Protein bars/shakes

Question
Hi,

I am a university student studying nutrition. I do not believe in low-carbohydrate diets as I understand the importance of complex carbs in a diet. However, I have found a lot of relief in keeping sugar out of my diet as much as possible. I always had a major sweet tooth, which I still have occasionally!, but have experienced more energy and some weight loss (I never had much to lose but did manage to lose about 15 pounds) with cutting sugar out as much as possible.
Now that I have done this, however, I can react badly if I have too much sugar. I get sugar rushes if I have more than about 12g in one go, and unlike most people, I do NOT enjoy the experience of a sugar rush at all. I don't like my heart beating that fast!
Basically, I also like to incorporate as much protein into my diet as well, and I need some help doing this. For this reason, I want to look at protein bars and shakes. Now most of them I know are loaded with sugar, so thanks to the low-carb craze I looked at some low-carb protein shakes/bars. A lot of them contain maltrodextrin or Splenda (I won't even look at other artificial sweeteners like asparatame), although CarbSolutions seem to offer a fairly decent line, some without artificial sweeteners. Can you tell me what your opinion is on repetitive consumption of protein bars/shakes such as the CarbSolutions line? Will they ultimately do me more harm than good? I made the mistake a year ago of just picking up a sugar-filled energy bar and having one a day, and ended up putting on weight because of it. I don't want to make the same mistake again but I don't know what effect artificial sweeteners - or other ingredients in these products - have. Any advice would be much appreciated. Thank you.  

Answer
Hi Anna,

In my diet consulting experience, I found that artificial sweeteners' influence on weight loss is individual. Some of my clients managed breaking the plateau by a single change: abstaining the very taste of sweetness. However, I am aware of long-term clinical studies resulting in better weight management with using artificial sweeteners of all kind including the controversial aspartame.

As to your question about protein bars, I am pretty much reserved because of at least two reasons.

1. Almost 1/2 protein will be converted into carbohydrates by your body.
2. I seriously doubt that the chemically constructed foods, if taking place of foods that are naturally nutrieint-dense can do anybody any good.
3. I seriously believe that we should be honest with our bodies and eat in as natural a way as possible.


You might want to read more about it following these URLs:

Artificial Sweeteners and Overeating
http://bestlowcarbs.com/article1021.html

Just a Good Glance at Foods Releases Insulin
http://dietandbody.com/article1082.html


Tanya Zilberter
Contact http://dietandbody.com/mfeedback.html  

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