The Virtues of Bar Food

The Real Deal

If meal replacement bars and drinks are so great, why bother with real food at all? No doubt this would mean a lot fewer dishes to wash. But nutritionally speaking, you'd be missing out on the following nutrients that help keep you healthy and running well.

Fighting phytos: Beyond the standard vitamins and minerals, most plant foods contain an array of health-boosting phytochemicals. Fresh blueberries, for example, are packed with anthocyanins, which have been shown to protect against cancer. Yet you won't find any anthocyanins in a blueberry-flavored complete-meal smoothie.

Good fats: Virtually no meal-replacement products contain essential fats. These healthful fats, found in fish, flaxseed oil, and nuts, help keep your immune system strong and ward off age-related diseases such as heart disease and Alzheimer's.

Filling fiber: Eat a bowl of lentil soup and get 8 grams of fiber (about 30 percent of the Daily Value) that will fill you up and help you lower your blood-cholesterol levels and heart-disease risk. Many meal-replacement products offer little fiber (check the label).

A Good Way to Lose
Quick recovery, bare-bones nutrition, and convenience aside, there's also a lot of scientific evidence that shows meal-replacement products can help you lose weight and keep it off in the long term. The key reason these products help dieters is that they guarantee portion and calorie control.

Most meal-replacement bars and drinks supply 200 to 400 calories, which is a small meal at best. So when dieters use these products to replace one or two meals a day, they tend to top out at about 1,200 calories per day. That kind of calorie restriction almost assures at least a 1-pound weight loss per week.

And once the weight comes off, it stays off for those who stick with the meal-replacements. A recent study showed that the regular use of meal-replacement products helped maintain weight loss over a 10-year period. Participants who used the drinks and bars to replace one or two regular meals or snacks each day weighed about 6 pounds less at the end of 10 years, while those who didn't use the meal replacements gained a staggering 26 pounds during the same time period.

Another study from the UCLA Medical Center showed that Type-2 diabetics lost more weight while following a diet plan that included the meal-replacement drink Slim-Fast than when following a low-calorie diet designed to treat diabetes. Slim-Fast users were also able to cut back on their diabetes medication compared with the low-calorie diet group. So, for runners who need help controlling their weight or blood-sugar levels, meal-replacement products are more than just a convenience. They're an effective nutritional tool.

Visit lizapplegate.com for more nutrition and fitness tips from Liz, and for information on her new book, Bounce Your Body Beautiful.

The Rules of Replacement
When choosing a meal-replacement product, here's what to look for:

Calories: At least 200 to 400 calories. Remember, this is not quite enough to equal a meal. If you're not looking to lose weight, you'll need to take in additional calories if you're trying to replace a meal.

Protein: Runners need about 60 to 90 grams of protein daily. So look for replacements that supply 10 to 15 grams of protein per serving.

Fiber: Try to find options with 5 grams of fiber or more, which equals 20 percent of the Daily Value. Some brands, such as Boost, offer extra-fiber versions.

Fat: Runners can take in about 50 to 80 grams of fat daily, depending on mileage and calorie needs. Stick with replacements that contain 6 or less grams of fat per serving.

You won't have a problem finding meal-replacement products that meet these criteria. The peanut butter and chocolate Kashi GoLean bar, chocolate crisp Balance Satisfaction bar, Slim-Fast French vanilla shake, and Nouriche strawberry banana smoothie all fit the bill, along with lots of other options. And thanks to their increasing popularity, meal-replacement bars and drinks can be found in just about any grocery or convenience store.