Protein is to your muscles what water is to a growing plant… SUPER IMPORTANT! Here at Loseweight.lk we want to focus on the best protein bars in Sri Lanka to help you achieve your protein consumption goals in a delicious, nutritious fashion.
For those who may be new to the protein game, just what is the best protein bar for you? When choosing the best protein bars for building lean mass, ideally we think it best to focus on seven factors: 1) Protein Content, 2) Protein Quality, 3) Taste, 4) Sugar Content, 5) Fat Content, 6) Carbohydrate Content and 7) Quality Ingredients. Setting strict standards for yourself here can make a huge difference in the results you achieve.
Protein Content
Whether you’re trying to get into underwear model, razor-ripped, six-pack shape or trying to prepare for a bodybuilding contest that’s several months away, you need your protein, plain and simple.
One of the biggest roadblocks to getting in those precious protein grams is finding readily available sources without always having to cook something. This is where the protein bar can be really handy.
But you have to make sure your bar delivers enough of the stuff. But how much protein is enough? As a rule of thumb, we like to say that decent protein bar generally has 20 grams or more of protein. The reason 20 grams is a good number is because most standard meat/fish servings will be in the same 20-30 gram ballpark
Protein Quality
Making sure you’ve got the grams is one thing, but making sure the protein in your bar is high quality is also very important. For example, let’s say we were comparing two protein bars.
The first bar has 30 grams of shiznit protein, while the other is made up of 25 grams of whey isolate/egg protein blend. Odds are going with the 25 gram bar is better because a) I’m sure shiznit protein isn’t going to help my body or taste so good and b) whey isolate/concentrate and egg protein are proven to get results.
Taste
I can’t stress this one enough. If you gag every time you take a bite of your protein bar, you’ve got the wrong one! Maybe ten to fifteen years ago you may have had to force down a bad tasting bar and just deal with it.
Why? The protein market had a VERY limited selection. Fast forward ten to fifteen years. There are now so many high quality choices out there, that your local store couldn’t possibly stock them all.
There are bars that actually taste good and are good for your lean gains. So why torture yourself?
Low In Sugar/Sugar Alcohol
This factor is a biggie! Sugar is the one of the super villains in the battle to get ripped, especially if your training is more weight-training focused than cardio-focused.
Yes, your body does need simple sugars. During digestion, your body pulls the glucose out of many of the foods you eat in order to power itself. But when those glucose levels get too high, that’s when the problems start.
If you’re taking in excess sugar and your body’s not putting that glucose to use, the fat storage begins and then it’s bye-bye six-pack dream.
Low Fat
As many protein bars are made with nuts, sometimes you will find bars that are incredibly high in fat. Not all of the fats in your protein are bad, though. Monounsaturated and unsaturated fats are definitely better for you.
Some may argue that you shouldn’t pay so much attention to saturated fat content (especially when bulking), but we beg to differ. The lower the saturated fat the better. The less you’re consuming, the less your heart has to worry about and the less you have to worry about burning.
The old “all things in moderation” adage is perfectly suited for building muscle. If you’re gobbling down super-fatty bars. Your body may end up a little softer than you want it to be.
Low to Moderate Carbohydrates
Again, storage can be an issue if you’re trying to get lean. Excessive carbohydrates are also going to be broken down into simple sugars that your body uses to help power itself. More carbs than your body needs will contribute to what? Yep, fat storage.
If you need a good example of this, just consider the top bodybuilders and fitness models. As the competition gets really what do they do? They cut carbs from their diets almost completely! Of course this is to have to most ripped-looking body on contest day, but it’s something to average fitness enthusiast co consider as well.
But how much carbohydrate is too much? Strictly speaking protein bars, we like to see less than 30 grams is decent, Less than 25 grams is good, and less than 20 (and having the bar still taste good) is GREAT!
Quality Ingredients
It may be old-fashioned thinking, but getting an ingredient profile that’s as natural as possible is simply better for your body. I’d much rather prefer peanuts, milk, whey protein, rice puffs and chocolate to decalcified scrumdiddlyexpialidoucious benzene.* Granted, protein bars are processed, so it can be tough to find bars that are pure, natural and wholesome. But that’s what we’re here for, to help you find the good stuff!
*Note: Scrumdiddlyexpialidoucious benzene may not be a real ingredient.
Conclusion
If you’re ever in doubt about which protein bars to use, do a bit of testing. Try a bar for 30 days and see how your body responds to it. Does your protein bar help you maintain or even build on your lean gains?
If so, you have yourself a winner. Are you eating your protein bars and starting to look a bit pudgy? Then you may want to rethink your brand or start cutting back on how many you eat.
One factor that we didn’t mention in this list is price. The main reason for that is the vast majority of protein bars on the market are VERY affordable. If it boils down to cutting a bit of pocket change to buy substandard protein bar or paying just a tiny bit more for quality, it’s truly better just to pay a little extra.
When it comes to exercise and when it comest to nutrition, you truly do get out what you put in.
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