good. Tamela Thomas, Wellness Manager tamelat@wac.net 206.464.4639 Hold on! It's not soy easy Raising the bar Look closer for the evil lurking in your 'nutrition' bars Healthy or not? Compare these sample bars Calories Protein Carbs Sugars Fiber Total Fat GMO soy 240 7g 27g 21g 2g 13g no 270 11g 38g 17g 4g 10g yes 230 18g 25g 17g 1g 7g yes 180 9g 23g 1g 6g 8g no 200 6g 17g 9g 3g 13g no Of the five bars listed, we see that two of them contain GMO soy protein, while three contain high amounts of sugar. The PaleoMeal bar stands out as a quality meal-delay bar with 9 grams of clean protein, 1 gram of sugar, and 6 grams of fiber. For more bar recommendations, see wac.net/nutrition-bars. PayDay candy bar Clif Bar Nuts & Seeds PureFit Peanut Butter Chocolate PaleoMeal Vanilla Almond Kind Fruit & Nut