Originally posted by bikenewbie
Debbie,
Unfortunately, I don't know anything yet about the products you mentioned. I am of a similar mindset regarding the products I use, so I was wondering if you have any experience with energy bars and/or drinks. I haven't seen many that are organic. I tried a Boulder Bar, which wasn't too bad and it had 42 gm of carbs too. Anyway, do you have any favorites you'd recommend?

Angela
For fluids, I stick with water. I've found that so many prefab "sports" drinks are mostly high fructose corn syrup or something similar. I also don't feel comfortable drinking amino acid supplements, which can have unexpected/undesireable results. Unlike vitamins, amino acids don't normally require supplementation in a well-balanced diet. And unlike the current trend, I don't ice my water: it's a bit of an Eastern point of view, but putting ice-cold water into hot body is extremely hard on what is known as the spleen meridian in acupuncture. Besideds, it's not temperature that water addresses, it's lack of moisture. Moisture can be replaced at any temperature, and it's easier on the body if it's the same as the ambient.

I don't use any of the "energy" bars on the market, because too many of them use soy protein isolate as their protein source. Soy protein has not been shown to provide more bioavailable protein than traditional protein sources (like nuts), and there are a number of issues with soy as a food product, including the effect of soy isoflavones on a woman's estrogen levels. As my estrogen levels are already too high (resulting in periods from hell), I minimize any soy I ingest.

To that degree, my take-with-me-bars of choice are the real food bars put out by Odwalla. I heartily recommend these bars. They aren't processed to the nth degree, they're made of real food components, and contain no preservatives. I've used them at work as well, when the pace is too fast to stop for a meal, and they never fail to give me something to run on. They do contain soy lethicin and in some flavors soy nuts, but except for one type of bar, none of them contain soy protein isolate, which is what I personally really stay away from. Here's the Odwalla site if you want to check out the ingredients in detail: www.odwalla.com/obar2/obar2.html I also recommend their juices, especially the Superfood--it's fantastic for a good dose of fruits and veggies when you just don't have the time to prepare and take the originals with you.

Anyway, that's my personal recommendations. You may or may not find such to work for you as every person is different and, as they say, your mileage may vary. But speaking as a person who has a "hot" metabolism that needs to be fed in small, regular increments, and a sensitive system overall, I believe that others could benefit. The key is to really think about what you're putting into your body. Basically, one could conceiveably live on the Odwalla bars because they're real food, not an "inbetween" sort of thing. Even in these "energy" bars that tout themselves "100% natural" I always seem to find objectionable synthetics, or unnecessary additives.

Hope the above gives you something to think about and to try.

Gotta go adjust my saddle, now. My rump is still slipping forward as I ride.

Happy Riding --

Debbie Kraft
"Ocelot"
cat@eskimo.com