New Powerbar -yuk

[mcmaster]

Powerbars have revamped thier original Powerbars and the new bars have much more salt and simple sugars. Powerbar's new owners (Nestle) claim that research shows that the additional salt and the new mix of simple sugars are better.

My experience last weekend was that:

-Chocolate bar tasted horrible (salty and sugary)
-Took three different breaks to be able to eat it
- New bar 200mg Salt, 24g sugar. Old bar 18g sugar, much less salt.
-The new bars clearly state that they are new and part of a three step program.

...and I LOVE the older original bars.

your mileage may vary, but I suggest you pack someone else the first time you pack the new bars - as a food backup.

[JoeyS]

Try another brand. They even have energy bars for women now. I busted a man-caver eating one the other day. He was so embarassed.

[Cheryl Jones]

...they are part of a three step program.

.....To break the addiction of eating Powerbars in caves?? What are the other two steps??

Cheryl

[FiddleCaver]

...they are part of a three step program.

.....To break the addiction of eating Powerbars in caves?? What are the other two steps??

Cheryl

Snickers and Crunch

[cavescom]

Clif Bars are still my favorite albeit a slower more sustained release(lower glycemic index good for diabetics :) ) of energy http://www.clifbar.com/shop/clif.cfm?location=shop 2 new flavors Banana Nut Bread and Maple Nut plus my fave Oatmeal Raisin Walnut(can get at Walmart Pharmacy Dept. for .96 ea.) and of course my daily Clif Bar snack of Peanut Toffee Buzz with Green Tea taste good.......with a little touch of buzz.

Mark Passerby, Caves.com

[Jeff Bartlett]

yeah, Clif bars are really the way to go for me. i eat one every couple of hours when in a cave and it feels like i can go all day.

you don't get the spike (and subsequent crash) like you would with a candy bar, and most of the flavors have 10g of protein or more per bar. and they're a lot more natural than most of the energy products.

[Squirrel Girl]

Clif bars are a sponsor for my local mountain biking club. So I give 'em a plug for that. But for me, I think they're "yuck" too!

Luna bars are the way to go. I first heard about them from a man who said that even though they were marketed to women they tasted best, so he ate them anyway. Sure enough, I think they taste best, too. It depends on the flaver, tho. Chai is barfy. But most flavors are pretty good.

[potholer]

I don't recall ever getting a spike and crash after regular chocolate-based candy bars while caving. At most, the effects are usually just some hit above normal and then a gentle decline back to normal, and that goes for when I was young and skinny, as well as now when I'm neither of those things.

[NZcaver]

Clif Bars used to be my favorite too... until I discovered the Odwalla Bar. Yum!

[Wayne Harrison]

I don't recall ever getting a spike and crash after regular chocolate-based candy bars while caving. At most, the effects are usually just some hit above normal and then a gentle decline back to normal, and that goes for when I was young and skinny, as well as now when I'm neither of those things.

But you have better chocolate over there in the UK.

And actually, I wonder if there's any difference in spike effect between crappy milk chocolate and really rich dark chocolate.

[potholer]

>>"But you have better chocolate over there in the UK. "

possibly, but from a dietary viewpoint, regular candy bars here (Snickers, Mars, etc) are still basically various forms of sugar and fat, with maybe a few added nuts.

When actually moving flat-out (even at cruising speed on rope or in crawls, etc), how different is the rate of sugar-burning compared to the absorption rate from the gut?
A rough calculation from energy terms would give a 100m height gain for a caver loaded to 80kg meaning a ~20kCal (80kJ) gain of potential energy, but that has to be corrected for the efficiency of muscles (~20-40%) and other inefficiencies of rope climbing, plus it's an *extra* consumption on top of the background level.
If we take a figure of maybe needing an extra 100kCal, to allow for the inefficiencies, that's a fair slice of the sugar energy in a candy bar. IIRC, a regular ~66g bar (Mars, etc) is typically ~300kCal, but a sizeable fraction of that is fat, so there's maybe only 150kCal of sugar energy there in total.

100m of climbing might be 15-20mins, and I wouldn't have thought a bar would be digested much faster than that.
I'm sure there are various other complexities that could be happening in the liver, and there could be real variation between people, but the ballpark figures would seem to tie up with sugar hits not necessarily being a big problem if actually exercising towards the high end.

[Dwight Livingston]

Clif Bars used to be my favorite too... until I discovered the Odwalla Bar. Yum!

Yeah, I had them for first time recently, and they are good. Banana Nut, anyway. Only $3.99 for a box of six at http://www.revolutionhealthstore.com.

Dwight

[Squirrel Girl]

And actually, I wonder if there's any difference in spike effect between crappy milk chocolate and really rich dark chocolate.

AHEM!!!! I prefer milk chocolate to that bitter dark stuff. And now, the dark stuff gives me migraines. It's a pain the butt, too. I have to watch out for all sorts of things. Can't eat chocolate chip cookies, York peppermint patties. Nuttin' with dark or semisweet chocolate. And not red wine either. What's life worth living????

[caverdoc]

I've been using Gu gel packs lately. I have to pack them a little more carefully to avoid bursting the foil packets but it is worthwhile. I chase them with about 4 ounces of water and I'm good to go for a couple hours.

Dr J

[Squirrel Girl]

I've been using Gu gel packs lately. I have to pack them a little more carefully to avoid bursting the foil packets but it is worthwhile. I chase them with about 4 ounces of water and I'm good to go for a couple hours.

Dr J

Omigod. Talk about YUCK! When I'm desperate... Otherwise, gag me with a spoon!

Someone once recommended the chocolate cuz it tasted like chocolate frosting. Fine. I'll bring chocolate frosting as a chaser for a salt pill.