Product Review: Raw Revolution Organic Live Food Bars

Product Review: Raw Revolution Organic Live Food Bars {Gluten-Free + Vegan + Kosher}

Over the last few months I've been conscientiously trying out raw foods--including homemade Watermelon-Tomato Gazpacho and raw zucchini pasta, but also purchasable raw fare like GO RAW's Carrot Cake Cookies and Sprouted Sunflower Seeds.  What I hadn't yet found and was looking for as a pre- or post- gym snack was a RAW food bar that appeared (to me) both nutritious and yummy.  

Photo from rawrev.com

Then, I found Raw Revolution's Organic Live Food Bars.  Gluten-Free, Vegan, Kosher, Organic, and Peanut-Free (for those of you with peanut allergies!) these bars come in a range of amazing flavor varieties including:

• Golden Cashew Organic Live Food Bar
• Heavenly Hazelnut Chocolate Organic Live Food Bar (my favorite!)
• Spirulina Dream Organic Live Food Bar
• Almond Butter Cup Organic Live Food Bar
• Apple Cinnamon Organic Live Food Bar
• Cherry Chocolate Chunk Organic Live Food Bar
• Chocolate Coconut Bliss

My foray into Raw Revolution's Organic Live Food Bars involved munching down on their Golden Cashew, Heavenly Hazelnut Chocolate, and Spirulina Dream Bars and I enjoyed them all!  

I have no doubt that the other flavors on offer as as good as the ones I've tried.  I'm a chocolate lover (I know I'm not alone in this!) so the Cherry Chocolate Chunk and Chocolate Coconut  Bliss varieties are at the top of my list of things to try soon.  So, too, is the Apple Cinnamon variety which, now that the weather is cooling down, seems like a great Fall treat reminiscent of the iconic apple pie.

Nutritonal Information: Raw Revolution Organic Live Food Bar 

The Raw Revolution Organic Live Food Bars are about the standard size of any other food bar you can buy--raw or not--about 2 oz.  But, unlike  many of the food bars on offer they are USDA certified organic and contain no preservatives and no artificial ingredients (hurrah!).  Moreover, their packaging proudly boasts that they do not contain refined sugars or proteins.  

Using the Spirulina Dream variety as my sample for nutritional data, nutritionally, these bars pack Omegas 3 and 6 as well as 3 grams of fiber and 7 grams of protein (more or less depending on the variety of bar you choose).  Their caloric, fat, and carbohydrate levels are fairly high at: 230 calories, 14 grams of fat, and 23 grams of carbohydrates per bar.  

But, these little bars are meant to be fuel for athletes and people on the go who need this balance of carbs, calories, and fats to make their activities possible.  No wonder, then, that professional athletes Brian Lopes (professional Mountain Bike Racer) and J.P Walker (professional Snowboarder) endorse the product and appear prominently on Raw Revolution's website.  

I certainly felt no lag in energy and no uncomfortable tug of hunger when I snacked on these bars in the morning prior to heading to the gym to do my own workouts!

Product Review: GO RAW Carrot Cake Super Cookies (Raw + Vegan + GF)

Product Review: GO RAW Carrot Cake Super Cookies (Raw+ Vegan + Gluten Free)

If you were to plant the food you buy on a typical visit to the grocery store, would it grow?  I know the box of Pacific Naturals Organic Tomato Soup I picked up last week, wouldn't!  GO RAW promises that its product line of packaged raw foods is the only brand that will, literally, grow if you plant it!

GO RAW Carrot Cake Super Cookies

GO RAW's product line is amazingly versatile.  It is able to honor many different diets and dietary restrictions.  The GO RAW products are safe for the following diets:

• Gluten-Free diets
• Low-sugar diets
• Vegan and Vegetarian diets
• Raw Foods diets (of course)
• Kosher diets
• Nut-free diets
• Soy-free diets  

As a bonus, the entire line is also certified organic!

I was struck, when I read the brief set of educational materials the company provided me with at how committed GO RAW is to the purity of their products.  

They described the various stages of quality control the raw seeds and other ingredients pass through before being incorporated to make the final product you buy.  The seeds go through sorting, (entirely safe, organic certification-approved) x-raying, washing, and a custom-designed dehydrator to protect the integrity of their sprouted ingredient's life.  

GO RAW's commitment to the integrity and life of their ingredients is why they are able to guarantee, unlike other raw food producers, that their products will grow if you plant them!  That's pretty cool.  

GO RAW Products

GO RAW Products 

Over a series of posts I will be reviewing several GO RAW products, including:

• GO RAW Carrot Cake Super Cookies
• GO RAW Chocolate Granola
• GO RAW Sprouted Pumpkin Seeds

However, GO RAW's line of products is far more extensive, as you'll see on their website:  GO RAW.  

In addition to finding information about the entire product line, the website's home page displays video and audio that explain the steps involved in producing the products--beginning with finding locally sourced ingredients.  

GO RAW Carrot Cake Super Cookies Review

The first GO RAW product up for review are the Carrot Cake Super Cookies.  These cookies don't look like traditional cookies (see photo at top) and for those of you who are new raw eaters and not ready for that to be the case, the thin, wafer-like look might be an initial disappointment.  But, don't let that stop you from giving these GO RAW Carrot Cake Super Cookies a try.  

With a subtle sweetness from the carrots and a warming spiciness from the nutmeg, these cookies are actually very enjoyable.  Although I wish they had a bit more complexity in terms of the spices used--I think cinnamon would be a great addition, for example--I found the sweetness from the carrots and spice from the nutmeg to be nicely balanced. 

GO RAW Carrot Cake Super Cookies
Nutritional Information

Eating cookies for breakfast, I know, seems like a counter-intuitive practice for someone who is trying to eat raw and otherwise healthful.  But, a couple of these cookies eaten with my morning coffee is a real treat.  I don't miss other breakfast sweets--scones, donuts, muffins, or croissants--and I think the gentle bitterness of coffee (I drink mine with just a little bit of no-sugar-added almond milk) really brings out the complex sweet, nutmeg-y flavors of the cookies themselves.  This balance is no small feat to achieve, even in non-raw baking.

I find that snacking on only a few of these cookies gives me enough nutritional value and energy to get myself to the gym and back in the mornings, and I think they'd be a great mini-snack to incorporate throughout the day to help stave off hunger and maintain energy.  After all, dietary studies have shown repeatedly that people who snack a little throughout the day have more sustained energy and are lower in weight because those who don't snack tend to over-compensate and eat much larger portions during their 3 daily meals (see: Snacking Sense). 

Speaking of nutritional value, you can eat 20 of these cookies and it only costs you 150 calories, 7 grams of fat, and 22 carbohydrates with 4 grams of dietary fibers and only 1 gram of (natural, unrefined) sugar.  To see more nutritional information, check out the Nutrition Facts at the left.

Product Recommendation

I would recommend this product to anyone who eats a raw, Gluten-Free, vegan or vegetarian, Kosher, soy, or nut free diet.  You can find the products for sale directly on GO RAW's website in addition to information about retailers.