Why Not Snickers?

R

rgkeller

Joined
Nov 11, 1999
Messages
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What big advantage do the exotic (and expensive) "power/survival" bars have over Snickers and a couple of multi vitamin tablets for a short term (say a week) emergency ration?
 
Stabillity, Power bars etc. are usually more tempature stable than normal candy bars.
Content, Power bars have a much higher nutritional content ie: protien etc.
Candy such as snickers make a great snack. Power bars make a better meal replacement
Allan
 
Many of these "bars" are stable becasue they use hydrogenated oils -- some even hydrogenated palm oil -- sort of heart attack in a wrapper. It does give them a long shelf life.
 
Better still, get a bag of rolled oats and some beef jerkey.

Good low G.I for the Oats, reasonable protein too and a few vits. Too much salt in the Beef Jerkey but the protein is there in spades.

Day to day I live on Tuna and Rolled Oats, not too varied but certainly healthy :)
 
High glycemic index carbs (simply sugars) provide little in regards to long lasting energy, plus the vitamin / mineral profile is low, do you really want to lower immune capability in a survival / emergency situation.

That being said, most meal replacement bars are no better, being usually mainly simple sugars as well.

-Cliff
 
:) If you search the BackPacker archives you should find a test they preformed on the major "power bars" and guess what ,they used a snickers for the standard. They also used one other popular candy bar, BabyRuth I think.
Well the short version is. All the power bars were better for you, but just
marginally better. Some were Sh*# for taste others were dry etc. So what good were they really? Bottom line was the snickers won the test when you considered the money spent and value received. They were "Almost" good for you, a real food bar.
That said I would not want to live on snickers bars for more than a day or three, but you could do a lot worse.
Needing to keep them cool is the only real problem.
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back when I was in boy scouts, I used to take, dry granola along with me to eat. It gave me energy and was filling, and didn't take up lots of space in a plastic bag.
 
I like to carry a couple of those Slimfast bars in my pack. They have a little bit of everything and they don't melt as easy as a Snicker bar.
 
How many calories are in a Slimfast bar?

I don't think they would be up to meeting the demands of a 'survival' senario. Especially since stress adds to your calorie demands.

If you do get a candy bar get one with a fair bit of fat in it as it will retard the absorbtion time of the high G.I carbs. Also get one with nuts as you will derive some protein from it too.

Top and bottom Snickers fits the bill. they melt easily but they are cheap and readily available and eating them before they 'spoil' isnt going to be too hard to do :D

I still say though for 'quality' nutrition get oats and honey (Honey will keep indefinately, and it can be used as an antiseptic) and some dried meat be it fish, squid, beef or chicken.
 
Hey Temper

Awhile back I posted a thread entitled "self nutritional test". It made this chemical experiment very simple.

Wake up one Sunday morning don't eat breakfast and either go for a run, or a long hike or build a surival shelter. Make a note on a piece of paper when you start to feel signs of hunger. On the following Sunday eat a Snickers and do the same task, then note when you feel signs of hunger. On the following Sunday eat a "power bar" and do the same.


I did this for a period of a month or so. I found out what products work for me and what didn't. I also became more tune with what I need to perform high energy tasks.

This is all about fuel.


A great book to read is "Power Eating" gives the technical info on why our bodies need certain nutrition.
 
Dude,
I'm a sports nutritionist. The reason you felt less hungry after the snickers is because of the fat, which takes four or so hours to clear the stomach. The Power bar is mostly carbs and so clears it in about one hour.

Its no real discovery you made its just digestion times. Chances are if you ate a Big Mac you wouldn't feel hungry all day..

Not feeling hungry and getting the right nutrients are two distinctly different things though.

I agree for an easy to find food source for emergencies a Snickers is fine. If you want a performance food. i.e. one that will give you an even blood sugar level for a while and supply enough protein for maintenance and to stave off the loss of lean tissue, then you will have to look elsewhere.

Basically you would need about 1:2:3 Fat protein carbs in a normal situation. If you are in a colder enviroment or more active aerobically then up the carbs and fats.
 
Temper,

I've read that sugar in foods makes you feel hungrier. Since I don't eat much with sugar in it anymore, I find this seems to be true. The other problem is that sugar is a short term energy boost, versus a more substantial snack or meal. Do you have any other info on this?
 
Sugars stimulate appetite, they will indeed make you hungry, this is one of the reasons why sugar is added to almost everything, and of course the fact that most people simply crave sweet things. Fat has the opposite effect, and induces a large satiety responce.

Sugars digest very quick, 0.5 hours for simple ones, and 2-3 for complex ones. Thus unless you eat very frequently, you can't maintain stable energy levels on carbs alone.

Fats and protein digest *much* slower, 3-5 for most protein, seven for casein, and fats are 5-7 and delay gastric emptying as well, thus slowing down the digesting of whatever else is eaten.

The only reason you would want high sugar intake would be if you were in a very demanding situation and had exausted your glycogen reserves and need to refill them quickly (like an hour) so you would be ready to be active again.

-Cliff
 
In addition to what Cliff posted there is the issue of Liver or Muscle Glycogen (A large glucose molecule that is broken down to provide energy) Fruit sugar will prefferentially replenish Liver Glycogen which is good as this will give or at least allow for a steady stream of glucose in the blood stream that will allow the brain to function. A dearth of blood glucose makes one feel drowsy or incapable of thinking or reacting as well as 'could be'.

Dried fruits (Northern i.e. apples or pears) are a great long life brain food. Mangos and Pineapple are OK but the northern fruits are better.

Getting the best performance from your foods is quite an intersting subject. There are too many 'old wives tales' associated with what is good or bad for you. If you look at it on a chemical level and then understand how it works you can make a much more informed choice of what you should be eating in certain situations.

Around exam time for instance if you have kids

Lots of northern fruits and complex carbs (Oatmeal) to keep the blood sugar on an even keel. Ginko Biloba to facilitate vaso-dilation (an increase in the diameter of the blood vessels, which leads to less resistance and ensures good blood flow) Lots of clean water (Water is the universal solvent in the body and is also used as a medium for electrical signals and nerve impulses. If you are dehydrated your blood is more viscous. The more viscous it is, the slower your reactions and thinking, as the signal takes longer to get to its intended destination. Basically the more dehydrated you become the slower and more stupid you become. Pretty scary really :eek:

Another thing to note is coffee or rather caffein. Caffeine is a CNS (Central Nervous Stimulant) it does not give you any energy to speak of. What it does do is stimulate the adrenal glands to excrete norepinephrine which is the chemical responsible for the 'Fight or Flight' response. Overstimulation of the CNS is not good as it will ultimately degrade it and its efficiency.
 
My reasoning,power bar tastes like ****,snickers good.I also feel that for purely a survival situation the snickers is fine,if you are a long distance runner the power bar might be better?
 
Temper said:
Lots of northern fruits and complex carbs (Oatmeal) to keep the blood sugar on an even keel.
Click to expand...

As a kid, we often had oatmeal for breakfast. In high school, even eating all I comfortably could, I was hungry again a few hours later, about 2.5 hours later. I don't think it does that good a job of evening out blood sugar cause I sure crashed on it.

Phil
 
Temper,

I never said what gave me more energy. What my post was saying was do a simple energy test for one's self, obviously I did not know you were a "nutritionist".

Sometimes Nutritionists talk in too scientific terms.

I am not some kind of food visionary. Just trying to break food down to a simplistic fuel test. Not unlike testing types of gas in your car.
 
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