The Angry Asian's review of energy bars

[fiamme red]

https://cyclingtips.com/2018/10/jra-with-the-angry-asian-a-really-dumb-idea/

Conclusion: While it does seem possible to survive on nothing but energy bars, I wouldn’t recommend it. Do they provide necessary, easily digestible calories for when you’re on the road? Sure, and the latest crop of simpler, more food-based options are vastly preferable — at least to me — than ones that seem like they were crafted in a lab instead of a kitchen. But either way, I’d still save the energy bars for riding only. As good as the best ones are, they still aren’t nearly as good as actual food.

[Mr. Pink]

People consider bars food? I guess I'm not surprised. I just read that 35 % of Americans basically survive on fast food.

Gatorade is in the same category as bars for me. Never drink the stuff off the bike, it's kinda gross, but really goes down well after 30 miles on a warm day.

[bobswire]

He didn't last very long :). I have a drawer full of assorted energy bars that are past their fresh date, not that it matters since they tasted the same when they were fresh. I take them along on rides with an orange or other fruit but I usually only eat the fruit then the energy bars go back into the drawer when I return from the ride. Hmm, now I know why I have so many past their fresh date. Like Mr. Pink above I'd rather stop off at a 7/11 and grab and ice cold gatorade or some such energy drink.

[GregL]

People consider bars food? I guess I'm not surprised. I just read that 35 % of Americans basically survive on fast food.
Had a brief conversation with a young co-worker about eating habits. He's in his early 20s, a well-educated engineer from a family of NASA engineers. He is just waking up to the fact that life-long good health may take some work on his part. I was disappointed (but not surprised) to hear him say he basically lives on fast/junk food. He drinks more soda in a day than I do in a year! More proof that common sense isn't common...

Greg

[Mr. Pink]

Had a brief conversation with a young co-worker about eating habits. He's in his early 20s, a well-educated engineer from a family of NASA engineers. He is just waking up to the fact that life-long good health may take some work on his part. I was disappointed (but not surprised) to hear him say he basically lives on fast/junk food. He drinks more soda in a day than I do in a year! More proof that common sense isn't common...

Greg

At the risk of steering this conversation in a direction the moderators may not like, I believe that it is the root of many of our societal and political problems. Us healthy people, and, I'm assuming most here eat well, since they know the value of good fuel, think that fast food degrades the body, which it does, but, think of what a steady lifelong diet of that junk does to brain function. Ahem, cough cough, WH resident included.

[fiamme red]

People consider bars food? I guess I'm not surprised. I just read that 35 % of Americans basically survive on fast food.I wouldn't eat energy bars off the bike, but they're much handier than a sandwich to carry in your jersey pocket or saddlebag.

I'm glad to see that Skratch has a prototype for an energy bar that is savory rather than sweet. After a while on a long ride, my body is disgusted by sugary energy bars.

[PQJ]

At the risk of steering this conversation in a direction the moderators may not like, I believe that it is the root of many of our societal and political problems. Us healthy people, and, I'm assuming most here eat well, since they know the value of good fuel, think that fast food degrades the body, which it does, but, think of what a steady lifelong diet of that junk does to brain function. Ahem, cough cough, WH resident included.

That's probably a fair assumption, as is the assumption that, as a general proposition, the people here are also 'well-to-do.' And there's the rub - eating well costs $$ and takes time. The two commodities that people in lower social strata tend not to have are $$ and time.

[deechee]

So where's the anger? I never understood why this column is labeled Angry Asian when Phil Yu (http://blog.angryasianman.com/) is a lot more passionate and has had the moniker for a lot longer. As others have pointed out here, eating well could be something James is angry about but he's not.

Anyway, yes, food is a basic need - but ultimately its about education right? If a person can't cook for themselves - or afford the time to do so, a lot of people turn to fast food or easy options. I've trained with plenty of students who lived within their means and many ate very healthy without breaking their budgets.

I'll admit, being in a city as diverse as Montreal, we have a lot of options outside of the big supermarkets. There are numerous places where I can buy bio produce for 30-40% less than non-bio at the supermarket. Granted, buy what's fresh for the season - that's why I love this time of year - everything is cheap and bountiful but you need to know and appreciate what is available to you.

Compared to even 15 years ago, there is SO much more selection of produce and foreign products available to the north american consumer. I don't remember seeing all these tropical fruits when I was a kid, and definitely not as many asian vegetables like Burdock(Gobo). Which, I'll admit does go back to your point about cost - a lot more produce is coming from certain countries (or finished there like soybeans) and I'd rather not eat them. They don't taste the same, and it's idiotic that a vegetable grown here is traveling across the Pacific to be frozen and packaged and shipped back. I'd rather pay the extra $ for something grown and sold here.

[Ronsonic]

People consider bars food? I guess I'm not surprised. I just read that 35 % of Americans basically survive on fast food.

Gatorade is in the same category as bars for me. Never drink the stuff off the bike, it's kinda gross, but really goes down well after 30 miles on a warm day.

My not-water for long days is Arizona green tea with electrolytes added by me. Way better than anything gatorade makes. And, yes, the salts taste great when your body needs them.

[AngryScientist]

Had a brief conversation with a young co-worker about eating habits. He's in his early 20s, a well-educated engineer from a family of NASA engineers. He is just waking up to the fact that life-long good health may take some work on his part. I was disappointed (but not surprised) to hear him say he basically lives on fast/junk food. He drinks more soda in a day than I do in a year! More proof that common sense isn't common...

Greg

Don’t be disappointed Greg. Your early 20s are pretty much made for making bad decisions. We all live and learn; but not too many people have the big picture all figured out that early in life:)

[dbnm]

SIS is having a big sale

https://www.scienceinsport.com/us/

[joosttx]

People consider bars food? I guess I'm not surprised. I just read that 35 % of Americans basically survive on fast food.

Gatorade is in the same category as bars for me. Never drink the stuff off the bike, it's kinda gross, but really goes down well after 30 miles on a warm day.

For some reason orange gator is the best when I have a cold. Never like the stuff until I get sick and then i crave it.

[josephr]

That's probably a fair assumption, as is the assumption that, as a general proposition, the people here are also 'well-to-do.' And there's the rub - eating well costs $$ and takes time. The two commodities that people in lower social strata tend not to have are $$ and time.

we are the 1%???? ;)

I work in a healthcare setting and so many patients have issues that could've been avoided through healthier lifestyles. Smoking, excessive drinking, improper diets have contributed so much. Age, race, religion, gender....none are exempt. I agree with the notion that sodas and convenience foods contribute a lot... Back to the original topic...Clif bars are in my cabinet, and I'll take them on longer rides but its a good thing they have a long shelf life.

[Road Fan]

So where's the anger? I never understood why this column is labeled Angry Asian when Phil Yu (http://blog.angryasianman.com/) is a lot more passionate and has had the moniker for a lot longer. As others have pointed out here, eating well could be something James is angry about but he's not.

Anyway, yes, food is a basic need - but ultimately its about education right? If a person can't cook for themselves - or afford the time to do so, a lot of people turn to fast food or easy options. I've trained with plenty of students who lived within their means and many ate very healthy without breaking their budgets.

I'll admit, being in a city as diverse as Montreal, we have a lot of options outside of the big supermarkets. There are numerous places where I can buy bio produce for 30-40% less than non-bio at the supermarket. Granted, buy what's fresh for the season - that's why I love this time of year - everything is cheap and bountiful but you need to know and appreciate what is available to you.

Compared to even 15 years ago, there is SO much more selection of produce and foreign products available to the north american consumer. I don't remember seeing all these tropical fruits when I was a kid, and definitely not as many asian vegetables like Burdock(Gobo). Which, I'll admit does go back to your point about cost - a lot more produce is coming from certain countries (or finished there like soybeans) and I'd rather not eat them. They don't taste the same, and it's idiotic that a vegetable grown here is traveling across the Pacific to be frozen and packaged and shipped back. I'd rather pay the extra $ for something grown and sold here.

Just to stick up a bit for James: He had a blog about sprung forks (and perhaps other topics) long ago (in a far away galaxy called Ann Arbor) which he called Angry Asian. He also worked at an upper-end bike shop and had an awesome talent for putting the finishing touch on wheel bearing rebuilds - better than I am at getting that teeny gap before clamping!

[Mr. Pink]

I don't get this "it's more expensive to eat well" argument. Hell, rice and beans, to start, are a whole lot healthier than most of the junk people get out of a window at their local drive up. And, no time to cook? Let's try to pare down TV watching and internet surfing a little. It's not that hard.

[sg8357]

I thought it was a fun post in the "Supersize Me" mold.

Yes, eating FSO* will make you ill.

*Food Shaped Objects

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Size_Me

[Mikej]

For some reason orange gator is the best when I have a cold. Never like the stuff until I get sick and then i crave it.

Its the anti-freeze sweetener.

[Hawker]

That was an interesting/fun article. But Angry Asian....I'd like to know more about that "donut". Looked like an Apple Fritter to me. Hey...you gotta die of something.

[benb]

I pretty much can't stand Energy Bars anymore unless I'm on a 2+ hour ride. Almost nothing is going to make me eat one off the bike.

Most of the "normals" do not get it at all.

I work in an office full of privileged people who are highly educated and yet have tons of problems with unhealthy eating and weight gain and yo-yo dieting. Everyone works in the office so you're automatically sedentary unless you make a concerted effort to have an active life style.

It blows my mind in the "free snacks" we have an entire bin full of Rx Bars, Clif Bars, and even Pro Bars!

You've got people eating 500 calorie Pro Bars as part of their sedentary day. Even if you're going to Yoga or you go over to the gym and lift weights that Pro bar is like 2X the calories you burned off.

Don't get me wrong, Pro Bars are my favorite on 100+ mile days. Basically 2X the calories as something like a Clif bar, go down easy/almost no stomach issues for me, and less stuff to carry.

But I can't imagine eating one as part of my day if I am just sitting in front of a computer all day and I went out to a sit down high calorie/big portion restaurant lunch. (Most of my co-workers, particularly the millenials, go out to lunch every day.)

I bought a box of Pro bars in the leadup to a 150 mile day and the training for it this spring. I think I had 2 bars left after the 150 mile ride.. I took it easy for a long time after the ride and it took me a LONG time before I could even look at those Pro Bars.

[93KgBike]

I don't get this "it's more expensive to eat well" argument. Hell, rice and beans, to start, are a whole lot healthier than most of the junk people get out of a window at their local drive up. And, no time to cook? Let's try to pare down TV watching and internet surfing a little. It's not that hard.

I'm attaching an article, one of at least a dozen that I've read this year, interviewing people that find it challenging to buy unprocessed foods (if they can find them) and prepare healthy meals at home.

I know how hard it is, because we prepare home-cooked meals for breakfast lunch and dinner for our kids 7 days a week. We don't own a television, but we do stream content and read bike forums. And it is not easy at all.

We are able to afford it, have access to transportation (several forms actually), access to several markets that sell fresh vegetables and dry goods (we're vegetarian) and butchered goods, and budget the time (not easy) to prepare sack-lunches and then sit down for breakfast and dinner together. Actually, it's exhausting. And we are the only family in our social/professional that does this every day. I repeat: It is exhausting.

When healthy humans observe the suffering of living beings, they perceive those phenomenon both informationally and emotionally. The actual processing of this information, and responding perceptions, is metabolically demanding. The brain consumes 25% of all the glucose our bodies produce from digestion. But the mechanisms of perception are autonomic, and therefore don't require perceived effort.

Empathy requires zero effort, and yet many people have genuine difficulty in expressing it.



http://amp.macon.com/news/special-reports/food-story/article220456795.html
With no supermarkets [in Macon], shoppers have to take extra factors into account before making a trip to the store. Those without cars face extra obstacles, Gaddis said. The mile-and-a-half walk to My Store would make the store inaccessible for some.

“They’re going to have to take buses or find some other means of transportation to try to get to a grocery store,” she said. “So, that means paying to get there and then paying to get back home, and then also making sure that they’re able to carry all of the groceries that they’re purchasing back with them, using whatever transportation means that they have.” ...

In a quest to find pantry staples within walking distance, The Telegraph and GPB Macon assembled a shopping list of basic grocery items and set out on foot to find them. The list: milk, bread, eggs, chicken, bananas, apples, carrots, lettuce, beans, cereal, peanut butter and jelly.

At a Gulf gas station about a quarter-mile away, we found only two items on its list: beans and chicken — and the only chicken available was canned. The food aisles were stocked mostly with chips, candy and sugary drinks.

It’s not easy to maintain a healthy diet on corner store shopping, said Cheryl Gaddis, program director for the master’s of public health program at Mercer University. She studies food access in Bibb and Houston counties.

At a gas station, shoppers are more likely to find potato chips than Yukon golds.

“Many offer things like hot dogs, pizza. Even some offer fried chicken now,” Gaddis said. “But those are not the healthy items that we want people to intake, and so, when they’re having to purchase things from the convenience stores, they’re not getting healthy items.” Some corner stores offer more nutritious options, like prepackaged salads and sandwiches, Gaddis said, but they cost more than a hamburger at a fast food restaurant.

But this thread was about Clif bars...

[sandyrs]

I'm attaching an article, one of at least a dozen that I've read this year, interviewing people that find it challenging to buy unprocessed foods (if they can find them) and prepare healthy meals at home.

I know how hard it is, because we prepare home-cooked meals for breakfast lunch and dinner for our kids 7 days a week. We don't own a television, but we do stream content and read bike forums. And it is not easy at all.

We are able to afford it, have access to transportation (several forms actually), access to several markets that sell fresh vegetables and dry goods (we're vegetarian) and butchered goods, and budget the time (not easy) to prepare sack-lunches and then sit down for breakfast and dinner together. Actually, it's exhausting. And we are the only family in our social/professional that does this every day. I repeat: It is exhausting.

When healthy humans observe the suffering of living beings, they perceive those phenomenon both informationally and emotionally. The actual processing of this information, and responding perceptions, is metabolically demanding. The brain consumes 25% of all the glucose our bodies produce from digestion. But the mechanisms of perception are autonomic, and therefore don't require perceived effort.

Empathy requires zero effort, and yet many people have genuine difficulty in expressing it.



http://amp.macon.com/news/special-reports/food-story/article220456795.html


But this thread was about Clif bars...

Thank you for posting this.

[pdonk]

My wife works in food marketing and reads labels.

After going through the bars and other things I was eating and looking at pricing, she said I may as well eat jelly beans and gummy worms when I ride if I want sugar based calories.


To accompany these, I tried a number of protein bars, all of which killed my stomach.

Instead of bars or drinks, I now eat vegan gummies and home roasted meats (chicken, steak) when I ride and have found a big difference in how I feel both during and after the ride.

[Aldus]

I'm attaching an article, one of at least a dozen that I've read this year, interviewing people that find it challenging to buy unprocessed foods (if they can find them) and prepare healthy meals at home.

I know how hard it is, because we prepare home-cooked meals for breakfast lunch and dinner for our kids 7 days a week. We don't own a television, but we do stream content and read bike forums. And it is not easy at all.

We are able to afford it, have access to transportation (several forms actually), access to several markets that sell fresh vegetables and dry goods (we're vegetarian) and butchered goods, and budget the time (not easy) to prepare sack-lunches and then sit down for breakfast and dinner together. Actually, it's exhausting. And we are the only family in our social/professional that does this every day. I repeat: It is exhausting.

When healthy humans observe the suffering of living beings, they perceive those phenomenon both informationally and emotionally. The actual processing of this information, and responding perceptions, is metabolically demanding. The brain consumes 25% of all the glucose our bodies produce from digestion. But the mechanisms of perception are autonomic, and therefore don't require perceived effort.

Empathy requires zero effort, and yet many people have genuine difficulty in expressing it.



http://amp.macon.com/news/special-reports/food-story/article220456795.html


But this thread was about Clif bars...

Similar story in my neck of the woods. Multiple grocery stores closing (3 off the top of my head), mostly in lower income areas. Kroger seems to be forcing customers into certain stores that are now almost always over crowded and usually in "nicer" areas, but close to / bordering the lower income parts as best possible.

[bitt3n]

Empathy requires zero effort, and yet many people have genuine difficulty in expressing it.

The fact that someone disagrees with you does not mean he lacks empathy. He's right to raise the point that the average person in the US watches over 5 hours of television per day (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_consumption).

Furthermore there is ample evidence to suggest that "food deserts" are not, in fact, the source of the problem (https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/18/health/research/pairing-of-food-deserts-and-obesity-challenged-in-studies.html).

[benb]

I think people are having trouble cooking their own food cause they're too busy watching 5+ hours of TV a day.

[biker72]

I think people are having trouble cooking their own food cause they're too busy watching 5+ hours of TV a day.

Or on forums writing about healthy food.....:p.....

[Mr. Pink]

I'm attaching an article, one of at least a dozen that I've read this year, interviewing people that find it challenging to buy unprocessed foods (if they can find them) and prepare healthy meals at home.

I know how hard it is, because we prepare home-cooked meals for breakfast lunch and dinner for our kids 7 days a week. We don't own a television, but we do stream content and read bike forums. And it is not easy at all.

We are able to afford it, have access to transportation (several forms actually), access to several markets that sell fresh vegetables and dry goods (we're vegetarian) and butchered goods, and budget the time (not easy) to prepare sack-lunches and then sit down for breakfast and dinner together. Actually, it's exhausting. And we are the only family in our social/professional that does this every day. I repeat: It is exhausting.

When healthy humans observe the suffering of living beings, they perceive those phenomenon both informationally and emotionally. The actual processing of this information, and responding perceptions, is metabolically demanding. The brain consumes 25% of all the glucose our bodies produce from digestion. But the mechanisms of perception are autonomic, and therefore don't require perceived effort.

Empathy requires zero effort, and yet many people have genuine difficulty in expressing it.



http://amp.macon.com/news/special-reports/food-story/article220456795.html


But this thread was about Clif bars...

Food deserts in poor, urban areas are not a new story. That's not good. But, really, let's zoom back and look at the rest of America. Most places have markets that would have astounded royalty from just 150 years ago, if they were to walk in on a cold day in January. Fresh fruits and vegetables, reasonably priced (considering that they are even available on a cold day in January in, say, Vermont) Those Kings and Queens were eating root vegetables and salted meats in the dead of winter.
Now, I could walk you around the perimeter of your local market and point out plenty of easy to prepare real foods (the foods your grandmother ate). Stay away from the aisles, unless you need peanut butter or no sugar cereal. It's not hard. Anything you find will be so much healthier to consume than that junk from a window down the street. Maybe a little more expensive, but, c'mon, priorities, please. And, as far as no time to prepare, heck, involve the whole family. Teach the kids to put down the devices and cook. It's so much healthier, and, in the end, that's all you have, right? Your health.

[ftf]

I wonder how many people giving all this advice are working 3 jobs, and have to take a bus to work?

[benb]

Or on forums writing about healthy food.....:p.....

Good comeback.. I typically only post when I'm stuck in front of a computer waiting for it to finish something.

But all these people watching 5 hours of TV a day (that's the average!) are somehow finding time to go to work too.

My wife and I cook almost everything and pack lunches every day primarily because she and my son have Celiac disease. Eating out is a major PITA.

I was already in the habit of not eating out from years of cycling, and because that's how I grew up.

I don't get it.. when I was a kid my parents said we couldn't afford to eat out, now people can't afford to cook their own food.

To top it all off with hilarity we made avocado toast this morning. It's cheap at home, but it's somehow so expensive at restaurants it's preventing millenials from buying houses and starting families. :banana:

[Mr. Pink]

I wonder how many people giving all this advice are working 3 jobs, and have to take a bus to work?

Oh, c'mon. Like those people hang in a bicycle forum that regularly talks about bikes worth more than their cars, if they have a car.

[ptourkin]

My wife works in food marketing and reads labels.

After going through the bars and other things I was eating and looking at pricing, she said I may as well eat jelly beans and gummy worms when I ride if I want sugar based calories.


To accompany these, I tried a number of protein bars, all of which killed my stomach.

Instead of bars or drinks, I now eat vegan gummies and home roasted meats (chicken, steak) when I ride and have found a big difference in how I feel both during and after the ride.

Ditto on the candy (not the meat.) I listened to an analysis of the various sugars on the Velonews podcast, read the ingredients on the expensive Pro bites and bought bulk vegan gummies and fish for racing the 508. It went fine. Avoid fructose.

The large Pro bars are not good on the bike nutrition, IMO. They are more of a 400 cal breakfast or lunch. One year riding an unsupported ultra, I started eating them all day because nothing else appealed to me but the macros aren't right and there is too much fiber and it didn't work well.

[biker72]

Good comeback.. I typically only post when I'm stuck in front of a computer waiting for it to finish something.

But all these people watching 5 hours of TV a day (that's the average!) are somehow finding time to go to work too.

My wife and I cook almost everything and pack lunches every day primarily because she and my son have Celiac disease. Eating out is a major PITA.

I was already in the habit of not eating out from years of cycling, and because that's how I grew up.

I don't get it.. when I was a kid my parents said we couldn't afford to eat out, now people can't afford to cook their own food.

To top it all off with hilarity we made avocado toast this morning. It's cheap at home, but it's somehow so expensive at restaurants it's preventing millenials from buying houses and starting families. :banana:

Just giving you a hard time..:)
When I was a kid a looong time ago eating out was a luxury. Any more eating out is slowly becoming the norm.

[YesNdeed]

I've been very satisfied with Kind Breakfast Protein bars or Trader Joe's Raises The Bar on rides. They're very economical and not loaded with sugar. The only sport specific stuff currently I buy is Scratch Hydration Mix, which is great IMO. After many bottles of Gatorade on my 231 mile ride this past Summer, I got sick afterwards...wasn't pretty. I intend to keep Scratch on hand at all times.

I like the sound of their savory bar, which Angry...the other Angry, says he really liked. It's not always sugar I want to taste when on rides, and it's never long before I crave salt.