Protein and Energy Bars

Yesterday, I was in Kroger picking up a few things and I ended up in the organic section. In the organic or health food section there was an entire aisle of just protein and energy bars. After a quick count I would estimate that there were almost two hundred different types of bars. These bars are all marketed as health food but they are really just well marketed candy bars. If you look at the ingredient list on all of the bars you will usually find some type of syrup listed as one of the top ingredients. This could be corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, brown rice syrup, or any number of types of syrup. What is syrup - SUGAR. The other common ingredient that you will find in many of the bars is maltodextrin which does not add to the total sugars on the nutrition label but it is basically just corn sugar. If the bar is truly low carb and does not have any of the syrups or starches then it usually contains dried fruit or artificial sweetener. Dried fruit is just a concentrated form of fructose and if you read the posting earlier in the week you know what excess fructose can do to your body. Artificial sweeteners are chemicals that mess with your hormones and brain chemistry. Now onto the fats in the bars. Most of the fats in the bars come from pro-inflammatory vegetable oils such as sunflower oil, cottonseed oil, or even worse hydrogenated oils. These oils basically have the opposite effect of the fish oil that we suggest everyone take. These oils will cause inflammation in the body and degrade the health of your cell membranes and receptors. So next time you are thinking about eating one of these bars take a closer look at what you are really eating.

Yesterday's Top Performers
Male Front squat Chris M 185
Male 50 rep 8 count bodybuilders Chris M1:48
Female Front Squat Ashley 105
Female 50 rep 8 count bodybuilders Ashley 2:01

Workout of the Day
1 min thrusters, sumo high pull, pullups, pushups, box jumps
transition from one exercise to the next without resting
Perform 4 rounds with 2 min rest between rounds