When I first became interested in health, I thought protein bars and power bars would be a good substitute for snaking. Over time I’ve found they don’t help with weight loss, or building muscle, and actually drain your energy. After looking at the ingredients it’s clear why.
1. Soy Protein
Soy protein is TERRIBLE for men. It will fuck with your hormones to the point where it has actually been known to make children start puberty earlier. The amount of estrogen in a couple cups of soy milk is equivalent to three to five birth control pills. The next time you see a someone eating soy protein after a workout, just imagine them reaching into their girlfriends purse and popping her birth control pills like M&Ms.
Nearly all protein bars have soy protein in them. Seriously, it’s in everything. It’s in Cliff Bars, Builders Bars, Luna Bars, Zone Bars, Balance Bars, Special K Bars, ProMax Bars, SoyJoy Bars (duh), and some Met-Rx bars. In most grocery stores, it’s hard to find more than five protein bars WITHOUT soy in them.
And it’s not just protein bars. Government subsidies have made soy such a cheap form or protein that soy turns up in everything. While traveling, I went to get my protein fix through good ol’ fashioned beef jerkey, which listed “HIGH IN PROTEIN” right on the front. When I went to check the ingredients on the back, at the top of the list was “SOY PROTEIN ISOLATE.” After diluting the natural protein with preservatives, they had to add soy protein to the beef jerky to get that “high in protein” listed on the front.
Instead of labeling it “beef jerky” they might as well call it “estrogen pellets.”
2. Toxic Ingredients
So you’re going to avoid soy with traditional Whey Protein, right? Not so fast. Most whey protein is sourced from cows that have been fed corn, antibiotics, and the evil feminist plot that is soy. The milk, meat, and protein those cows produce is going to contain all the unhealthy ingredients they ate.
Unless you get whey protein that has been sourced from organic grassfed cows (which does exist) or non-soy based vegan protein, you’ll be taking in all the toxicity of a factory farm. Because of this, whey has been linked to inflammation and long term health problems. However, like bacon and other factory farmed meats, the real problem is the toxicity created by the food industry.
Even bars listed as all-natural often come loaded with a bundle of unsafe, unhealthy artificial ingredients, including those typically found in candy bars. At the top of the list is high fructose corn syrup, better known as…
3. Sugar
Energy bars are manufactured for taste, not nutrition. The food industry understands that most people don’t want to make real changes to their diet, they just want to feel healthy while eating the same thing they’ve been eating. You’ll be hard pressed to find a major energy bar with under 20 grams of sugar.
Most protein bars have as much high fructose corn syrup as a Snickers bar. In fact, Snickers bars are listed has having 27g of sugar, and making their sugar content lower than some major protein bars.
It’s so bad, Snickers released their own energy bar.
And why not? All they had to do was add some of that yummy soy protein that makes your daughter grow boobs two years younger to their bestselling candy bars.
Often bars will be listed as “low-sugar,” when they actually have 29g of sugar alcohol (I’m looking at you, CarbRite bars). Read the full ingredients – 4g of sugar doesn’t mean it won’t leave you feeling like the day after a five year old’s Halloween candy binge.
4. Carbs
You need a certain amount of carbs to build muscle. Most of the carbs found in protein bars are sugary, or toxic. Unless you’re trying to bulk so hard you don’t care what you eat, the carbs in protein bars are going to hurt more than help. You’d be just as healthy getting your carbs from Snickers bars, since they basically have the same ingredients.
Even the healthier protein bars usually have flour and grains. The rush of energy cause by sugar quickly gives way to a crash caused by the other ingredients. If you really need your carbs right after working out, have a shake or bring a bag of cashews with you.
I’ll admit, a few protein bars have nuts in them, which are healthy. But so do Snickers.
5. Price
Protein bars are expensive, especially if you plan to make them a part of your daily workout food. At 2-4$ a bar, they quickly add up to the the cost of a full meal eating out. Which would you rather have – three protein bars or a full steak burrito?
Compare the cost of a box of protein bars to a bag of Snickers. The ingredients are basically the same plus protein, but Snickers are well under a dollar each. Is there really 2$ worth of toxic whey or soy protein going into these bars, or do food marketers just know people will pay extra to feel healthy?
Save your money. If you want carbs, get sweet potatoes, if you want protein, get a clean organically sourced protein powder or grass-fed beef, and if you want snacks…
Make Your Own Protein Bars
It’s not hard. You can find hundreds of recipes online. My personal favorite are these protein cookies. Everything in them is healthy, and designed to increase strength and balance your hormones. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl, plop them on a cookie tray, and bake.
Most recipes combine powder or chopped material – protein, nuts, flax seed, health supplements, dried fruit – with a bonding agent to hold it together – water, almond milk, coconut oil, or almond butter. Put a layer of shredded coconut or chopped almonds on top and it’ll start to look like a fine desert, but with the health content of a morning shake.
Once you’ve got the hang of it, it’s really easy to and customize them for your needs. Want to balance hormones or increase sex drive? Add maca to your recipes. Want more than the 13-20g protein found in most bars? Just add more. (Note: high heat can break down whey protein, so use non-soy vegetable based protein when cooking, or make them cold.) Want more healthy fats? Use almond butter, coconut oil, or eggs.
If you can’t cook or find a woman to cook for you, you can always go back to sugar-coated estrogen pellets, or dipping Snickers in soy milk. But, if you want to eat healthy, avoid store bought protein bars, and make your own.
Read More: 5 Easy Ways To Boost Your Testosterone
Thoughts on chickpea protein?
http://blogs.webmd.com/healthy-recipe-doctor/2011/03/four-soy-food-myths-exposed.html
Myth #3: Soy foods contain estrogen and men who eat them may experience feminization or even impair their fertility.
Not true. Soy foods do not contain estrogen,
although they do contain isoflavone phytochemicals that fall in the
“phytoestrogen” or “plant” estrogen grouping. Clinical evidence
indicates that soy foods do not feminize men, lower their testosterone
levels or lower their sperm concentration. Soy foods may actually offer
men specifically several health benefits. For example, evidence suggests
soy foods may be protective against prostate cancer.
webmd.com is a mainstream health site. and of course you know the mainstream health science will back soy, they get huge funding from those food companies that also produce gmo soy.
But phytoestrogens mimic estrogen only very weakly. A number of clinical studies in men
have cast doubt on the notion that eating soy influences testosterone
levels to any noticeable extent. And most large studies of soy intake
and breast cancer rates in women have not found that it causes any harm,
said Dr. Anna H. Wu of the Keck School of Medicine at the University of
Southern California.
I’d like to see Runson’s response to both this and what Johan is saying. Some links to actual fucking studies would be nice.
” Some links to actual fucking studies would be nice.”
The following is linked in the article:
healthimpactnews.com/2011/soy-formula-for-babies-birth-control-pills-in-a-bottle/
I use hyperlinks because bogging down the audience with technical details would turn most readers off.
The idea that soy protein is not good for men is hardly radical, and
referenced in most books on testosterone. If you’re interested in the
science, the link below breaks down several studies.
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=698242
I’m glad you skull stomped the sacred cow of supplements Runson. There are so many better alternatives to choose from eating unprocessed food. Way to many men believe that anything with “protein” on the label is a magical substance that guarantees strength, the same way African tribesmen believe eating lion testicles will guarantee virility. I even meet men who religiously drink protein shakes but rarely touch a dumbbell. “Brawndo has electrolytes!” Lol
Why risk it?
Whether or not phytoestrogens act weakly on the male body, a large amount of soy makes its way into many of our processed foods. This has to do with soy’s cheapness compared to other protein sources like meat and overall cheapness as a food ingredient. Take a look at the list of ingredients on your bag of chips or box of crackers. You’ll find either soy lecithin or soybean oil almost everywhere.
Before any research was done on this, a guy with (big) gynocamastia went to the doctor, and they narrowed down the cause to the fact that he drank a gallon of soy milk a day. That may not be a study, but it’s pretty clear evidence that soy can screw with guys hormonally. Also http://americannutritionassociation.org/newsletter/whole-soy-story, and http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/21801783/. It’s a pretty well documented subject. I’m actually surprised there aren’t too many articles here supposing it’s some sort of feminist conspiracy XD.
Who funded this study?
I just stick with non manufactured food. The quality of meat in America is just terrible anyway.
Beef jerky? Nuts your cholesterol must be off the charts
Mung beans are a good source of protein. In Asia it is often used in breakfast drinks and confections.
I used to make a Mung bean paste by simply boiling some beans for a few hours. Would put it on home-made bread with some honey and take to work for mid-morning snack. Very healthy eating.
My viet wife has made a popular traditional delicacy called Mung Bean Cake, which is a tube of Mung bean paste with some spicy meat in the middle, wrapped in rice, then banana leaves, and steamed for hours. You slice it into discs and eat cold. It is about the best backpacking food I have ever eaten.
A lot of work to make it though so she has only done it a couple times. You might find some at a viet food market :
http://www.vietnamesefood.com.vn/vietnamese-recipes/vietnamese-food-recipes/rice-cake-with-pork-belly-and-mung-bean-recipe-banh-tet.html
Stay off dem bung beans, doe
The home made protein bars are not as healthy as you think.
So much bro science and hippie fear mongering misinformation.
yeah? why don’t you post proof for your arguments?
you think industries give a shit about how obsessive closet homos bodybuilders look?
Most neurotic bodybuilders buying into this shit look like fags.
The ones who look good are the ones who don’t give a shit about buying their homosexual proteins, and simply eat good and a lot, and train like animals. And they don’t do it out of homosexual narcissism because they can’t get women. Most of them are into sports and have social lives, and go at the gym because they have their friends there.
Not the blog-reading, forum posting gay nerd.
5 mentions of homosexuality in response to a completely unrelated post.
Projecting much?
yes, I suck cocks and drink cum for breakfast. Thanks for having enlightened me on this totally new concept of psychological projection, oh grandmaster of internet surfing
haha your name is homonigger
Please stop using the feminist shaming-word “bro”. It doesn’t help anything.
Yo bro, stop being so goddamn sensitive, bro. What are you, a faggot, bro?
Chocolate milk pre and post work is the best imo
Co-sign
after trying most every supplement on the planet, i have concluded that they’re generally useless. just eat good food, lift hard, rest. and you’re set, no need for ‘extra’ protein in your diet. that being said, the only only ONLY supplement i do advocate is creatine – that shit works, not to mention it’s relatively cheap even in its alkalyne form. otherwise, keep your money fellas, the supplement business is just marketing.
if protein bars were any good, they’d grow on trees or on the rumps of animals.
Never been one to use it, but I have been around creatine since it first got popular (played HS/D-1 Football). If you are just trying to bulk up for aesthetic purposes then yes creatine is the way to go. However, if you are actually trying to build muscle and improve your strength and conditioning, or compete in some sport, creatine is the last thing you want to do.
Just a couple of quick facts…1) If you stop drinking ridiculous amounts of water, after a week or two, while on/or just getting off creatine, you will deflate like a balloon in no time flat. All that mass will be gone and all your money will be wasted.
2) If competing, it is now widely known that creatine dehydrates you and if playing a sport like football, be ready to take the risk of falling the f*** out in the middle of a practice or game.
I fully agree with you though on the eating good, lifting well, and rest. Nothing else is needed to bulk up. Half of the time people supplement they are doing it wrong and your body literally pisses/shits away your well spent money bc it cannot fully break down the supplement ingested. There are a ton of more expensive smaller supplements (some pill form(s)) that break down things like protein, creatine, all the techs, and anything else you can think of. I’m not an expert on these things (older cousin played in NFL so he was), but I know they exist and how some work in breaking down supplements, so you won’t crap them away.
i don’t use creatine for its muscle-filling effect, but because it makes me lift heavier for longer by recharging the ATP in the muscle. the aesthetic effect is just the cherry on top.
p.s. beta-alanine is also good in this respect, delays muscle fatigue
Creatine is a great nootropic too.
Agreed
“Delude” and “dilute” mean different things.
Great post. I appreciate the recommendation at the end to make your own. Growing up, most of the “sweets” I ate were homemade- it’s a heck of a lot easier, cheaper, and healthier to make some chocolate chip cookies with coconut and raisins than it is to keep buying the processed stuff.
On a side note, whatever traces there are of the antibiotics that cows are given to prevent disease are so insignificant that they really aren’t that much of a problem. What they’re being fed may be an issue, but the traces of vaccines and antibiotics are so small that (to me at least), they aren’t an issue.
This post contained way too much easily-disproved bro-science.
The fear-mongering around soy has been proven false by every large-scale study on the topic. http://www.foodnavigator.com/Science-Nutrition/Review-finds-no-effect-of-soy-on-testosterone
The only hormonal effect which soy can have on the mammalian body is to slightly reduce the uptake of estrogen (it binds to estrogen receptors, reducing their capacity to accept mammalian estrogen).
In lay terms, it makes you less of a risk for gynecomastia.
Was fermented soy food or what used in that study?
Non-fermented, most of the 15 studies looked at soy-protein consumption generally, other specifically on isoflavones.
From what I’ve read, fermented soy makes up the vast majority of what traditional Asian eat. But good luck promoting your pro-soy diet to red pill men, bro.
From what I understand, fermentation destroys the estrogen; you can keep using soy sauce on your rice.
Minnesota, huh? Probably funded by the soy industry.
I think you’ll find that East Asian men are doing a vastly superior job of keeping their women in line than Americans. Alpha takes many forms.
Also, U.Minnesota didn’t carry out the research, their study was an aggregate of 15 major sources.
Either Minnesotan soy-farmers are the Illuminati and control all scientists, or the truth is that soy doesn’t have any ill effects on the male endocrine system.
I think you’ll find that East Asian men are doing a vastly superior job of keeping their women in line than Americans.
Which must be why so many of their women screw white guys?
FWIW, I was given large amounts of soy formula as an infant, and I have been crippled with beta male or even omega male behavior all my life, until the last couple of years when I started reading CH. My younger brothers weren’t given soy formula, and they are much more naturally alpha.
There are also “studies” that state that vitamin supplements are utterly useless, whereas, again in my own life, I notice a dramatic difference when I do take them. Heck, there was even a “study” that claimed that soda was healthier than water.
If “studies” contradict my own life experience, I’m going with my own life experience any day.
Per capita, a lot more white women miscegenate than Asian women. A CH reader should be aware of this.
Consuming anything other than a mother’s breastmilk in infancy is likely to cause problems, I’ll give you that.
But hormone levels vary wildly between siblings as a result of genetic difference. In Darwinistic terms a brood consisting only of alphas is far less likely to make it to adulthood.
Do whatever works for you. But history will show you that people who value the scientific method over anecdote tend to succeed in the long run.
Bingo. No one cares (or ever will care) more about you than you. Where do the majority of studies downplaying risk of frankenfoods get their funding? BIASED manufacturers or their lobby groups.
Aspartame was determined to be GRAS and goes into everything? I got a FUCKING MIGRAINE HEADACHE within 5 minutes of kissing a girl who just popped sugar-free gum after our garlic-laced dinner. The pain was intense and immediate. But no, Searle/Rumsfeld got FDA to say it’s safe and anyone reacting so I’m imagining things.
Pay close attention to what substances do to you. If you can’t find it in nature, caveat emptor.
The amount of beta boys in Asia are about the same as in any Western countries. Behind the doors, you will see these guys being p___whipped all the time by the women.
We only do it better than u guys right now because of traditional norms and strong families. When you (and your current / future wives) have to live with mum n dad in the same house for life, you cannot just go out and hook up all the time.
Soy can cause damage to the digestive system. So my vegetarian cousin has discovered after a few decades of vegetarian diet loaded with soy. Her doctor told her she had a digestive tract typical of a person twice her age and the doc implicated her soy intake.
ya it didnt turn out well. it kilks libido hence why monks eat it so they dont molest anyone. and no offence the asians i think all that soy mustve made them weaker. the mongolians are the strongest asians and i doubt they eat soy.
Yes… Mongolians drink horse blood, not soy milk.
I’m open to the possibility that soy is bad for men, but Asia seems like a major counter-example. They’ve been eating that stuff for thousands of years, and seem to be doing just fine when it comes to reproducing.
actually americans nowadays are eating more soy than us asians. soy is everywhere, in bread, chips, candies etc. just about all packaged food you eat has some soy in it. Asians do NOT eat soy everyday. And the soy we eat is fermented (tofu) which is way better than the unfermented stuff in America (soyburger).
Keeping in mind that a lot of foundational information about these
topics has been reduced to shorthand in a soundbyte economy, it should
hardly be surprising that there’s so much how-do-you-know. Most of the foundational stuff is tucked away in some dusty basement from the Art De Vanithic Age. So you must forgive many of the Young Turks who might not know that traditional Asian cuisine went to great lengths to ferment all the phytoestrogens and lectins from soy, else all the Samurai would’ve been turned into limpdicks.
The Chinese use Tofu, its fermented. It has more in common with yogurt or sauerkraut
Please stop using the feminist shaming-word “bro”.
The term ‘Bro-science’ wasn’t coined by feminists,
it comes from more learned members of the bodybuilding scene in response to the myriad of fads, supplements and woo they are confronted with every time they visit a forum.
What is Bro Science? Good question. I’m glad I asked it.
Yeah bro stop being such a faggot
Good information. I wonder how many men out there have no idea how much soy is fucking them up!
I wonder how many mothers out there realize they are fucking up their sons by feeding them soy.
Everything that has “soy protein” in it should have a warning label: “Not for male consumption!” Of course, the feminist state will never require that, because they want men to be feminized. Hell, they are handing out estrogen like candy with the label “protein,” while making it hard as hell for men to get testosterone.
For a while, before the news got out that soy is like pure estrogen, I was drinking a lot of soy milk. I thought it was the best thing ever, because I never liked regular milk. Then I found it is like pure estrogen. I would not touch it after that.
Looking back, I went through about 5 years of being somewhat timid. And moody. My sex drive was lower. Thankfully, I did not grow man-boobs.
Now, I take as many natural pro-testosterone things as I can. I drink coconut milk.
Make that “not for human consumption”. Yes we know – which is why we promote home cooking and say women belong in the kitchen. Lovingly-created home cooking is best for us health-wise, plus emotionally beneficial.
Now it’s careerism and happy-meals in the car. What wonderful memories for the kiddies to have of their mom. It’s not even really fast food, more like lazy food.
Dig into books like Fast Food Nation and you realise quickly just how much shit is in that stuff. Literally. They have an “acceptable fecal count” – translation: there is shit in the meat.
I now call McDonalds “minced cow lips and assholes”.
It’s quite strange that esterogen you can buy over the counter at pharmacies but testosterone will get you a lengthy prison sentence.
QUOTE: “It’s quite strange that esterogen you can buy over the counter at pharmacies but testosterone will get you a lengthy prison sentence.”
Because it’s illegal to be a man and for men to enhance masculinity. But it is perfectly legal and allowed for any man to consume something that will make him more like a woman.
And I’m fully aware that my remark smacks of tin foil hat-ism.
QUOTE: “I wonder how many mothers out there realize they are fucking up their sons by feeding them soy.”
Thery probably don’t care anyway seeing as the majority of American females are the worst mothers in the World, let alone lousy women in general.
I totally agree. I use 22 days nutrition bars. No soy, no gmos. Soy=the death of your testosterone.
Dont want to sound like a rep, but I use Quest Protein bars, they have 2 versions 1 sweetened with splenda and one without if you dont want artificial flavors. I do the natural ones without, high protein,no soy, low carb; they are kinda pricey but worth a look at if you want something to snack on with protein.
Good article, it does its job. It makes you think about something that most men have entertained (additional protein) into their diet. As men, of this caliber in these forums/sites, you should be fact checking and figuring out what works best for you anyway.
SN: I’m not certain if soy works like this or not, but the simple fact that it is in the conversation of being able to alter estrogen/testosterone, being coupled with it being pretty easy to navigate around, makes me want to stay away from it.
Check out the bars from t-nation.com , they have a protein and an energy bar. Best I’ve come across and their other supplements are top notch.
“After deluding the natural protein with preservatives”
The word is “diluting”. To make (a liquid) thinner or weaker by adding water or another solvent to it. Example: You can dilute bleach by adding water to it.
Deluding: to mislead the mind or judgment of; deceive. Example: An ignorant poster deluded people with a misleading article not based in science in any way.
Diluting the natural protein with preservatives? How does that even happen? Preservatives are such a tiny part of the finished product. How could they possibly displace protein? It’s one thing for jerky manufacturers to cheap out by churning soy into their beef, but come on. This shows a shocking lack of grasp of basic principles and is a warning flag that the entire article should be disregarded.
Another warning flag is “toxic”. Call me crazy, but I have found that a certain sort of health nut LOVES this word. Everything is toxic, and everyone but the health nut is wrong. Moreover, you can “get toxins out of your body” by such scientifically non-falsifiable techniques like sweating or enemas.
In short, this article smells like bullshit. And when you smell shit, that is a very strong indicator that shit is somewhere nearby. It might have had a point about energy bars, but lost it by going too far and trying to leap to conclusions.
Ironically, even though the process by which the writer arrived at several conclusions is utterly illogical, most of the conclusions are NOT incorrect, proved through other, less subjective means.
It’s kind of like a shaman washing a wound because ‘a shield of water protects it from fire spirits that will cause your leg to burn off and your temperature to raise until you die’ versus washing a wound to remove hramful bacteria and reduce the chance of infection. The final point is correct, even if the method to get there is outlandish.
>the process by which the writer arrived at several conclusions is utterly illogical…
I don’t think we’re seeing RunsOnMagic’s thinking process in this article; we’re seeing his conclusions, sans the process, because the process involves a lot of boring statistics. Return of Kings is not a medical journal; it is in no way a failing for him to simplify these things when writing here.
I know what you mean about toxic; I find it profoundly frustrating. Toxic has a distinct meaning, as a class of poisons, though it’s epidemiological description can be metaphorically extended to include things like radioactive material: “toxicity is in the dosage”, but as we’re discovering sometimes even the slightest dosage can have long-term consequences. Depleted Uranium was perfectly safe, after all… until rounds made from it it vaporized upon hitting tank armour, and the individual particles made it inside of our lungs…
…but I digress.
Aurini is correct. I hit the main points because even words like macro-nutrients make some people’s eyes glaze over.
Toxicity is a simplification, but if you want to get deep into the subject I recommend:
http://www.bulletproofexec.com/
And if you want to get deep into problems with modern food processing:
http://foodbabe.com/
Well said however the idea of so much soy in almost all store products does further reinforce the notion of staying away from prepared foods. I am on a Paleo type diet and avoid soy and other legumes along with grains, dairy products excluding butter and a few cheats, sugars, go low on carbs, surely you know all this Paleo stuff.
You missed the other bullshit in section #4 “I’ll admit, a few protein bars have nuts in them, which are healthy. But so do Snickers” peanuts are not nuts, they are legumes. More info to support your claim that the author of this article is not well informed.
“After deluding the natural protein with preservatives”
The word is “diluting”. To make (a liquid) thinner or weaker by adding water or another solvent to it. Example: You can dilute bleach by adding water to it.
Deluding: to mislead the mind or judgment of; deceive. Example: An ignorant poster deluded people with a misleading article not based in science in any way.
Diluting the natural protein with preservatives? How does that even happen? Preservatives are such a tiny part of the finished product. How could they possibly displace protein? It’s one thing for jerky manufacturers to cheap out by churning soy into their beef, but come on. This shows a shocking lack of grasp of basic principles and is a warning flag that the entire article should be disregarded.
Another warning flag is “toxic”. Call me crazy, but I have found that a certain sort of health nut LOVES this word. Everything is toxic, and everyone but the health nut is wrong. Moreover, you can “get toxins out of your body” by such scientifically non-falsifiable techniques like sweating or enemas.
In short, this article smells like bullshit. And when you smell shit, that is a very strong indicator that shit is somewhere nearby. It might have had a point about energy bars, but lost it by going too far and trying to leap to conclusions.
Vitamin D chocolate milk post workout.
Soy protein isolate doesn’t have all the other parts of soy in it. That’s why it’s called isolate.
Estrogen isn’t a protein, it’s a steroid hormone. Your entire article here is just bullshit based on that one misconception, although there are many others that could get pointed out.
The isolation process isn’t 100% perfect. A top quality industrial (non laboratory exercise) isolate, has around 90% protein by weight. So some of the other source ingredients will show through as well. IOW, if someone started selling a Polonium protein isolate, I’d still run a Geiger counter over it before stuffing myself.
But as far as Soy is concerned, non protein ingredients are at least reduced by 80%. And it’s not like Soy is some Toxin to being with, so whatever is left, is highly unlikely to have any kind of horrible effect.
Soy protein isolate was probably processed using toxic chemicals like hexane. Also, if it was non-organic soy to being with, then it’s genetically modified to withstand showers of the potentially mutagenic herbicide call glyphosate (Roundup), which is brought to you courtesy of Monsanto, the very same company who gave us Agent Orange, which just happens to be a herbicide too, which makes one think, is glyphosate simply a molecular link or two away from Agent Orange?
Yet none of the absolute armies of self promoting, Whole Foods shopping “nutricion scientists” have yet jumped on the chance to become an instant world celebrity by “exposing” all those toxins and estrogens and scary molecules or whatnot…….
Used to love Cliff bars but point #1 alone is why I stopped eating them. These days I just stick to whey protein shakes for post work out (and maybe a small, 1/3 or 1/2 size one before work out). Everything else comes from the actual food I eat. If I really need some extra calories, I drink whole milk straight up. Replace whole milk with 1% or fat free if you’re on the chubbier side and need to lose weight.
Its nice to see ROK talking about health and wellness I have been sort of waiting for this kind of topic to come up. To me its a essential topic for the men’s rights/ red pill movements to start saying in on. Both to diversify conversations and to start having that angle of not just the political anti-feminist stuff but also the life improving side of things. We need to move towards that kinda goal where we don’t just discuss the problems out their in the world but that we also move forward towards dealing with them while improving ourselves along the way.
again proving the only way to eat healthy is to do it yourself 🙂
when will people ever learn?
What about raw milk? Saturated fat+protein+organic+tasty. Though it is a bit expensive.
I stick to the real thing: a small slab of pasture-grazed organic beef or bison.
Soy by itself, the natural soy that is not GMO or processed to death, can be healthy and to get that affect of taking women’s birth control pills you’d have to eat a bucket of that stuff. But most “mainstream” soy is pure crap. If you must have soy go for the natural soy or avoid it entirely. No in-between. The “system” likes to push this soy crap because it’s one of the ways they can continue to poison us. If all soy was natural and organic you’d never hear of it.
Also, never forget that any estrogen-mimicking or feminizing herb or substance is not going to outright make you grow tits or something. (doing steroid cycles will because your balls go on vacation from it). But I have seen many a knucklehead at a water cooler joking “hey man I don’t have tits or anything it’s all a conspiracy theory” while they have pattern baldness 10-15 years ahead of schedule. You see the endocrin system does fight back, but if your overall health is still shot to hell then that load of estrogen-like substance in the food will trigger testosterone loads that overcompensate. That’s why a lot of guys are going bald at 30 while growing werewolf hair all over their backs and shoulders.
Ive went vegetarian/vegan twice in my lifetime. Both times for approx 20-22 months.
Once in my early twenties after I read about karma, and a second time in my early forties after the ex-wife read Skinny Bitch.
My main source of protein was from soy. It was in practically everything I ate and drank.
I will never ever ever go vegetarian again. My personal experience was it made me soft. Sure, I had muscles. I had good definition and was fit. But It took away my “edge”. I lacked aggressiveness. I was more timid. It made me DOCILE.
I saw the same thing in 10 year old son.
The effects seemed to go away within days of us eliminating the soy. After a couple weeks I looked the same but felt more powerful.
Personally, I don’t care what some studies show. I ran my own damn study on myself.
If it went away ‘within days’, I can assure you that any effects were in your head and related to the connotations you associate with certain dietary choices.
Quite simply, the body takes months/years to reach homeostasis in response to a hormonal disruption, our endocrine systems don’t change radically overnight.
Go away you fucking shill.
If you have a big turkey dinner, and you feel sleepy, the effects are purely psychological. You need to eat turkey for years to reach homoeostasis. Also, steroids do not aid in body-building in any way.
No wonder men have become so pussified over the past few decades…
Do not feed your kids soy – if you have kids. Asians in general have had stunted growth as a result, but the newer generation is getting bigger. Much bigger.
Genetics are one thing, but I firmly believe they can be altered by environment and diet. The young kids are being raised on KFC and McDonalds and weaned off the poor farmer’s diet of soy, and all of the growth hormones they put in the big company’s beef are making these kids monsters. I am above average height in the US but I get towered in northern China all the time, usually by young guys in their late teens and early twenties.
You would be surprised the extent that diet affects the population’s general appearance. I am 100% certain that the shit they put in junk food and soda (trans fats, high fructose corn syrup) not only make people extremely fat, but also affect the mind and psyche. Conspiracy? Doubtful. Probably true? Yes. There REALLY is something in the diets of Americans that makes them nuttier than the rest of the world, let alone fatter.
Simple: I don’t use protein powder. It’s a waste. You can always eat real food like chicken and fish and nuts instead some lab produced powder
I don’t work out but I am a paleo diet person and that kind of lifestyle works best for me.
Its just so fucking depressing that the only option to eat healthy nowadays is to run your own organic orchard, and grass feed your own cows, using home-made manure.
And even then you are probably fucked. The seeds you buy are probably modified to prevent then from yielding more than 1 season. The cow you buy is probably some hybrid freak whose parents were a GM goat, and an escapee bull from Fukushima that the industrial breeding farm got on the cheap.
Food companies have turned the world food chains into sick chemical GM experiments. And we keep electing the same 2 party political systems that let it happen.
Every time someone bitches about these issues, ask them if they voted for democrats/republicans, labor/coalition, Labor/tory…etc… And if they did, then they are hypocrites.
There may be alternatives available :
http://infowarsshop.3dcartstores.com/search.asp?keyword=heirloom+seeds
http://www.heirloomseeds.com/
its not just the bars. even protein whey gainers have soy lecithine in it. and very few gainers dont have it…finding em is difficult. they only use it cause its cheaper then using egg or sunflower seeds or corn. soy is dam cheap crop and is used in everything…even bread.
dont belive me look em up.
Once again the straight truth. But if we were to mention more about what we are supposed to or aren’t supposed to eat in this “modern civilization” a 1000+ page novel won’t cover it. Ideally you should grow your own food and raise your own animals…but I digress. Soy = estrogen hidden in protein form. FT1X.
With regards to that last sentence, have a look at this
http://www.foodnavigator.com/Science-Nutrition/Review-finds-no-effect-of-soy-on-testosterone
I spent a couple of years surveying after my Navy career. Often we walked through soy fields to get measurements.
I noticed a LOT of dead birds and rodents in those fields. I also noticed a greasy residue on my trouser legs. When I mentioned this to my co-workers, they agreed. They also said that they made a point of washing their hands vigorously after working in those fields.
For readers wanting more scientific studies on the impact of soy, check out the following link, which I just added to the main article:
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=698242
So why is it a big deal that the cows are given antibiotics and vaccines? This is usually the case and it doesn’t affect people eating it
The chemicals are integrated into the meat and then passed on to the consumer.
Hey Runs on Magic…Are some bars better than others?? Are ALL bad ??
Great fucking article. This is a topic that is very close to me. I am not an MD, formally trained nutritionist or expert body builder. I do pay close attention to what I put in my mouth does to me. I hope all the men here are awake to that mindset.
I live in a very liberal area of uber-feminized Californistan. 99% of American-born women I’ve met / dated here are vegetarian or vegan. I got the ‘don’t eat factory farmed meat’ message years ago and turned away from fast food. Being an intense person I wasn’t going to dabble so I went whole hog vegetarian, then vegan for a month. A girl I dated in 2010 was hardcore raw-food vegan and couldn’t stop raving about raw almond this and raw cashew butternut squash that. She was hot and fun and if I could get her to swallow by ditching my meat, so much the better. Yeah, very blue pill then.
It became the most miserable fucking time of my life. Interestingly, I’ve donated blood almost constantly for over 5 years. I saw my hemoglobin drop from 16-17 to about 12 in a ~6 month period during my vegetarian phase. My cholesterol feel to about 130 from ~220. I was weak and lethargic. I got sick more often than ever before in my life. My sex drive gradually dropped – sustained hard erections just weren’t happening. No changes in overall exercise – typically walk and bike several times a week, not much lifting and no change there. Looking back, it’s pretty clear I wasn’t producing enough testosterone and my body said ‘okay eunuch, you’re not feeding us so you won’t get it up.’
I felt like I was ‘doing good for the planet’ but my body hated it. Only consolation was chocolate. Soy milk, almond milk, I had to add sweeteners to enjoy any beverage. Lots of empty unfulfilling carbs. Even the vegan protein was boring as hell and not satisfying. My body simply craved meat. BTW, I’m blood type O-negative.
I searched paleo, Atkins and decided enough of this shit. I can eat less overall volume and be satsified for hours. I see an attractive woman and my body responds like a man’s need to. Then I breathe that energy in and super-charge my day with it, or go relieve myself fantasizing about her (or a dream woman or past lover) and go about my business. I feel like a goddamn man again and laugh in the face of any fuckers who think their ‘earth-friendly’ diets are what every MAN needs.
Women and bitch-boys don’t know shit about being men. I am appalled at the generally low testosterone and drive of many 18-25 y.o. men, not to mention the 25-45 y.o. pussified guys of my generation. If the media is promoting it and it’s not naturally occurring, ask yourself why? FOLLOW THE FUCKING MONEY!
You can’t patent Vitamin C so instead of using that, pop an aspartame-laced ‘Emergen-C.’ I used to, until I wised up.
This is pretty fucking basic, guys. Natural foods, natural women, natural order. The west media does not want men to be men, so their brilliance subversive scientists engineer everything from food to TV shows to fuck us up. Don’t buy it. Don’t be a lazy fucker who gets pre-packaged everything. Your health is worth the time investment. If you don’t have that, you don’t have anything.
My Dad died 4 years ago at 76 due to heart disease brought on a poor lifestyle. I miss the hell out of him. He knew a lot about life but didn’t know when to NOT listen to modern doctors. He was seduced by carbs since I can remember and prefered sweet cereal and pasta to steak and veggies. I saw how he lived and eventually died, with a morphine drip to dull the pain as his heart gave out. I swore to God I would not let that be me, whatever I could do about it. My way of honoring him and real men everywhere is to BE A MAN, think, question, examine, experiment and decide on my own. That is what being red pill is – don’t just accept what someone is feeding you.
Now…for some EASY advice on making your own protein bars I shall direct you to Alton Brown’s Good Eats episode “Power Trip.”
http://www.ulive.com/video/power-trip
Brown pretty much backs up what runsonmagic says in this article, minus the the phytoestrogens, which is probably what turns male vegetarians into manginas. What Brown does break down is how much you save making your own bars. It comes out to around 5 cents a bar. Better nutrition, less sodium and no preservatives
Skip to 9:30 for the segment on making your own protein bars, but the whole episode is worth watching as it teaches you how to make granola bars and rice crispies squares.
As an aside, I’m going to toss this out there: estrogen is not the “female” hormone in the same sense that testosterone is the “male” hormone; if anything is the female hormone, it’s progesterone – and guess what increased estrogen levels does to progesterone levels?
The estrogen which is turning men into women, is also turning women into men.
(Somebody with a more through understanding of hormones and human biology may want to expand on this, but in essence it’s true.)
Now, I’m not gonna argue that the shit they put in our food is fucking ridiculous, but I happen to have a bag of Jack Links Beef Jerky sitting right in front of me.
Ingredients: Beef, Water, Sugar, LESS THAN 2% OF: …blah, blah, blah, Soy Protein.
More to the point – if all this shit is bad for us, what are the healthy, doesn’t-have-a-shitload-of-chemicals-in-it food options? (btw, this an honest, non-sarcastic question)
free range eggs
FINALLY someone called out the protein bar BULLSHIT, fairplay runsonmagic. My only critique is you don’t need a certain amount of carbs to build muscle, you only need 50-100g of complex carb’s a day, and that’s just to keep up your glycogen stores so you don’t burn out too quick during a workout, building muscle comes mainly down to how you train, forcing your nervous system to work for you, eating right sure as fuck helps though. Anyway, fair fucks on calling out the protein bar pricks.
Dr. Mercola on soy. He’s always been on the level regarding men’s health.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mercola/soy-health_b_1822466.html
We really ought to leave pseudoscientific nutri babble to the women’s mags. Lest we start lapping up similar articles about what creams we should rub ourselves with to have “glowing skin” and such…
Proteins are pretty darned simple to analyze, by looking at the amino acid compositions. And toxin levels aren’t really that hard to measure, either.
Ascribing all manners of other woodoo properties to a darned pile of protein powder, is honestly rather simpleminded. Not to mention proof of just how hopelessly trapped in the web of consumer marketing most people are today.
As long as the end result of the whole spiel, is to eat proper foods, I guess no real harm is done in practice. But it is still lots better to not get sucked into the spin machine to begin with.
The standard model for protein digestion, absorption, and utilization states that any protein is broken down into individual amino acids in the gut. Meaning all traces of their pre digestion origins are destroyed. Then, with the individual amino acids absorbed as building blocks, the body will create the ones it needs, in te correct proportions. Only the essential amino acids cannot be created by the body. All others can be built from them. And if any amino acids are is left over, they will be flushed out of the body. So; the only thing that matters wrt dietary protein, is if one obtains enough of each essential amino acid. Otherwise, one will be deficient; hence will not “grow” as much as if one did get enough. The only downside to eating a “lower quality” protein is, as long as it contains all the essential amino acids; is one have to eat more of it. Putting a bit of extra strain on the digestive system and the kidneys.
Weight lifting does alter the ratios of the individual essential amino acids one needs; through breakdown of muscle tissue during workouts. The most common extra need seems to be more branch chain acids, and more glutamine. Soy has less than Whey and milk and egg of the former, but supposedly more of the latter. Leading many BodyBuilding nutritionists to recommend supplementing by some Soy, and some animal sources. Of course, before every dude who thought wearing panties in front of the mirror figured he needed a nutritionist; lifters solved the problem by just eating more. More whole milk. More egg. More red meat. Which in the long run most likely gave better results, since I haven’t heard of any non vegan in the West being “protein limited” as far as their bodybuilding gains are concerned for who knows how far back. Much more likely to find contemporary “nutrition interested” lifters limited by their intake of fat. Particularly animal fats, and even more particularly; fats that are easiest to convert to sex hormones/Testosterone: Dietary cholesterol.
In addition, it seems many, particularly non competitive, lifters these days, eat way to few carbohydrates. Carbs are what help refuel muscles after workouts. Going into a strength workout without being properly carb loaded; WILL result in less weight being moved for less reps. Resulting in a half assed workout. FOr fitnes models, actors and others who need to stay “riipped” permanently, heavy creatinine supplementation supposedly does get around some of that, by refuelling muscles by a pathway that bypasses carbs. But the really big guys very clearly demonstrate that doing both; creatinine AND stuffing themselves with carbs, that they then shoot insulin to utilize to the max.
I was going with the Quest bars for a while. They weren’t too bad but got pricey quick. Beef jerky is a good way to get protein as a snack.
Does anyone know if the Biotrust packs their products in BPA free plastics? That shit also feminizes men.
Well fuck me. I’ve got two mega bags of Jack Link’s Beef Jerky ready for 4 days of FTX.
Any suggestions on what Beef Jerky to buy that is not poisoned with Soy? Or is it pretty much better to just make one’s own beef jerky?
Wald
Go to Chinatown and buy some of the fresh beef jerky they simmer right there in the stands. Usually it’s sweet or spicy flavored but it’s delicious as all fuck and still hot to boot. I think most major Chinatowns should have something like that.
I’ll have to do that for next time.
Free range pastured local beef and chicken. Who the hell needs protein bars?!
I don’t know much about HGH and T injections but the way they demonize dudes who juice might be a conspiracy. Who knows? All I know is that Sylvester Stallone is in his 60’s and looks like he could tear an oak tree down with his bare hands, and he swears by the stuff.
I might consider juicing when I get to that age.
definitely. not like you have a lot to lose anymore, if shit goes downhill. the benefits definitely outweigh the risks by 60. hell i’d wager even 50.
Thanks for posting this.
Oh does anyone have any tips on getting some muscle on ones frame when they don’t have a gym membership? I’m an ex lifter and have the muscle memory already in place, just haven’t lifted in six years and mostly do pushups and dips at home. I get swole doing it, and I know you can do the ghetto workout like that but I bet you gotta push it even harder than regular lifters. But after an intense workout at home I feel the same high as I did when I was in the gym
easy fix, check out “convict conditioning”, by a guy named Paul Wade, shit is the truth, mans basing his calisthenics programme on a military history as far back as the Spartans. Also look up about forcing your nervous system to work for you, if you were in the gym before you encountered it with the, “one more rep, when you think you’ve no more left”. I started out with pushups, pullups, squats, hip-thrusts, knee-tucks, leg lunges, and handstand holds. One year on I’m at 1-arm on ball pushups, assisted 1-arm pullups, the bridge, hanging straight leg raises, one leg box-jumps, leg lunges, and handstand pushups, and I weigh 82kg. Far from the SIZE of gym-lifters, but far from scrawny, far more functional, and I’ve built slowly so my ligaments and tendons have grown with me, so I won’t be a cripple when I’m older haha
You ever see the ghetto workout shit? I mean those guys have natural genes but it looks like on a Harlem diet and just hanging out on the playground all day those dudes are huge. I also saw something similar with some guy in Taiwan. If you destroy your muscles, regardless of how you do it, I imagine results are similar… which is why they say that hitting a tire with a sledgehammer is like the best exercise there is.
I don’t take any protein. I stick with eggs, chicken and steak. The extra protein always made me too fat, but to each their own…
Unless you are either too lazy to prepare real meals, or one of those whose whose cholesterol gets scary high from eating animal fats; that’s probably the best way to go. And certainly the tastiest.
Simpsons where right, recycled old Chinese newspaper.
Oh that cashier when Homer bought a weight-gain tub: “lucky for you this stuff don’t work.”
Seriously? I’ve been eating protein bars for a month now, and combined with bi-weekly gym sessions, I’ve been getting stronger, my arms getting bigger, and the fat on my stomach shrinking.
I’m sure eating everything raw, grassfed, organic, biodynamic, pastured, cultured and mantra-infused would be great, but realistically many of us can’t afford that. Even if I order your special raw grassfed whey and make bars from that the cost is pretty inflated compared to conventional.
The author of this article is using toxicity as a buzzword with no specifics. Simple sugars are not necessarily bad for you and are actually ideal post-workout.
Protein bars are not an ideal food, they ARE basically candy bars like Snickers, only with added protein. However, if you are working out it is a cheap way to get more protein in. ROK should stick to trolling women instead of doing health articles.
What of protein powder? Is it no better than milk mix?
Excellent post. I stay away from protein bars not just for the reasons listed on this article but also because they are extraordinarily salty and leave my mouth feeling so damn dry; I am usually thirsty after downing a protein bar. Never again will I consume them.
Most of this is utter nonsense, no scientific backing for any of your points. This is the sort of health woo woo that women fall for, shame on you!
Eat a good healthy meal. Fish and green leafy vegetables.
The problem is fruit and grains. A candy bar is better for you than a banana.
Unless you live in the USA where candy bars use High Fructose Corn Syrup. Then they are much the same.
Fructose (fruit sugar) is converted to fat in the liver and deposits on your body. Candy bars (outside of the USA) use regular sugar which you can burn during exercise.
Fruits were seasonal (a week or two per year) and the body is designed to store fruit sugar for later use as fat. Now they are available in the supermarket year round which means obesity.