Chemical crap, nothing more. If consume these on a regular basis, guaranteed health problems in the future.
So that what you are actually ingesting in these "food" bars may be more meaningful to you, look up the highlighted ingredients for yourself. Search out better protein/food/energy bars like this one, or this one, etc.
This is an interesting subject which has yet to mention trading and blood pressure (the silent killer). Obviously, trading is stressful and unless your body is healthy your response to stress will be high blood pressure. I am curious who has monitored their blood pressure during trades. I have been trading 7 years and had previously checked my blood pressure whilst doing something other than trading, ie resting comfortably. I always had ¨normal¨ranged BP 120-80, that is until I went for a physical and was diagnosed with ¨white coat syndrome¨this syndrome only occurs in a Doctors office our when under stress and manifests itself as high BP, above 140-90. Now, although I am not a fitness freak I do eat well and exercise on a infrequent basis, such as the odd game of squash, gym work and throwing my two year old around. This obviously was not enough and I started to look at my lifestyle closely and the first thing I looked at was my drinking habit. Although I did not consider myself an alcoholic, I have on occasion, consumed enough to give myself a headache. I was not drinking everyday, mainly on a weekend or weekday special social event, but I noticed I was sluggish on a Monday morning. This was a condition which hindered my Monday morning performance so I researched booze and BP as a first step, well, what I found was enlightening to say the least! Read this link and open your eyes: http://www.jrussellshealth.com/alcbpt.html Since reading this I have not had a drink for three weeks and have stepped up my exercise to three times a week, just 30 mins a time. I have also been monitoring my BP under stress and already it has dropped in my third week during exercise. (BP always goes up during exercise depending on your physical condition) Obviously it has helped me and if anyone is in my situation you should consider trying it. Good health and successful trading to all.
Fructose is not easily digested. It has one of the lowest GI of any food. You are confusing it with dextrose and sucrose. However, most people cannot digest large amounts of fructose in absense of dextrose (fructose intolerance). Not all complex carbs are digested slowly (ex: white potatoes and white rice have high GI). If you haven't memorized the GI table, the best way to estimate whether something is digested slowly or not is to look at the fiber content: more fiber = slower digestion. Another way to achieve the same effect is to eat small amounts slowly. For the past hour I've been sipping a glass of whey+dextrose. Same effect as eating oatmeal
Relating to timing, the only fuel the brain recognizes in normal life is glucose, or sugar. The first thing that happens to a glucose molecule when it enters a cell is that is turned into a fructose molecule. Relating to efficiency- first thing in the morning, when you have little energy available, the last thing you want to be doing is consuming a solid slow release carbohydrate-it will take hours for the energy to kick in, so you will feel lethargic. And more drained than you were initially. If you havenât already-Try it for a week. First thing in the morning, before you go in the shower, have a glass of fruit juice or a piece of fruit, go and get showered and half an hour or so later have breakfast. You wonât need caffeine; the alertness will come from the energy being supplied to meet demand. Fruit is also very efficient for replacing liver glycogen after exercise. There are an abundance of enzymes for it.