It can be difficult to achieve a balanced diet in our fast paced world. Many days are spent in a whirlwind of business meetings, soccer practices, and other responsibilities that make feeding your family nutritionally complete meals more difficult than it should be. To make up for the lack of vitamins and minerals, many turn to healthy snacks like Nourishments shakes or nutrition bars to fill in the gaps left by their inadequate, over processed diets. But, with so many choices on the shelves, it can be difficult to know which options to choose. At Levana, we create our Nourishments shakes and bars from safe, nutritious whole food ingredients, and make our customer’s health and wellness our top priority. Unfortunately, many food manufacturers claim to be “All Natural” and “Healthy”, while loading their products with sugar and chemicals. Knowing the difference can make a big impact on the overall well being of you and your family.
Shakes and Bars: Why Do People Use Them?
Shakes and bars are often the go-to methods for receiving an extra boost of nutritional ingredients. They’re both convenient, easy to consume, and if made well, are a treat to eat. Children can be picky eaters, but most kids love a good smoothie or snack bar. Bars can sometimes be easier to throw in a lunch box or purse before heading out the door, and it’s for this reason that a lot of consumers make this their first choice. But is convenience compromising the reason for buying the bars in the first place?
Unfortunately, many so called “nutrition bars” are full of sugar and synthetic ingredients, and in some instances, have more calories and fat than a candy bar.
Sacrificing Nutrition for Texture
One big problem with bars is that in order to get the desired texture and consistency of flavor required, sacrifices must be made. A bar needs extra carbohydrates and fats to achieve the right kind of structure.
Also, bars that add in extra protein may need to make up for a lack of flavor by dumping in extra sugar and fat to give them a more pleasant taste.
Concerns with Mislabeling
Consumer Lab has conducted a test of nutrition bars and discovered that while most bars are labeled correctly there are a few that are completely off the mark.
Their report states that “one bar contained 25% more fat and more than double the cholesterol listed, while another contained 30% more cholesterol than listed.” The same report also concluded “a top ingredient in some bars is sugar alcohol, which can cause gas and bloating. Unfortunately, many bars don’t tell you exactly how much sugar alcohol they contain.”
Synthetic Vitamins vs. Whole Foods
Many of the vitamins found in nutrition bars are synthetically produced and don’t come from natural food sources. This could affect the proper absorption of nutrients that your body needs to function.
One troubling ingredient commonly found in nutrition food is isolated soy protein. It’s often found in the ingredients lists of everything from cereal to veggie burgers. While fermented soy products like tofu may be considered nutritious, isolated proteins are stripped of their fiber, fat and vitamins. What’s left is a product that has been known to cause allergies, thyroid conditions and other illnesses. Over processed foods with synthetic ingredients are undesirable, especially when they’re marketed as something that is meant to improve your health.
People may think they are getting the recommended daily allowance of a certain vitamin, and not realize that their body might be struggling to metabolize it.
Are You Considering Supplementing Your Nutrition with Nourishments Shakes or Nutrition Bars?
The ingredients in Levana Nourishments products are derived from natural whole foods. The recipes developed by famed kosher chef Levana Kirschenbaum were initially created to help aid the recovery of her husband during his cancer treatments. Therefore, the blend of nutrients inside each bag of Nourishments powder is designed with health and wellness in mind.
All Levana products are certified all-natural, certified non-GMO, Gluten-Free, Soy-Free, Dairy-Free, Nut-Free, have no added sugar, kosher, vegan and free of any isolates, emulsifiers or unnatural ingredients. If you’re looking for a convenient and delicious way to create a more balanced diet for your family, try Levana today.
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