When You Want to Lose Weight Be Careful with Protein Bars

Be careful which protein bars you select when you are trying to lose weight. Protein bars and health bars are available everywhere, however they are not all created equal. With so many different brands out their you never know if you are getting something healthy or merely junk food in disguise.

If you are going to find truly healthy bars, you will need to learn how to read the nutrition labels, in fact anyone who shops at a grocery store should have this talent. When you begin checking labels you will find a long list of chemicals, processed Trans fats, sugars and other harmful ingredients that are overly processed.

Sadly, you will find that most of the health bars are junk, thinly disguised candy bars with a smidgen of protein thrown in for good measure.

For example, a couple of weeks ago I was bike riding with a personal friend and in order to keep my energy up for our ride I needed a quick bar.

Well, I needed a little something to eat so my friend gave me an extra slim fast bar he had.

If you will check, the label on a slim fast bar you will find they are labeled as a weight loss health food.

The truth is there is nothing healthy at all about a slim fast bar, not even remotely. If you ask me, they are worse for your health than a regular candy bar.

When I began going through the ingredients list the shock continued. The first ingredient on this bar was corn syrup, next in line was sugar and hydrogenated oils. (No one would say they are healthy!) Nowhere on the list of ingredients was there anything that even pretended to be healthy. In addition to the above ingredients, there were also artificial flavors, colors, unhealthy processed soy, evil artificial sweeteners and more. Despite what you may have been told, processed soy is not good for the body.

These may be touted as a way to lose weight but nutritionally these bars are a train wreck. To make matters worse they taste bad! A slim fast bar tastes like chemicals. If you want a prime example of over-engineered food, this is it!

Well, how then do you find a healthy protein or energy bar?

If you are trying to lose weight, it's best to look for simplicity in a good bar. Usually the healthiest and tastiest bars have only a couple ingredients such as nuts, seeds, and fruit. Look for organic ingredients and raw ingredients if possible. You'll find that many times these bars taste better.

Here are a couple of my personal favorites:

1.Organic Food Bars- (this is a brand name).

This company offers several flavors to choose from. They generally contain organic bio sprouts, fruit, organic seeds, organic rice protein and organic almond butter base. The ingredients will of course depend upon the flavor you choose, you can even find bars with organic dark chocolate. If you are interested in raw, you can choose from an entire line that uses only raw ingredients.

These bars are delicious and come in several delicious flavors such as cranberry, blue berry, high protein and more. In addition, they are highly nutritious. Most grocery retailers will not carry these bars however; you can find them at many health food stores.

2. Lara bars are simple organic health food bars; they contain just two or three raw ingredients. Generally, they contain a blend of crushed nuts and fruit; however, they offer many different flavors.

These are delicious and you will not see a long list of chemicals in their ingredient list. Usually you find just nuts and fruit, and that's it! This is a high quality bar. Again, you probably won't find these at your local grocery store, but I've found these at certain health food markets.

When you need a quick snack, these bars are great, convenient for work or travel.

To stave off the cravings or avoid the temptation of junk food vending machines and fast food restaurants it is good to always have a few bars with you. Remember to check the labels, ensuring that you are getting a true health food bar and not a glorified candy bar. Health bars can help you lose weight by curbing your appetite between meals.

Mike Grason is a author of many articles for Atlanta Weight Loss located at 235 Peachtree St NE Suite 400 Atlanta, GA 30303 Office: 404-585-5484. He gives many valuable tips and secrets to effective sustainable weight loss that are available at this site. Thinking about losing Weight? Check out the powerful strategies covered in the incredible ebook "The Truth About Abs". Atlanta lose weight!