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78. Smash or Pass: Energy Bars · Eat More Carbs | A Period Recovery Podcast

• 0:00
  If you have been listening to the Eat More Carbs podcast, you
• 0:02
  know that Riley and I are both in our running era.
• 0:04
  To make sure that we're properly fueled for training, we're using
• 0:07
  both carbohydrates and Tuba 4. Tuba 4 is an all natural pre
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  workout designed to enhance athletic performance through the
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  benefits of New Zealand blackcurrant berries.
• 0:15
  Studies have shown these berries to increase vasodilation and
• 0:19
  prime the body to kick start muscle recovery.
• 0:21
  These antioxidant rich berries have a sweet and tangy flavor
• 0:24
  and will level up your performance and recovery.
• 0:27
  Use code Riley for 20% off 20 packs and Multiserve packs
• 0:30
  online at twobefore.com. This is the Eat More Carbs
• 0:34
  podcast. Hello and welcome to the Eat
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  More Carbs podcast. My name is Jenna Fischer and I'm
• 0:43
  here with my Co host Riley Beatty.
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  Today we're going to be talking a lot about energy and sports
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  bars. A quick reminder before jumping
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  into today's episode, it would really help out our small
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  business and help other athletes find this podcast if you gave us
• 0:55
  a. Five Star.
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  Rating and review. Riley, what's your high and low?
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  I'm starting. Off with my flow this week.
• 1:00
  I have two dogs. Our oldest dog's name is Ode and
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  unfortunately Ode has like a cavity or cracked tooth so we
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  have to get some dental work done and unfortunately I am not
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  currently Denna and I do not have pet insurance for my pups
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  and they quoted me $2800 for him to get his tooth fixed.
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  Oh my gosh. It's like ODE.
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  Do you need your? At that, at that point, can they
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  pull it and it would be less expensive?
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  Is that a possibility the problem?
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  Is is they have to like put him under anesthesia because it's
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  his tooth and that's what really costs all money.
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  So it's the anesthesia, not the dental work itself?
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  Yeah. I like my jaw hit the ground.
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  I was like, that is a lot of money.
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  Yeah, that is that is a low. My high.
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  I'm getting actually very strong because I'm carrying Charlie
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  around all of the time. Gurley went to the doctor this
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  week for her six check up and she's almost 15 lbs, which I
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  actually thought she was 18 lbs because she's so, but she's only
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  14, like almost 15 lbs. But I am getting pretty strong
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  and I was very apparent to me when I was carrying the
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  groceries in and I could carry many more bags on my trip.
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  I only had to make one trip so that was my high.
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  Isn't that so funny how so many people measure their strength
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  increase by how many bags of groceries they can carry in it a
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  single time? I also am consistently reminded
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  that I'm not pregnant because of how many bags I can carry in
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  from my grocery trip. We're thankful for all the
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  things when it comes to easy groceries in the house.
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  Exactly what about you? What are your?
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  High and left. Mine is going to be kind of the
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  same story. I have a problem that when I see
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  a good deal, I have a hard time saying no.
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  So we're recording this podcast the week of Amazon Prime deals.
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  Oh no. And my.
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  Problem is that I put so many things in the cart because I
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  just get so excited about the deals.
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  I'm like, Oh my gosh, like I've been eyeing this, but a lot of
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  the Amazon Prime deals are time sensitive.
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  Like you put it in your cart and it starts a countdown, which
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  makes me feel such a pressure to buy things.
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  So when I do that, I have two reactions.
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  One is that I just like hit purchase and everything that's,
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  you know, got the green check mark in Amazon cart is now mine
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  or BI like get too much buying pressure.
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  So I just close the app because I don't I don't like the
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  impulsive decision. I just like to put things in my
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  cart and like let it sit like I need to think about it.
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  I'm like, Oh, I like that. So I guess.
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  Imagining you being stressed right now in Arizona with 20
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  things in your cart and like the times ticking down for each of
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  the products. And I'm sitting there and I'm
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  like, what do I do? Like do I really need this?
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  I only have 9 minutes and 30 seconds left to to decide if I
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  need this or not. And like, let me tell you, I
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  don't need it. Like I do not need it anyway.
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  Amazon Prime deal got me on some of the times I was in the app.
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  Not all the times, thank goodness.
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  Otherwise I would be in serious financial trouble.
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  But the couple times that it did get me, it got me.
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  So, you know, I have a couple new things on the way they
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  should be arriving at any moment now.
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  That's the high, low situation. But to emphasize the low, I was
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  on social media last night and I see this reel of this woman who
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  makes this post and she's like all of Amazon's employees.
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  And it's a picture of like a furniture thing and it's like
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  $67. And then she shows the same poof
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  and it's like Amazon Prime deal and it's like $67, thirty, 7%
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  off and like they've the original price to make people
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  think that they're getting a good deal.
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  So it was in that moment that I realized that Amazon just
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  scammed me out of all of this money thinking that I was
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  getting good deals and they pressured me into making the
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  decision. The high part of this is I'm
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  really excited for the new glasses I have for my kitchen.
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  So I have some great kitchen things coming that I actually
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  really did want, but I just, I really am upset with myself that
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  I let I let it get to that point.
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  Thanks for listening to my rant about Amazon Prime deals.
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  Don't buy anything unless you really need it.
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  I also heard too that they like inflate the prices so that you
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  think you're getting a deal. Yeah.
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  And you're not. I could go on there right now
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  and look at everything that I purchased from Amazon Prime
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  Deals and like I could buy it today for the same price, maybe
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  even less. I got me so good this year.
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  I saw an ad. I literally clicked on the ad.
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  I went and picked the size and then I clicked purchase and it
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  was like within 30 seconds I could just give them $30.00 and
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  I was like, yes. They didn't even need that
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  countdown clock on you, they just got you right away.
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  Like I could beat that clock. I got you.
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  Yeah, well, on the topic of things that you should and
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  should not spend your money on, we are going to be playing a
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  Smasher Pass bars today and we're going to be chatting about
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  which bars are going to be worth purchasing and which ones you
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  should maybe leave on the shelf. Chatting about this, we're going
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  to be looking at all of these bars that Riley and I review
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  from the standpoint of if it's something we should be using
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  prior to a run as a pre run fuel.
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  We tend to take the approach when it comes to bars as maybe a
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  Plan B or a Plan CA Great option to have as a backup, maybe not
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  our preferred source of fuel before training in the 1st
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  place, but a really convenient one, a really great backup
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  option to have in your bag to take with you to work, something
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  along those lines. So just as the caveat before we
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  get into what we feel or what we recommend for runners before a
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  run from a bar perspective. So Jenna, as a running
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  specialist, I have so many questions for you about these
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  bars. Like you mentioned, can be a
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  great Plan B or a Plan C, but can also be a Plan A for maybe
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  like an early, early morning run.
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  Starting off, let's talk about a Cliff Bar.
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  Are we smashing or we're passing?
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  I'm smashing with a Cliff bar and the reason for that is that
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  it has a good amount of carbohydrates.
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  They're an energy bar, so we want carbs right before we go on
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  a run. The things that we really don't
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  want in a run or a pre run fuel pre run snack are going to be
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  things like high fat, high protein and high fiber.
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  A lot of bars are going to have a fair amount of fiber in them
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  from like an oat perspective or something like that.
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  But a Cliff bar doesn't have too much fiber and for most runners
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  they can tolerate that pretty well before a run.
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  So it's a smash for me from a Cliff bar.
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  I. Also love that Cliff Bars are
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  available like almost everywhere.
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  We will link the episode below when you talked about your race
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  in San Diego. But practicing your feeling at
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  home and you know, making sure that you feel comfortable doing
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  that while you're away, a Cliff bar is really easy because you
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  can practice that at your house. And then you know when you're
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  going to your race site that a Cliff Bar will probably be
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  available at a CVS or a grocery store.
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  Yep, exactly another. Really popular bar among the
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  running community is going to be a go macro bar.
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  Are we smashing or are we passing?
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  For me, Go Macro Bar is also a smash, very similar as far as
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  when we're looking at it, like compared to a Cliff Bar, it's
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  more of an energy bar, has a good amount of carbohydrates,
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  typically not as high in fiber as some of the other bar options
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  out there. It's going to provide a good
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  amount of carbohydrates. I actually think they taste
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  really, really good. So for me Go Macro Bar is a good
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  one if you tolerate it before a run as a pre run snack that has
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  a good amount of carbohydrate. Following up on that, Go macro
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  bars are going to be more energy dense compared to some of the
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  other bars that we're going to be talking about.
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  Do you recommend eating the whole bar before a run or do you
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  recommend having half of it? I feel like I hear different
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  things in the running community. I think it's going to depend on
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  how far out you're eating that bar.
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  So if you have a longer time before you're running and you're
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  eating this, you know, an hour plus before you run, we maybe
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  could eat the whole thing. But if we have a less than an
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  hour to digest that before we start our run, maybe only
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  consuming about half of it and seeing how you do.
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  Another bar that is similar to a Go macro bar, I feel like it's
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  in a similar space is going to be an RX bar.
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  What do we think about RX Bar? RX bars are primarily sweetened
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  with dates. Dates are a great option as far
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  as a pre workout. So an RX bar is a pretty good
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  one to do pre run. They are a little bit chewier
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  and maybe feel a little bit more dense than some of our other
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  options. So again, it just kind of
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  depends on the runner whether or not they can tolerate that well.
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  But from just looking at it from a carbohydrate standpoint and
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  some of the other things that we're looking at as far as pre
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  run fuel, it's a pretty good one.
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  So I'm going to smash. I also think that these flavors
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  are so delicious. I know you didn't ask me, but
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  I't also going to smash in an RX bar and I'm also super excited
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  to see them be more readily available.
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  I feel like these are similar now to Clif bars where they're
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  available at a lot of different. Locations I remember a couple of
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  years ago, like when they first came out and you could only find
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  them at like health food stores. I specifically remember like
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  going to a, you know, health food store to get specifically
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  RX bars because I wanted to try them.
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  But now you can find them at CVS, find them at Walmart.
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  You can find them pretty much anywhere.
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  So again, a good a good option if you're looking for a familiar
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  fuel and something that you can practice with.
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  It's probably going to be available in multiple places.
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  I also have different products in their line now too.
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  They have like a breakfast bar, they have a kids bar, They just
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  have a variety of different bars.
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  So probably practicing with which one feels the best for you
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  too. Yeah, I'd agree something.
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  Else that I always see at the grocery store as well and I know
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  a lot of I get a lot of questions about this and I know
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  you do too is going to be about quest bars.
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  I feel like they are all over the grocery store.
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  I see them like a whole wall when I go to Target.
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  What about quest bars? Are we smashing or are we
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  passing? Quest bars pre run are not
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  something that I'm going to be recommending.
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  They tend to be a little bit higher in protein when we're
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  looking at them compared to some of our other energy bar options
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  like we've just gone over. And like we said, proteins not
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  something that we necessarily need to focus on pre run.
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  There is a lot of artificial sweeteners in a Quest bar, which
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  is another thing that I recommend runners avoid prior to
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  starting a run. The reason for that is that
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  oftentimes it can draw more water into the gut and we can
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  experience some not so fun GI side effects depending on how
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  you react to those things. So from the standpoint of
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  artificial sweeteners or what I'm looking for from a pre run
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  standpoint, pass on Quest bars. I also just don't love the way
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  that a Quest bar tastes. That's me personally.
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  I don't want to eat something that I don't like the way that
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  it tastes or I'm not enjoying. So from that standpoint, if like
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  if you find yourself not enjoying a Quest bar just
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  because they're branded as something that really helps, you
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  know, athletes meet their goals or something like that, you
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  don't, you don't need to eat it. I used to like Quest bars when I
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  was like really struggling with like some disordered eating and
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  different things like that, especially because they were
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  like the only bar I feel like on the market like 10 years ago
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  that was like 20 grams of protein.
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  But now as a dietitian, like looking at that food label, I'm,
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  I'm also having a strong pass with with those products.
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  If there are products that people are like, it tastes
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  better if you put it in the microwave and heat it up and
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  like, why? Why should we need to like,
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  truly, like, really alter something that's meant for
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  consumption right out of the package in order to, like, make
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  it taste appetizing? That to me is also kind of like,
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  do I want to eat this? That's just a personal though.
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  Yeah, no. I mean, it just goes back to the
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  wise. I get like everything that we
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  talked about on this podcast. It's why are we eating it?
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  If we really love the taste of a Quest bar, eat the Quest bar.
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  But are you eating because you're afraid of getting sugar
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  in another version or you eating it because, again, it's like the
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  healthiest way to get protein where these, you know, are not
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  maybe the best intentions. But if you love the taste of it,
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  if it's something that you really enjoy, don't eat it
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  before you rent, please. Exactly.
• 12:10
  I think that's with a lot of these though, right?
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  Like we can, just like when we talked through all of the sports
• 12:14
  drinks that we did on our Smasher Pass sports drinks
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  episode, so many of the hydration products that we went
• 12:19
  over might not be recommended, like around training or around a
• 12:22
  game, but we can use them as a hydration product if we really
• 12:24
  like them and they're not impacting our goals or impacting
• 12:27
  our gut in a negative way. Yeah.
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  I guess goes back to it depends. It always does.
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  What about Chewy bars? This is another product that we
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  see all over the grocery store. I really like a chewy bar,
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  honestly, like easy carbohydrates.
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  They are going to have a little bit of fiber just kind of like
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  all the rest of these bars have because so many of them are oat
• 12:45
  based. But if you tolerate them well, I
• 12:47
  think they're easy, quick, affordable, readily available.
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  Great ones for like high school athletes, high school runners
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  like is in between like end of school start of track practice.
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  So things like that that are really easy, really small, easy
• 12:58
  to digest, ready to go. I like a chewy bar so smash this
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  might. Just be something that I
• 13:04
  struggle with personally, but around training and workouts, it
• 13:07
  can be sometimes hard for me to fuel with really flavorful
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  foods. So I love that a chewy bar is
• 13:14
  going to be more of a bland flavor sometimes.
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  And they do have options, obviously, for, you know, things
• 13:18
  that have more flavor, but I feel like it is a great option
• 13:21
  for somebody who might struggle with the same thing that I do
• 13:24
  and want something a little bit less.
• 13:26
  Just more blank. I think that's interesting that
• 13:27
  you bring that up because I remember like when growing up,
• 13:30
  my mom used to buy chewy bars like the giant pack from like
• 13:33
  Costco and Sam's and it would have like a three flavor version
• 13:36
  or something like that. Like this was way, way back in
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  the day. Even between the flavors of the
• 13:40
  chewy bars, they all tasted relatively similar.
• 13:42
  So they were like had, you know, a plain version or like a
• 13:45
  chocolate chip version or maybe the third one was maybe like a
• 13:47
  S'mores, I don't really remember.
• 13:48
  But like throughout all of them, they tasted so similar and so
• 13:52
  familiar that like it didn't really matter which one you had,
• 13:54
  you're always kind of getting that like base flavor that all
• 13:57
  of them have. They're all pretty similar and
• 13:58
  all pretty like you said. An easy one for sure.
• 14:01
  What about barbells? I don't know how to say this.
• 14:03
  I feel like you and I have talked about this multiple
• 14:04
  times, but barbells, Bear bells. What about these bars?
• 14:08
  They've become really popular over the last couple of years.
• 14:10
  I'm just gonna like put this out there.
• 14:12
  If they don't bother your stomach, that is awesome.
• 14:15
  I still would not recommend eating them right before a run
• 14:18
  because they do have a type of sweetener in them that is known
• 14:22
  to act as a laxative effect. So probably not the one that I
• 14:25
  would be recommending right before a run.
• 14:28
  It's also one that's a little bit higher in protein and maybe
• 14:31
  we're not wanting protein right before we run.
• 14:34
  So if you like a barbell, great. Same kind of thing with like
• 14:37
  quest bar. It's totally on you if you like
• 14:39
  that and want to incorporate that as part of your fueling.
• 14:41
  I just wouldn't do it before a run.
• 14:44
  And then we're ending with Kind Bars.
• 14:47
  This is another one that is readily available and I feel
• 14:50
  like has gotten really popular over the last like 5 to 10
• 14:52
  years. I think Kind bars I'm, I don't
• 14:55
  know how to answer this. I don't because it truly
• 14:57
  depends. And there are so many different
• 14:59
  types of kind bars. There are some that are like
• 15:02
  very nut forward that might be too fibrous for us right before
• 15:05
  a run, in which case I might pass.
• 15:07
  And then there are others that are going to be a chewy version
• 15:09
  and those ones I might smash. There's also like ice cream
• 15:12
  versions of kind bars. There are mini ones, big ones,
• 15:15
  like there are so many different options that kind bars has now.
• 15:19
  So I'm just going to say it depends.
• 15:21
  With kind bars there, I can't smash or pass because there
• 15:23
  might be certain ones that I felt good with and other ones
• 15:26
  that I definitely wouldn't recommend.
• 15:27
  So really, just like all things in nutrition, it comes back to
• 15:30
  the why. It comes back to the IT depends.
• 15:32
  And it's OK to have those answers.
• 15:34
  If you have specific ones for specific times of day before
• 15:38
  training, after training that you want to know about
• 15:40
  specifically, just DM us on Instagram.
• 15:43
  You can find me at Jenna dot Fisher dot nutrition.
• 15:45
  You can find Riley at easy dot sports dot nutrition and we'd
• 15:48
  happily answer your specific question about, you know, sports
• 15:52
  drink energy bar and when you're implementing that into your
• 15:55
  fueling to make sure that it's hopefully the best way to do
• 15:57
  that without causing any GI upset with providing you with
• 16:00
  enough energy and nutrients to get through whatever training it
• 16:02
  you have for the remainder of the day.
• 16:04
  Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the eat more
• 16:07
  carbs podcast, the official podcast for the performance
• 16:09
  fueling club. Please make sure you rate,
• 16:11
  subscribe and review. And as always, remember to eat
• 16:14
  more carbs.