Muscle Sandwich: The Ultimate Protein Bar Treat

The Muscle Sandwich protein bar by Muscle Foods is a delicious National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-compliant and legal protein bar ideal for those who burn or require large amounts of calories per day. This includes athletes, students, hardgainers and those on mass-gain diets. In addition to being NCAA-compliant, Muscle Sandwich includes high-quality ingredients, tastes great, and is an excellent value.

Muscle Sandwich and High-Quality Ingredients

let's examine the nutritional profile for the Original Muscle Sandwich protein bar:

Based on this nutritional profile, it's not a low calorie or low sugar bar. But it goes without saying, not everyone needs a "diet" protein bar.

It's important to note that the Muscle Sandwich protein bar is low in both cholesterol (5mg) and sodium (140mg). The American Heart Association recommends a diet low in cholesterol and sodium to decrease your risk of heart disease and stroke. ^[1]

This bar also contains 5 grams of saturated fat; saturated fat is crucial for maintaining normal hormonal function. In fact, increased saturated fat intake can decrease very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) cholesterol (a.k.a. bad cholesterol), fasting triglycerides, inflammation, and even mortality rates. ^[2][3][4]

The Importance of Essential Fatty Acids

One of the primary ingredients in the Muscle Sandwich protein bar is 100% real peanut butter. Peanuts are an excellent source of healthy fats like Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs). EFAs, part of the polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) family, cannot be synthesized by the human body so they must be consumed via food or supplements.

Muscle Sandwich protein bar is great for collegiate athletes wanting to perform at the highest possible level.

EFAs are anti-inflammatory fats that play a major role in normal growth, development, and brain function. According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, EFAs "help stimulate skin and hair growth, maintain bone health, regulate metabolism, and maintain the reproductive system." ^[5]

The inclusion of EFAs in the diet is especially crucial for active individuals who regularly place their bodies under intense physical stress. Peanuts contain 4.4 grams of EFAs per 28 gram serving, making them 15.7% EFA by weight and 31.65% EFA by fat content per serving. ^[6]

In addition to the EFA content, peanuts are also naturally an excellent source of B-vitamins. One 28 gram serving provides you with 99% daily value (DV) of Niacin, 53% DV of Folate, 43% DV of Thiamin, 20% DV of Pantothenic Acid, 16% DV of B6, and 8% DV of Riboflavin.

Whey Protein Isolate: A Complete Protein Source

Whey protein isolate is another beneficial ingredient found in the Muscle Sandwich protein bar. Whey protein isolate is a complete protein source with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic and immunoprotective benefits. ^[7]

Depending on your fitness goals, whey protein consumption can help you to increase lean mass, decrease fat mass and increase strength. ^[8] If you're more interested in improve key health indicators, whey protein consumption has been tied to decreased LDL and total cholesterol, and decreased fasting insulin levels. ^[9]

Clearly, whey protein isolate is a super-ingredient!

The presence of peanuts, wheat, and whey protein isolate contribute to the 13 grams of complete protein per bar. You may be wondering why I included wheat as a protein source; wheat is a complementary protein source for peanuts.

Incomplete protein sources lack key amino acids, but when wheat and peanuts are combined a complete protein is formed. ^[10] This means your body can more easily absorb and assimilate the protein from both sources.

The Muscle Sandwich: Moving Beyond Nutrition

The Muscle Sandwich is NCAA-Compliant

The Muscle Sandwich protein bar is NCAA-legal. For a product to be NCAA-legal it must not contain any of the following classes of drugs: ^[11]

• Stimulants
• Anabolic Agents
• Alcohol and Beta Blockers (banned for rifle only)
• Diuretics and Other Masking Agents
• Street Drugs
• Peptide Hormones and Analogues
• Anti-estrogens
• Beta-2 Agonists
• Any substance chemically related to these aforementioned classes

It is also NCAA compliant. For protein products, the NCAA rule is:

Not more than 30% of calories from protein. Do not contain caffeine, green tea, amino acids or any other impermissible ingredient.

The Muscle Sandwich protein bar is great for collegiate athletes wanting to perform at the highest possible level without sacrificing their integrity. In an industry where supplement producers add illicit and banned substances to their products without notifying the consumer, it's refreshing to see a company like Muscle Foods staying truthful and transparent in its product offering.

Taste & Value

After having tried all three varieties of Muscle Sandwich - Original, Vanilla, and Honey Banana, I can confidently say that this is one of, if not the best-tasting protein bar on the market. Reviews across social media, video reviews word-of-mouth, and website forums unanimously agree that a protein bar shouldn?t taste this good. Consumers aren?t able to believe Muscle Foods made a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar, but they did!

The reviews and ratings speak for themselves - when this article was written, Muscle Sandwich has 4.5+ star overall reviews on popular online fitness retailers such as Tiger Fitness.

Eat a Muscle Sandwich when you?re looking to obtain extra energy, enhance recovery, build muscle, perform at your maximum potential.

When Should I Eat a Muscle Sandwich Protein Bar?

Now that we've discussed some of the benefits of Muscle Sandwich you might be asking yourself, "When should I eat a muscle sandwich protein bar?" Well here's the answer, there is really no bad time to unwrap and chow down.

Feel free to consume this bar upon waking, as a midday snack, pre-workout, post-workout and before bed. Now I wouldn't recommend consuming solid food intra-workout, but other than that time period, consume a Muscle Sandwich when you're looking to obtain extra energy, enhance recovery, build muscle, perform at your maximum potential.

BONUS - Sample Meal Plan for Athletic Performance or Muscle Building

For your convenience I've included a 3,500 calorie meal plan that incorporates your favorite Muscle Sandwich protein bar flavor.

• 8:00am - Fish Oil, Multivitamin, Vitamin D, Coffee - <5 calories
• 8:30am - 5 large eggs, 2 cups cooked oatmeal, 1 cup fresh blueberries - 740 calories
• 10:30am - 2 whole wheat English muffins, 3 tablespoons peanut butter - 550 calories
• 1:00pm - 1 cup chopped and cooked chicken breast, 1 ounces of almonds, 2 ounces feta cheese, 2 cups boiled and drained spinach, 1 large apple - 735 calories
• 4:30pm - 1 Muscle Sandwich protein bar, 1 banana - 410 calories
• 5:30-7:00pm - Workout of Choice
• 7:00pm - 9 ounce sweet potato, 1 tablespoon butter, 20 asparagus spears, 5 ounces cooked sirloin steak - 705 calories
• 10:00pm - 1 scoop casein protein powder, 1.5 cup whole milk - 360 calories
• 11:00pm - Sleep

Nutrition: 3,500 calories, 335g carbs, 148g fat, 207g protein, 62g fiber

Notes: Substitutions can be made based on your goal(s) and dietary restrictions.

References

1) "AHA Dietary Guidelines." Circulation. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2015.
2) "Dietary Intake of Saturated Fatty Acids and Mortality from Cardiova... - PubMed - NCBI." National Center for Biotechnology Information. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2015.
3) "Dietary Saturated Fatty Acids Reverse Inflammatory and Fibrotic Cha... - PubMed - NCBI." National Center for Biotechnology Information. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2015.
4) "Dietary Carbohydrate Modifies the Inverse Association Between Saturated Fat Intake and Cholesterol on Very Low-Density Lipoproteins." National Center for Biotechnology Information. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2015.
5) "Omega-6 Fatty Acids." University of Maryland Medical Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2015.
6) "Nutrition Facts and Analysis for Peanuts, All Types, Dry-roasted, Without Salt."Nutrition Facts, Calories in Food, Labels, Nutritional Information and Analysis ? NutritionData.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2015.
7) "Anti-inflammatory Potential of a Malleable Matrix Composed of Fermented Whey Proteins and Lactic Acid Bacteria in an Atopic Dermatitis Model." National Center for Biotechnology Information. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2015.
8) "The Effect of Whey Isolate and Resistance Training on Strength, Bod... - PubMed - NCBI." National Center for Biotechnology Information. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2015.
9) "Effects of Whey Protein Isolate on Body Composition, Lipids, Insuli... - PubMed - NCBI." National Center for Biotechnology Information. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2015.
10) "Complementary Protein." Biology at Clermont College - University of Cincinnati. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2015.
11) "2014-15 NCAA Banned Drugs." NCAA Home Page - NCAA.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2015.