Protein Bars No S?

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AmyNZ
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Protein Bars No S?

Post by AmyNZ » Sat Sep 02, 2006 1:33 am

Hi there! Ok so I am totally new to this. I am from New Zealand and am going to the States for three weeks and think it is the perfect time to start my 21 day habit change seeing as all the food over there is pretty gross compared to ours at home. One question though - for lunch everyday I have a protein bar and it has nutrients and minerals and good stuff - but is this an S product? It uses Apple juice and honey to sweeten and the sweetener doesnt appear in the main 5 ingrediants?
Any suggestions??????????
Thanks heaps

Deedee
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Post by Deedee » Sat Sep 02, 2006 4:47 am

I'm just new at this, but it seems to me if that if this is your lunch and it holds you for many hours - so be it. It's is S safe. Be careful not to get too legalistic about it - it's not about food lists or rules, the rules are simple - good luck!

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JWL
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Post by JWL » Sat Sep 02, 2006 2:56 pm

Hi Amy, a couple of observations:

1. eating a protein bar as one of your meals is certainly within No-S rules, provided it's not a glorified candy bar. If the nutritional content is sound, and it's what you want for lunch, then go for it. Having said that, I don't really like protein bars, and I can't imagine "wasting" one of my precious meals each day on something like that. But then I'm not a big fan of processed food in general.

2. I think you'll be surprised that food in America isn't ALL "pretty gross." Of course I've never been to New Zealand, so I'm not really sure what your measuring stick is for food. The thing about America (compared to the UK, the only other country I've visited.... insert large grain of salt here) is that there is a HUGE variety of food available. It's true, much of it is gross and unhealthy (ie, fast food burgers). But if you take the time to look, you can find delicious and nutritious food pretty much anywhere. Every city of even small size has some sort of organic grocer. There are vegan/vegetarian friendly restaurants in most places, as well as cuisine from most cultures in the world. Chinese food has been popular for a few decades in the states, and you see more and more Indian, Thai, Vietnamese restaurants etc.

For me, part of the fun of travelling is experiencing the food of the place where I'm visiting.... I can't imagine visiting a foreign country and subsisting on prepackaged protein bars from home!
JWL[.|@]Freakwitch[.]net

hlidskjalf
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Post by hlidskjalf » Sat Sep 02, 2006 2:59 pm

It might be No-S friendly but odds are any food you try to bring could be confiscated. So I'd develop a back up plan.
Burn all, burn everything. Fire is bright and fire is clean.

smith32
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Post by smith32 » Sat Sep 02, 2006 9:10 pm

I would say that if it has honey in it then it has the same effect on your blood sugar levels as sugar or any glucose type product. So what happens is when you eat a bar containing honey, your blood sugar levels peak suddenly and then drop suddenly.

This is great for when you need a sudden boost of energy but not great for when you want something to carry you through to the next meal.

I live in the UK (where (by the way) there is a wide variety of healthy food available) and in the supermarkets here you can get a wide choice of healthy, organic, unprocessed foods. On my many trips to the US I am always amazed by the variety of food but I find myself bombarded by an equally huge variety of processed foods. Anything processed is not going to have as high a level of nutrients but can be hard to avoid!

What I aim for in my diet is to eat as much unprocessed natural food as possible. If you're staying in the US for a while try to seek out a specialist health food store. In London we have Fresh and Wild. You could try bringing in a packed lunch of say rye crispbreads (30 cals a slice and packed with fibre) and top with thinly spread low fat houmous (for protein) and salad (for vits and minerals) or tuna (canned in brine or spring water) and finish with a yoghurt (choose one with good bacteria for your digestion) and an apple (great for energy levels).

I bet this will have the same levels of nutrients as your bar but leave you feeling more full.

Hope that helps.

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JWL
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Post by JWL » Sat Sep 02, 2006 9:38 pm

Agreed.... there isn't a huge difference between food availability in the US vs. the UK, at least based on my 2 week vacation there last year, my utter inability to find half and half for my coffee or tomahhhhto paste for a pasta sauce notwithstanding. :-)

2 major chains of grocers as described are "Whole Foods" and "Wild Oats", you can find them in many cities.
JWL[.|@]Freakwitch[.]net

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navin
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Post by navin » Sun Sep 03, 2006 12:14 am

2 major chains of grocers as described are "Whole Foods" and "Wild Oats", you can find them in many cities.
In addition, many places have a "Co-op" - which is (usually) customer-owned store, and those often have a lot of the same type stuff.
Before criticizing someone, you should try walking a mile in their shoes. Then you'll be a mile away and you'll have their shoes.

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