FitSugar

Free Sample Alert: Bear Naked Grain-ola Bars

FitSugar — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 08:00:00 -0700

Bear Naked is one of my favorite natural food companies because its products are not only made with wholesome ingredients, but they're all so boldly flavorful and delicious. If you've never tried any of Bear Naked's foods, now's your chance, and you won't even have to spend a dime.

While supplies last, Bear Naked is offering free samples of its Grain-ola bars and cereals. Just choose the sample you want, fill in your info, and get excited for your free sample to arrive in the mail within four to six weeks.

Food Review: Bear Naked Chocolaty Cherry Granola Bar

FitSugar — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 03:00:22 -0700

Granola bars make great pre and post-workout snacks, so I always keep some in my gym bag to nosh on. Since variety is the spice of life, I like to try out news ones, and recently sampled some Bear Naked Grain-ola Bars.

Each bar is made with 15 to 17 grams of whole grains, with no hydrogenated oils, high fructose corn syrup, or preservatives. To find out what I thought of the Chocolaty Cherry flavor, keep reading

Food Review: Bear Naked Cereals

FitSugar — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 08:00:00 -0700

Bear Naked Fit Granola is a staple in my house, along with other cereals, since I like to mix cereals to reap the nutritional benefits of them all. So when I heard this company was making two new varieties of cereal - Banana Nut and Cranberry Raisin- I had to try them.

To find out what I thought and see how much fiber each serving contains read more.

Both flavors have satisfyingly thick flakes made from wheat and rice that taste hearty with a hint of sweetness. You see those little oat clusters? They add a nice crunchy texture that compliments the soft dried fruit. The Banana Nut cereal contains tons of sweetened banana chips, dried apples, and walnuts. The Cranberry Raisin cereal is full of raisins, sunflower seeds, cranberries, pepitas, and also has dried apples.

I can't really say which is my favorite, since they're both so full of bold flavor and texture. I was surprised that they both have eight grams or less of sugar per serving because the flakes taste so very sweet. I love how this cereal is high in fiber and protein, but low in calories and sodium. It's set to hit stores in mid to late June, so definitely look for it. Each 12.5 ounce bag costs $4.49. Since the ingredients are 100 percent natural, and the taste is 100 percent delicious, it's definitely worth it.

	3/4 cup Banana Nut	3/4 cup Cranberry Raisin
Calories	220	210
Total Fat	5 g	4.5 g
Saturated Fat	2.5 g	1 g
Cholesterol	0 mg	0 mg
Sodium	210 mg	140 mg
Carbs	43 g	41 g
Fiber	7 g	4 g
Sugar	13 g	15 g
Protein	5 g	5 g

Food Review: New Bear Naked Native Granola

FitSugar — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 12:00:00 -0700

I'm a huge fan of Bear Naked products so I'm excited that they just came out with a new line of granola known as Native. They're all about unique flavors and ingredients from exotic lands. So far they have two different flavors: Yumberry Goji Currant and Mango Agave Almond. I couldn't decide which one to try so I picked up a bag of both.

To find out how they tasted read more.

Talk about massive amounts of flavor! I think these granolas are Bear Naked's best yet. I love the unique flavor of the agave nectar in the Mango Agave Almond and the dried goji berries in the Yumberry Goji Currant. Not only do both granolas have a robust flavor, but they're also low in saturated fat, sugar, and sodium, and they have a good amount of fiber and protein, too. Both flavors are delicious, but I liked the Mango Agave Almond best because of the agave-coated almonds, and the fact that mangos are one of my favorite fruits. I will most definitely buy this Native Granola again, and I highly recommend it to granola lovers. Check out the nutritional information below and know that I think a quarter cup serving is small, too, but that is the serving size for most granolas.

	1/4 cup Yumberry Goji Currant	1/4 cup Mango Agave Almond
Calories	130	140
Total Fat	4 g	5 g
Saturated Fat	1 g	1 g
Cholesterol	0 mg	0 mg
Sodium	10 mg	25 mg
Carbs	19 g	18 g
Fiber	3 g	3 g
Sugar	6 g	6 g
Protein	3 g	3 g

Granola Breakdown

FitSugar — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 08:00:00 -0700

You know how I feel about breakfast. It really is the most important meal of the day because it jump starts your metabolism and feeds your brain so you're more productive during the day. It helps people maintain their weight and eating breakfast gives you energy to exercise later in the day. Breakfast eaters are also more likely to consume their daily amount of fiber since so many morning foods are full of whole grains, like cereals and bread.

Granola is one of my favorite breakfast foods, but some can be high in fat or sugar. To see how some popular granolas compare, read more.

This is the nutritional info for 1/4 cup of granola.

Granola	Calories	Total Fat (g)	Carbs (g)	Fiber (g)	Sugars (g)	Protein (g)
Bear Naked Peanut Butter	140	6	17	3	4	4
Bear Naked Fruit and Nut	140	7	18	3	5	3
Bear Naked Peak Protein	140	7	16	2	6	5
Bear Naked Heavenly Chocolate	130	3.5	19	3	6	3
Bear Naked Banana Nut	140	7	18	2	5	3
Bear Naked Apple Cinnamon	140	5	17	3	7	2
Bear Naked Fit Vanilla Almond Crunch	110	3	18	2	3	4
Bear Naked Fit Triple Berry Crunch	110	1.5	20	3	3	4
Cascadian Farm Cinnamon Raisin	79	1.1	16	1.1	6	1.9
Cascadian Farm Maple Brown Sugar	83	1.9	16	1.1	5.3	1.9
Cascadian Farm Oats & Honey	87	2.3	16	1.1	4.9	1.9
Kashi Cocoa Beach	115	4.5	16.5	3	5.5	3
Kashi Mountain Medley	110	3.5	18.5	3	6	3
Kashi Orchard Spice	110	3.5	18.5	3	5.5	3
Kashi Summer Berry	105	3	18.5	3	4.5	3
Kellogg's Low Fat Granola with Raisins	87	1.5	18.6	1.5	6.8	1.5
Kellogg's Low Fat Granola without Raisins	72	.95	15	1.5	5.3	1.5

Fit's Tips: When comparing granola on your own, check the serving sizes. Although the info above is based on 1/4 cup servings, serving sizes tend to range from 1/4 cup to 1 cup. So you may think a granola is low in calories, but the serving size may be small.

Food Review: Bear Naked Fit Granola

FitSugar — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 14:30:00 -0700

I'm a huge fan of yogurt and granola, and this new Bear Naked Granola has the word "fit" in the name, so I was curious to try some.

I am guessing this granola is "fit" because it's low in fat. But how does it taste and compare to regular Bear Naked Granola? To find out read more.

Serving Size = 1/4 cup	Bear Naked Fit Vanilla Almond Crunch	Bear Naked Fit Triple Berry Crunch	Bear Naked Fruit and Nut	Bear Naked Peanut Butter
Calories	120	120	140	140
Total Fat	2.5g	2g	7g	6g
Saturated Fat	0g	0g	1.5g	1g
Cholesterol	0mg	0mg	0mg	0mg
Sodium	10mg	15mg	0mg	15mg
Carbs	22g	23g	18g	17g
Fiber	2g	3g	2g	3g
Sugars	4g	4g	6g	4g
Protein	4g	4g	3g	4g

As you can see, the Bear Naked Fit Granola has fewer calories, less fat, and slightly less sugar. It contains slightly more carbs though. All in all, there isn't a huge difference between the two, and they're both healthy because they're made with whole oats, ground flax seed, and brown rice syrup (instead of white sugar). Personally I prefer the Fit granola because it was really flavorful and lighter tasting. I was really impressed with the amount of whole almonds, raspberries, strawberries, and blueberries - this granola definitely doesn't skimp out. I would definitely recommend trying both flavors because they were equally as tasty.

Food Review: Bear Naked Trail Mix – Pacific Crest

FitSugar — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 07:30:00 -0800

Looking for a quick snack before or after a workout? Trail mix has always been one of my favorites, and now Bear Naked (the company who makes that delicious granola) is making really unique variations of trail mix made with all natural dried fruits and nuts. There's no sugar or salt added, which is a plus. I picked up a bag of their Pacific Crest flavor. It's a little pricey (about $4 a bag), but totally worth it in my opinion (especially since I found it on sale for $2.50). Want to know what's in it? Then read more

This snack is my new best friend and you can see why. There was no skimping when it came to making this trail mix. There are tons of whole cashews, huge pieces of dried mango (my weakness), monster-sized raisins, pistachios, and sunflower seeds. All delicious. All organic. All good for you.

Serving Size	1/4 cup
Calories	140
Total Fat	8g
Saturated Fat	1g
Cholesterol	0mg
Sodium	10mg
Carbs	14g
Fiber	2g
Sugar	8g
Protein	4g

This is one healthy snack. It's low in calories, high in protein, has a good amount of fiber (for such a small serving size), and is low in saturated fat and sodium. You may not be happy with seeing 8g of total fat, but remember that nuts contain healthy fats (monounsaturated fats) your body needs. Eating fats like these can actually help to lower your LDL (bad) cholesterol and maintain HDL (good) cholesterol. Now I can't wait to try the other trail mix flavors.

Crunch Without the Salt

FitSugar — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 08:43:00 -0800

With high blood pressure in my family, I try to avoid foods that contain high amounts of sodium. But it's tough to find pre-packaged crunchy snacks that fit that bill.

The people over at Bear Naked, the same ones who make that amazing all natural granola have salt-free snackers in mind.

Check out their Organic Trail Mix (it's so new - it's not even on their website yet). The packaging is clear so you can see the almonds, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, whole cashews, raisins, dried cranberries, and dark chocolate chips - all ingredients prefaced with the word "organic."

On the back, they list each ingredient separately and explain why they chose them.

Cashews contain 75% unsaturated fat so even though they're shaped like a kidney, they're good for your heart.
Pumpkin seeds provide high levels of phytosterols, which are believed to lower cholesterol.
Dried Cranberries are vibrant in both taste and antioxidant activity.

So snack away, knowing you're giving your body a healthy energy boost, with zero sodium.

Get "Bear" Naked

FitSugar — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 08:30:00 -0800

Bear Naked Granola, that is. It's made with whole grains, and contains no trans fat, no refined sugars, no cholesterol, and no high fructose corn syrup.

It's made with all-natural, barely processed and utterly naked ingredients, that you can actually pronounce.

It's made in small batches, so it has that soft-baked texture. It's been voted "Best-Tasting Granola in the Country," by Organic Style Magazine.

You can eat it naked right out of the bag, as a topping on yogurt and fruit, splashed with milk, or baked in your favorite recipes.

Fit's Tip: For a warm winter treat, pop a bowl of granola and milk in the microwave and heat it up.

Food Review: Cascadian Farm Fiber Right Bars

FitSugar — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:00:02 -0800

Women need between 25 and 30 grams of fiber a day, and sometimes meals alone won't bring you to your daily quota. I'm always looking for quick snacks that are high in fiber, and when I came across these new Cascadian Farm Fiber Right Bars ($4) at the store, they looked like a tasty way to help me reach my goal.

To find out how these Almond Butter Crunchy Granola Bars taste and see how many calories are in one serving continue reading