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By Amanda Loyola

When individuals start to get in shape or slim down, they typically focus on working out more often and eating healthier. Nevertheless, our active lifestyle often makes it challenging to stick to healthy foods consistently, since meals can be time-consuming to make.

I know from personal experience that immediately after a long run or an exhausting dance class, the last thing I want to do is prepare a meal. I am usually too tired and just am looking for something fast and simple to eat.

That is where protein bars are helpful. They usually consist of a variety of different nutrients, and they are small and easy to carry with you so we can conveniently eat them when we are on the road. They are specifically nice to have after a workout when we are not in the house to prepare a healthy meal.

That said, there is a downside to protein bars.

Some items pack in just as much unhealthy components as healthy ones. We may not be doing our bodies any favors, and in many cases, we might be no even worse off eating a candy bar.

Soy Protein Isolate

One common ingredient included in lots of protein bars is soy protein isolate. Some items even have this noted as the first ingredient. Soy itself is not always bad, but most of the soybeans grown in the US have been genetically modified and can interfere with our hormones.

On top of that, soy protein concentrate is processed, which makes it a completely different food than the plain soybean alone. Generally, it's a better idea to consume unrefined foods in their taw or natural form rather than the processed option. Normally, processed foods include less nutrition anyway.

Eating an occasional protein bar with this processed protein source may not have a significant effect. Nevertheless, in my view, I would not want to eat one every day after working out - particularly if I have alternative and easy choices.

For that reason, with a multitude of so-called "healthy" bars on supermarket shelves with soy protein, where does one go for an alternative option? It is taxing to read every product label, and numerous supermarkets do not sell a large variety.

Here's Something Good

The good news is that there are a growing amount of soy-free bars readily available today, due in part to the paleo lifestyle concept. Some paleo-friendly bars may not contain as much protein as standard bars, but oftentimes they contain more than enough.

For more information on paleo protein bars that don't have soy, click right here.

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This site is a great source to find out free advice on protein bars for losing weight.

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