One of the nice things about blogging is occasionally having the opportunity to review some samples. Even nicer were those very helpful people at New Balance Foods sending me this lovely box. Talk about "Hello Gorgeous"!
New Balance Foods - which covers Trek and nakd whole-foods - are not new on the scene but these Trek bars are new additions to their range. I was particularly interested in these new Trek bars but I wanted to get some feedback from some of my unsuspecting friends; it's always nice to get a second opinion. So I put a message out amongst my Facebook friends locally, asking if anyone wants to try these out. Straight away I had a message flash back from Christine and Ademola - and the deal was done. They liked them in saying....
"I was worried about the sugar content: 14g per 100g chocolate and 18.8g for the morning berry bar! Saying that, the sugars probably derive from the cane sugar and apple juice as well as natural flavourings. Surprisingly though, it didn’t taste gooey sweet as I had expected. The sweetness is mild and the bars very filling and satisfying for a while. Very nice."
I take that as a seal of approval. For myself I know these bars are very filling having scoffed them at work, while slaving over a hot keyboard all morning churning out my cool reports. I don't feel at all guilty having this kind of snack and besides, they're really filling and healthy so I don't feel hungry for long. If there was an "area for improvement" I would be trying to make them look a little nicer but that's a tricky thing to do without changing the successful blend of ingredients: I should say this is me being very picky!
Trek flapjacks have always been good and they're vegan friendly too. I've blogged about their impressive Ethiscore which to me makes a difference in knowing their isn't a trail of horrible practices that have been followed in bringing me a simple snack.
New flavours
Very recently Trek have introduced six new flavours and I'm looking forward to working my way through each of these - they're available from Holland & Barrett and other health food stores. These new flavours are Oat Raisin, Banana Bread, Original Oat, Cocoa Oat and Morning Berry.
These all contain gluten free oats, less fat and sugar and a very significant 20% more protein in each bar - this works out at around 9-10g per bar.
Are they any good for Runners and Cyclists?
Yes they are! These are compact foods that are easy to carry and can be easily eaten and give a good energy boost which seems to last. Best of all, in my view, is they have such a good mixture of ingredients in them - we all know that good diets contain a wide variety of wholesome foods and this is mirrored in each flapjack.
There aren't any dodgy ingredients (fats, syrups etc) holding it all together. Instead the ingredients in the range are wholesome and honest, not excessively processed. Some of their competitors who might be cheaper, have all kinds of strange ingredients holding things together and end up tasting just like sticky cardboard. Even then I was falling into the trap of thinking of Trek bars as being expensive - they may cost more than some of the very inferior supermarket brands but quite simply you get what you pay for. Perhaps I'm being too polite when I refer to some "inferior" supermarket versions: maybe I should be talking about the utter garbage and junk around that pretends to be wholesome food. I have no worries about Trek and can eat these with confidence.
Insofar as marathon running and other endurance events, you cannot under estimate the benefits of good quality foods. Sure you can get Calories from eating junk but having good quality proteins, carbs and antioxidants make a difference in keeping you healthy. Endurance events aren't just about carb loading; staying healthy can sometimes be a challenge through training as our immunity can weaken when we push ourselves to the limit.
There aren't any dodgy ingredients (fats, syrups etc) holding it all together. Instead the ingredients in the range are wholesome and honest, not excessively processed. Some of their competitors who might be cheaper, have all kinds of strange ingredients holding things together and end up tasting just like sticky cardboard. Even then I was falling into the trap of thinking of Trek bars as being expensive - they may cost more than some of the very inferior supermarket brands but quite simply you get what you pay for. Perhaps I'm being too polite when I refer to some "inferior" supermarket versions: maybe I should be talking about the utter garbage and junk around that pretends to be wholesome food. I have no worries about Trek and can eat these with confidence.
Insofar as marathon running and other endurance events, you cannot under estimate the benefits of good quality foods. Sure you can get Calories from eating junk but having good quality proteins, carbs and antioxidants make a difference in keeping you healthy. Endurance events aren't just about carb loading; staying healthy can sometimes be a challenge through training as our immunity can weaken when we push ourselves to the limit.
Price, availability
The Trek bars are available from Holland & Barrett, health food shops and Asda (Hmmmm) for £0.89 each.
The Nakd cost £0.75 each but you can get multipacks as well. Buy carefully and you can save some money on these top quality snacks.
Alternatively you can buy these direct from Natural Balance Foods or my Amazon link (top, right hand column). Why not give these a go?
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