Heart Healthy Snack Review

 

Finding a tasty, convenient and healthy snack can feel a bit difficult. Many claims can be misleading and often you feel like only 2 of those 3 features are achievable. Since February is American Heart Month, we took a look at some of the heart-healthy snack options to see if they’re a worthy choice for your next snack break. 

 

We decided to break these down by their nutrition analyzed by the key nutritional RDI (recommended daily intake), taste, ingredients and satisfaction. 

 

Nature’s Bakery Fig Bars

 

Peach Apricot Fig Bar

Nutrition

  • Fat: 5 grams per serving and 0 of it is saturated or trans fat 6% of your RDI
  • Sugar: 19 grams, 14 of which are added sugars 28% of your RDI
  • Sodium: 80 mg per serving 3% of your daily RDI
  • Calories: 200
  • Portion size: 1 pouch, 2 bars, 57 grams

Thoughts on Taste

The inevitable comparison will be between this and a Fig Newton. Between the two, the Nature’s Bakery Fig Bar has a taste and texture that indicates it’s made of more whole-food ingredients. The peach apricot flavor is closer to the classic taste that you would expect from a fig bar and the overall sensation is somewhat cake-like more so than what the idea of a health food bar would normally conjure up. 

Compared to the blueberry flavor we also tried, this has the more classic flavor you’ve come to expect from a fig bar. 

Ingredients

The ingredients list is simple and mostly high-quality ingredients free of any animal products or high-fructose corn syrup. 

Satisfaction

One serving which can be seen in the photograph is moderate in size and fairly satisfying as a snack between meals. 

 

Blueberry Fig bar

Nutrition

  • Fat: 5 grams per serving and 0 of it is saturated or trans fat 6% of your RDI
  • Sugar: 19 grams, 14 of which are added sugars 28% of your RDI
  • Sodium: 80 mg per serving 3% of your daily RDI
  • Calories: 200
  • Portion size: 1 pouch, 2 bars, 57 grams

Thoughts on Taste

Compared to the peach apricot, the blueberry flavor reminds us slightly of a nice scone. It’s a nice cake-like texture with a traditional sweetness and slight density. 

Ingredients

The ingredients here are basically identical to the peach apricot flavor and are identically high in quality. 

Satisfaction

A serving is satisfying, but at 200 calories, you’ll want to make sure to stick to one serving at a time. 

 

Biena Roasted Chickpeas

 

Sea Salt Flavor

Nutrition

  • Fat: 2 grams of total fat per serving. 0 trans fat and 0 saturated fat. 3 % of your RDI of fat for a slight savings vs the sea salt flavor
  • Sugar: 6 grams of added sugar for 12% of your RDI
  • Sodium: 120 mg per serving 5% of your daily RDI
  • Calories:140
  • Portion size: 1 oz (28g/About 50 Chickpeas) 

Thoughts on Taste

Roasted chickpeas as another legume, draws a comparison to peanuts. However, the taste and texture is quite different. 

Biena’s roasted chickpeas are crisp and light with a much more airy texture than peanuts. Eating them provides a sensation that’s a little closer to eating chips than any type of roasted nuts. We find them to be a light, crunchy and delicious snack that many should find enjoyable.

Ingredients

With only 3 ingredients, chickpeas, sunflower oil, and sea salt, there isn’t much to say about the ingredients themselves. 

Satisfaction

We find the serving size to be enjoyable as it gives you enough to snack on over time. 

 

Honey Roasted

 

Nutrition

  • Fat: 6 grams of total fat per serving. 0 trans fat and less than 1 gram of saturated fat. 1 serving provides 8% of your RDI
  • Sugar: 1 gram of total sugar. 0 added sugar for less than 1% of your RDI
  • Sodium: 190 mg per serving 8% of your daily RDI
  • Calories:140
  • Portion size: 1 oz (28g/About 50 Chickpeas) 

Thoughts on Taste

Honey roasted peanuts, while not your healthiest snack option (23 grams of fat per serving) are a tasty mixture of sweet and salty that enjoys enduring popularity. It’s understandable that snack companies want to offer that combination in a healthier way. 

However, we find that this particular combination of chickpeas, cane sugar and organic wildflower honey don’t complement each other as one might expect. The fragrance of chickpeas with these ingredients almost creates an artificial sweetness or vanilla taste that doesn’t feel compatible with our sweet and salty expectations. 

Ingredients

As with the sea salt flavor, we have a short list of very high-quality ingredients including chickpeas, cane sugar, expeller pressed high oleic sunflower oil, sea salt, and organic wildflower honey. 

Satisfaction

The serving size is nice and gives you something to snack on if you find the flavor to be suitable for yourself. 

 

Gluten-Free Bites

Dark Chocolate and Peanut Butter Gluten-Free Bites

Nutrition

  • Fat: 5 grams of total fat per serving providing 6% of your RDI. 0 trans fat and 1 gram of saturated fat for 5% of your RDI
  • Sugar: 5 grams of total sugar with 4 grams being added sugars for 8% of your RDI
  • Sodium: 20 mg per serving 1% of your RDI
  • Calories:110
  • Portion size: 2 pieces (24 grams) 

Thoughts on Taste

These gluten-free bites are quite dense and we didn’t feel like the balance of flavors and textures really worked here. The dark chocolate and peanut butter mixture has a thick texture that is reminiscent of nougat. 

Tastes are subjective and can’t be measured, but we’ll say that this flavor of gluten-free bites was among the less enjoyable snacks on this list and felt more like eating a health food than having a nice snack. 

Ingredients

The ingredients list, as one might expect of a high-quality product, is short and contains only simple ingredients. 

These gluten-free bites might be a great snack for anyone with dietary restrictions since they’re of course gluten-free, but also soy-free, dairy-free, vegan, and kosher. 

Satisfaction

The serving size as can be seen in the photo is rather small and goes quickly. However, because of how dense they are, a serving is quite satisfying despite how small it is. 

 

Coconut and Cashew Gluten-Free Bites

Nutrition

  • Fat: 5 grams of total fat per serving providing 6% of your RDI. 0 trans fat and 2.5 grams of saturated fat for 13% of your RDI
  • Sugar: 5 grams of total sugar with 4 grams being added sugars for 8% of your RDI
  • Sodium: 35 mg per serving 2% of your RDI
  • Calories:110
  • Portion size: 2 pieces (24 grams) 

Thoughts on Taste

We tried these right after the dark chocolate and peanut butter and found them to be vastly superior in taste and texture. The texture is nice as they’re not too dense and you can chew through them easily and they have a nice “pull” to them. 

The flavors of cashew, toasted coconut and binding ingredients also complement each other really well here for a great eating experience. 

Ingredients

As with the other flavor, the ingredients here are simple and of high quality. Those with dietary restrictions not including coconut or cashews will find these to be a nice snack as they’re also vegan, soy-free, dairy-free and kosher. 

Satisfaction

Because we think these taste phenomenal and a serving is two pieces, you might find yourself nibbling and savoring them. But once you finish, they’re subtly satisfying. 

 

Bottom Line

There are now more options than ever for people who are looking out for their heart health. Follow the blog for future snack reviews and healthy lifestyle tips. 

 

If you're looking for a little help with your heart health goals, also feel free to check out our store and see if any of our products are right for you. 

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