This week I tried out an amazingly good and good-for-your new product: GoMacro Macrobars. They’re vegan, GMO-free, and soy-free. They contain only things grown in the ground, and even their sweetener is unique: brown rice sugar. They come in 11 different flavors, and of the three I’ve tried so far, I love all of them. To be honest, I gave my husband the flavors containing coconut or walnuts, which I just don’t like, but I am questioning my actions because I bet I would still love them. I gave the banana+almond butter to a friend who doesn’t like bananas and he loved it. Are you picking up that I really, really like these? So much so that I’ve already worked out a sponsorship with the company to get them for my finishers at the 2017 ORRC Up the Lazy River 10k!
The flavors include:
- peanut butter chocolate chip
- banana + almond butter
- sunflower butter + chocolate
- cashew butter
- almond butter + carob
- granola + coconut
- peanut butter
- sesame butter + dates
- cherries + berries
- cashew + caramel
- apples + walnuts
There are three factors I considered when evaluating these: nutrition, flavor, and “eatability.” The last is a made-up word that includes things like texture, stickiness, how it holds up in my bag, and if my kids will eat it. I also like the company’s story (founded by a mother-daughter farming team after the mother was diagnosed with breast cancer AND WON) and their contributions to communities (like local farming initiatives, an animal sanctuary, and healthy eating programs for adults and kids).
Nutrition
You can look online at each bar’s nutrition specs, but the primary benefit of these bars are that they’re all natural. No GMOs, no animal products, and no soy. Everything on the ingredient list starts with “organic.” The amount of protein in some of them may surprise you – the banana + almond butter MacroBar has an impressive 10g with only 270 total calories, for example. But what’s really neat about exploring their ingredient list is that they don’t just ride on the word “organic.” Each ingredient in each MacroBar is highlighted on that bar’s page on the website with fun facts like the fact that cinnamon “… is a great source of manganese, fiber, iron, and calcium.” I think this is important because so often, we will eat something because someone else told us it’s healthy. GoMacro wants you to understand why their bars are healthy.
Let’s look at my favorite one (today): cherries + berries. Only 3g of protein, but I had two eggs for breakfast and 4 oz of grilled chicken at lunch. This one is also only 200 calories, great for a snack on my non-running day. And it was just the right amount of sweet after my meat & veggies lunch. Not to mention that cherries are full of good things like iron, Vitamin C, and fiber. See? I’m healthier already.
Flavor
Yes.
You have to find the one(s) you like best, but so far I’m sold on all of them, except I might be willing to share the cashew butter one. Because they have such varying flavors, some that you like for a post-run snack might not taste as good if you were hoping for a sweet treat.
Eatability
First of all, the texture. Because many bars do not have good texture. GoMacro Bars have a variety of textures, depending on which one you are eating. The softer bars, like peanut butter chocolate chip, are sort of like a PowerBar, but not as tough … more like a warm PowerBar, but not melty the way a warm PowerBar gets. (When I was rowing in college, PowerBar was pretty much it for nutrition bars.) They’re very moist and dense, but not so dense you will have to choke them down. The dryer bars, like cherries + berries, on the other hand, are more like a nice homemade fruit bar. Still definitely moist and chewy but still a little crumbly.
While you probably don’t want to get these bars in your hair, they aren’t crazy sticky. They’re as sticky as you’d expect say, a cashew butter, bar to be.
They held up very well in my bag. They don’t break into tiny little pieces or get smushed beyond recognition. That being said, I don’t think you should leave them in your car on a hot sunny day. You should also know that the one I planned to eat while my kiddo was at gymnastics didn’t make it past 2p, so I didn’t test them out with a cross-country trip or anything. However, I think they’d be fine in your bag to eat after a long run or before getting a few miles in before supper.
And yes, my kiddo liked them. It probably helped that I told her they were grown-up food and not for kids, and the illustrations on each bar are really appealing, but yes, kids will eat them. I know they’re not made to be a kid snack, but when your kid likes something that’s good for them and it’s something you don’t mind buying for yourself, it’s like you’ve won a sweepstakes of deliciousness.
Get some
You can buy MacroBar in a number of stores in the Portland metro, including Fred Meyer, Whole Foods, Food Front, and NSM stores. This link is for their store locator so you can find the store closest to you; just type in your zip code at the top right of the map.
You can also buy them online. May I suggest the MacroBar sampler pack with all of their flavors!? Right now they have free shipping with an order of the sampler pack, which is $29.95. Compare that to buying a pastry at a coffee shop every day and you come out about $15 ahead!
