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visit us - It's got protein, it's from the well-known fitness brand, it must be good for you right? Not fast. With the rapid emergence of the protein bar market, it can be easy to fall prey to a good looking package plus a brand name "you can trust" with so many options to choose from. However this is one of the biggest pitfalls you possibly can make when trying to inject ready-made health food, for example protein bars, in your diet. Bottom line: Because it's "formulated for success" or "engineered to provide you with maximum performance" doesn't mean that's forever the situation. As with anything from buying a car to getting a fresh blender, it pays to do your research.

When picking out a protein bar, I suggest looking at the following main areas:

Main Areas

Overall Fat/Saturated Fat - You need some fat in your diet. However you don't need plenty of saturated fat, and even another fats should be drawn in moderation. One of the first things to look for in a protein bar will be the fat and more importantly the saturated fat content. You would be shocked at just how much saturated fat is in some of these things. Generally, an excellent tip-off that this might be the case is the flavor - anything with "creamy peanut butter" or "chocolate fudge", etc. is typically not a great choice. Your daily nutritional value based on a 2,000 calorie meals are 20g - and really its not necessary this much - and a few of these bars contain half or more of that value.

Carbohydrates - Less in regards to the total amount in your choice, and much more about the break up of this amount. What you want is high fiber content. However what you will see a lot of the time is high sugar content. Sometimes shockingly so, as in most of the carbs come from sugar. It's Alright to have some, especially if you consider this after a workout, however you don't want 28g of carbs and also have 27 of those originate from sugar. Fiber helps your overall digestion as well as keeps you full longer.

Protein - How much are you actually getting back in comparison to the two categories above? It may sound obvious, in general a good protein bar will be giving you around 20g of protein. Discover getting that, you should at least see proportional decreases in the other categories. If not, you're really only getting carbs and fats, plus a smattering of protein.

"All Natural" Labeling - Another big marketing technique - "All Natural" doesn't necessarily equate to "All Good". Sugar, fats, etc. - these all exist in nature. Maybe the source is a bit better, but the ingredients remain.