Protein bars are not baked or cooked for that matter. They are made from raw ingredients so that you can get the nutrients you are expecting and effect you are look for from eating these nutrition bars. If the ingredients in the protein bars were cooked, you would lose the natural vitamins and minerals the ingredients contain. The raw ingredients used in protein bars are actually better than the ones in granola bars. As a matter of fact a true protein bar is made with oats and other baked granola before the other ingredients are added into the mixture.
When a protein bar is manufactured the protein ingredients are placed first in a fixing bowl and then mixed together with water by hand or with an industrial mixer. The mixture is then flattened out on a table before being cooled. Once cool, it is dipped in chocolate, solidified, and then cut into bars and packaged. They are then sent out to consumers to purchase. This is a very simple way to explain the production process.
Protein bars in their basic form are not very tasty and carbohydrates are added to it in order to give it taste and flavor. Glycerol is also added to protein bars to make them sweet and it is this ingredient that keeps the protein bar soft and moist. Glycerol is not also listed in the ingredients on the package, but it is a carbohydrate and it may be simply be listed as such.
The glycerol used in the protein bars do not affect a person’s blood sugar, but it is imperative that you drink large amounts of water while eating a protein bar to make sure that it is digested properly. If you eat too many of these bars without drinking water, you could end up constipated. Protein bars can make your stomach feel heavy and cause you to need to go to the bathroom more when you add water. But this is better – at least to some – then being constipated.
Most protein bars have some form of sugar in it to make it sweet. Usually the ingredients will list fructose, which is basically fruit juice, and it helps make the protein bar edible. Fructose can only be processed through the liver, so if you eat more than one a day, your metabolism could be slowed down.
