Nutiva Product Review
One of the fun things about blogging is that, occasionally, you are asked to review a product. Recently, we received a package from Nutiva. The package contained a variety of goodies. There was a jar of coconut oil, hemp oil, a bag of hempseed, a package of hemp protein, three HempShakes (Berry Pomegranate, Amazon Acai, and Chocolate), and a hempseed bar.
The first things we tried were the oils. Personally, I don't care for the taste of coconut oil over olive oil, but the authors of Skinny Bitch
The next thing we tried was the hemp bar. If you don't eat honey, this isn't vegan! If you do... well, this reminded us of what most people assume you eat as a vegan - bird food. It's funny because we liked adding the hemp seeds to our salad, kind of like sunflower seeds, but the bar didn't work at all.
Next we tried two of the hemp shakes. Jane wanted to try the chocolate, and I chose the amazon acai. The instructions suggest adding fruit, so we used frozen raspberries, which made for a nice thick shake. However, neither Jane nor I cared for either of the two. But don't take our word for it, this product won best new supplement at the 2006 natural product expo, according to Nutiva.
I've been using the protein powder in my morning smoothies. I really enjoy the taste. Out of all Nutiva's products, the protein powder is by far and away the best, in my opinion, and I would absolutely have that again.
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10 comments
Annie Anderson on Sunday, August 24, 2008 at
Hi! Just wanted to share my thoughts on the Nutiva products which I tried about a month or so ago.
The bars were ok and I liked them but they’re not something I would go out of my way to eat or purchase. Same with the Chocolate smoothie mix. I did, however, like the Acai flavor.
I attempted to make hemp milk out of seeds and it wasn’t bad, but I have since the Living Harvest and Manitoba Harvest hemp milk products and they are definitely better.
I just realized I still have the protein powder . . . guess what I’ll be having for breakfast tomorrow?
~ Annie
Maija Haavisto on Sunday, August 24, 2008 at
Sounds interesting. I ate a great hemp bar when I was in the Netherlands. My expectations weren’t too high, but it was delicious, even my very picky boyfriend liked it.
If you don’t know what to do with the coconut oil, it’s great for beauty stuff. One of the best shampoos I ever tried was mostly just coconut oil. Many people use it as a conditioner. I’m sure you can Google up some creative ways to pamper yourself with it. It also has antiviral, antibacterial and antifungal properties.
I wonder if the company would want me review their hemp products for the large online magazine I work for (one of the topics I write about is healthy food/vegan eating)…
Preston on Monday, August 25, 2008 at
Thanks for this honest review, Lane. I think I was pointed to your site from Kathy Maister’s startcooking blog, and I’ve really appreciated your posts. Keep up the good work!
Anne on Monday, August 25, 2008 at
OMG I tried their chocolate hempshakes and they were awful! It wouldn’t dissolve at all, even with a blender, and the taste… ugh.
Lane on Monday, August 25, 2008 at
Hi Annie,
Thanks for sharing. We always like to get other opinions as taste is so subjective.
We only had the hemp bar, so I can’t talk about the others. I believe they are currently offering three varieties.
Neither Jane nor I care for hemp milk in general, so we wouldn’t be making milk from the seeds, but they are a nice addition to salad.
Hi Maija,
Thanks for the tip on uses for coconut oil. Jane is googling ideas as we speak.
As for product reviews… Nutiva solicited us. You may want to contact them directly and offer your services. (Good luck.)
Hi Preston,
Thanks for the kind words.
As for our reviews… we strive to be objective. Obviously, taste is subjective, and our reviews reflect our taste.
Hi Anne,
We didn’t have a problem with the powder dissolving, and our shakes looked pretty good. We just didn’t care for the taste of this product.
BChafes on Wednesday, August 27, 2008 at
I like their hemp oil on corn on the cob, in place of a butter substitute. Delish!
Thanks for the reviews — good to know!
Lane on Thursday, August 28, 2008 at
Hi BChafes,
Hmm, that sounds interesting. We’ll have to try it next time we pick up some corn.
Mike on Wednesday, September 3, 2008 at
I use coconut oil for everything. It’s healthy and tastes great.
Check out http://www.coconutresearchcenter.com
Foodeater on Friday, September 5, 2008 at
Today I tried the hemp shake, the berry flavored one. I made it with unflavored hemp milk, a banana and a handful of strawberries. It was actually pretty good. I usually find most protein supplements, especially the vegan ones, to taste nasty. I didn’t exactly love it, but it wasn’t unpleasant and at least I was able to get all of it down, unlike a really gross one I recently tried made from rice.
Lane on Saturday, September 6, 2008 at
Hi Mike,
There is still a great deal of controversy surrounding coconut oil. See this site. Since there is no definitive answer yet, I prefer to err on the side of caution and keep my consumption of coconut oil low.
Hi Foodeater,
That’s pretty much how we felt. We were able to get it down, but it wasn’t wonderful.