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Meal replacement bars are one of the hardest things to find (decent ones, that is). Usually what you will get instead of a meal replacement is either a protein bar with a mushy texture or a candy bar with a nice wrapper full of claims and advertisements. For a bar to be a meal replacement it should have a decent amount of protein, complex carbs, good fats, fiber, vitamins, and minerals. The major problem with most bars is that for them to have a solid state and to make them taste semi decently manufacturers load them with sugar and/or chemicals.
I have been looking for a decent meal replacement bar for years and I have had the opportunity to taste really good ones and really bad ones. Below I give an overview of a couple of them. It has certainly been hard to find a meal replacement bar that meets my criteria. Just in case you have not visited any of my websites yet, this is the criteria that I use for choosing and recommending bars, shakes, snacks, recipes, and foods in general.
Natural is ALWAYS best! Do not let people (or companies) convince you that a product is better than the food itself, and please I am not talking about fried chicken but about fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts, healthy oils, lean meats, and whole grains. If we could base our diets on those foods we wouldn't have to worry about meal replacements at all!
If natural is not available knowledge is second best. With this I am trying to tell you that you must know how to read nutrition facts and ingredient labels. Learn what a good ratio of carbs, proteins and fats is for your goal. Learn what are good fats and bad fats; recognize which carbs are complex carbs and which come from sugar.
And speaking of sugar, make sure that if you are going to eat something sweet you do not fill yourself up with chemicals and artificial sweeteners. They do nothing for you but give you a bad aftertaste (and who knows maybe a bad headache or even cancer....). Also try to stay away from high fructose corn syrup, it usually reflect a poor quality product. I have nothing against sugar but when you chemically alter it to make it sweeter and a lot more cost effective without really caring about what it may cause to our bodies... then I have a lot against it. Try to stay as natural as possible. Sucralose (Splenda), Saccharin, Aspartame, Acesulfame K... if you see them on the label run the other way!
Calories. I am sure that you have heard about calories, and counting calories, and empty calories, and you are pretty much done with calories, but the truth is that excess calories are stored in our bodies as fat. Plain and simple. If you don't want to have calories stored as fat, make sure that you burn them through physical activity. Meal replacement bars are loaded with calories, so make sure that they don't come just from sugar (any kind of it), or saturated fats or simple fillers.
Ingredients. Look at the list of ingredients. If you cannot pronounce the top ingredients (vitamins are at the bottom and they do have names that are hard to pronounce) then do not eat it. Also if the first ingredient is sugar.... You may want to pass on it.
With all this said, I have tasted a bunch of meal replacement bars or protein bars. Here are some brief reviews:
Detour Bars: Highly addictive. I loved the way they taste. I got so addicted to these bars that I would buy them by the box... until I realized that I cannot eat them because they have so many chemicals that my skin was all of the sudden cracking and brittle. I get the same reaction with anything that has Sucralose (didn't they say that Splenda-Sucralose was safe??L)
Odwalla Bars: I have had these bars in all flavors. They are awesome, but definitely they do not qualify as meal replacements. They are great snacks though. They are all natural and they taste like dessert.
Lara Bars: If you are looking for 100% simple and natural, you can't get anything better than Lara Bars. The number of ingredients in their bars tops at 5, I believe. Also they are not cooked which contributes to the wholesomeness of these bars.
Clif Bars: Now we are getting closer to something that I may put under the meal replacement bars category. Clif bars' protein is soy protein, though. I am still debating on the healthfulness of soy.
Greens+ Protein Bar: I actually like their flavor a lot. They are a little high in fat due to their peanut content. They taste like sesame halva or Spanish turrón. Their green color will make anyone around you ask you what you are eating lol. I liked that they are 100% natural plus they do have super greens and whey protein.
There are hundreds of meal replacement bars and protein bars in the market. I have been trying them for years.
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Breakfast should be the heaviest meal of the day, contrary to the common belief that it should be lunch. And since it should be the heaviest meal of the day, one should make sure that it contains all of the necessary nutrients.
Skipping of breakfast or the eating of too light a breakfast is one mistake that is very commonly committed nowadays. Because too many people are in a hurry, they eat nothing but one or two pieces of bread with one cup of coffee for breakfast. Then when they feel run-down at about breaktime, they wonder why.
There are two things that should be done so that an adequate breakfast can be had:
1) Wake up early; and
2) plan simple, easy-to-prepare but balanced menus.
Breakfast should include a protein food such as egg or milk, cereal or bread, or both, and beverage. If a good source of vitamin C is included, the day's allowance is assured.
Variety in breakfast planning can be added in many ways. Cereals can be hot or cold and so can the bread. Bread may vary from plain white to griddle cakes to pandesal or ensaymada. For beverage you could have milk, cocoa, natural coffee, and your vitamin C source can be anything from orange juice to pomelo sections.
Variety is very important in meal planning. It is sometimes the biggest factor in determining whether a meal will be a success or not. There are several ways of adding variety to meals. Check out some of the pointers below:
1. Don't repeat the same kind of food in one meal. If you are having a tokwa-gluten loaf for dinner, do not serve adobong tokwa as well.
2. Try to avoid using only one type of foodstuff in one meal. A menu consisting of rice, macaroni salad, potatoes and cookies is bad because all of these foods are rich in carbohydrates. A proper meal should be 10 to 15 percent protein, 25 to 35 percent fat and 50 to 60 percent carbohydrates.
3. Avoid serving more than one strong-flavored food in one meal. The opposite of this should also be avoided. Too many bland foods taken together are unappetizing.
4. Combine flavors. A contrast in flavors is always good and certainly adds to the variety of the menu. Try using bland foods to complement tangy ones, sweet foods to contrast sour.
5. Use sauces and relishes to add to the flavors of a dish, but do not mask its original flavor. Just the right amount of catsup can do wonders for a meatloaf, but too much of catsup can drown it.
6. Be particular about serving temperatures. If the soup is meant to be hot, serve it HOT, and if ice cream is on the menu, serve it COLD. Nothing is more unappetizing than lukewarm soup or runny ice cream.
7. Provide attractive color combinations. A meal of mashed potatoes, Spanish rice, and caulifloweris monotonous in appearance. Try using complimentary colors such as red, green, yellow and white. Color can also be added by using garnishes such as red and green pepper rings, kinchay, celery or peanuts.
8. Contrast textures and consistency. Don't serve a meal consisting of arroz caldo, creamed chopped gluten, mashed potatoes and pudding. Have something chewy like gluten steaks, something soft such as mashed squash, and something hard like peanut brittle.
9. Vary the shapes of food - round, square, etcetera - on the plates.
10. Plan your menus according to the season. Piping hot soup will not be welcomed if served on a hot summer night, but it would be a nice addition to a meal in cold days.
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