I received packages of Nutberg drinkable meals in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.
Real Food
I always say that my nutrition goals have one overriding theme, eat real food. So, when I was contacted by the company and asked if wanted to try their meal replacement shakes the first thing I did was check out their ingredients. I found that their tagline matched up with their ingredient list: all real foods.
“The main difference is that Nutberg tastes and satiates like a real meal – and that’s because Nutberg is a real meal, not a mix of heavily processed isolates and food additives. Nutberg contains nutritious and tasty whole food ingredients without anything artificial.”
Their products are gluten, soy, and dairy free, non-GMO and vegan with limited sugars. That is one of reasons I tend to avoid meal replacement powders (apart from preferring to eat whole foods) is because even when they say they don’t have “sugar” they often have some sugar product like maltodextrin, agave, Stevia or erythritol. Coconut sugar is something I have in my own cabinet and use periodically so I felt good seeing it in the product.
How Did Nutberg Arrive?
The product arrived in a cardboard box (with no plastic, yay!) and directions with a blender ball to make mixing easier. The packages are vacuum sealed to help the mix last longer but it means clumps that need to be broken up when preparing (similar to when you buy powdered coconut milk). That is something I’m sure they had to consider when attempting to make a meal replacement with real food that would last like other products that use artificial means to make them shelf stable.
What Is In Nutberg?
Their list of ingredients looks like this:
- Classic: Coconut, oats, rice protein, almonds, tapioca, almond protein, hazelnut protein, coconut sugar, chia seeds, cocoa, cinnamon, guar gum, Himalayan salt.
- Cocoa: Coconut, oats, rice protein, almonds, tapioca, almond protein, hazelnut protein, coconut sugar, cocoa, chia seeds, coffee, guar gum, Himalayan salt.
- Banana: Coconut, oats, rice protein, almonds, banana, tapioca, almond protein, hazelnut protein, coconut sugar, chia seeds, cinnamon, guar gum, Himalayan salt.
Pretty simple and most are things we might have in our own pantries. The nutrition label, also, lists 13 vitamins and minerals, including potassium, manganese, vitamin E, copper, and iron.
How Did Nutberg Taste?
The meals have an overall nutty flavor and you can definitely taste the coconut. The drink is subtly sweet and simple, in fact you would be hard pressed to guess it has added sugar at all. If something has been processed with artificial flavorings you can tell, especially banana! But the flavor of all the drinks is mild and hearty. If you are looking for something sweet and syrupy like a milkshake this would not be your choice. The cocoa was my favorite (duh) with banana second. The classic relies on the coconut flavor (coconut is the first ingredient in all three flavors) and reminded me of enjoying a slightly sweetened bowl of oatmeal.
How Long Did Nutberg Keep Me Full?
As for how long I was full, the best example was when I had one of the meals for breakfast (about 9am) and went on a 20 mile bike ride into the afternoon. I wasn’t even thinking about food until almost 3pm! Despite the drink not being “paleo” (the oats and rice), I personally did not experience any adverse effects from consuming the meals. I was full but not “heavy” or bloated like I often feel after eating whole grains. I am not low carb myself and my carbohydrate needs vary, one of the reasons you will see some rice or sweet potato noodles in my recipes at times. I can not say I will be making meal replacement shakes a regular habit but Nutberg makes eating real food convenient when you need something quick and portable. If you are low carb or keto, you might want to consider if the ratio of carb(40g)-fat(26g)-protein(27g) is for you.
How Did I Prepare Nutberg?
I tried preparing the shake several different ways. I used both water and full-fat coconut milk (at home) and found that the coconut milk added a richer flavor and bumped up the fat ratio which I like. The smoothest drink came from using my Ninja blender. The directions say to let the drink sit for a few minutes after mixing to allow for thickening up but the drink was perfect right away. I enjoyed how the shredded coconut in the mix affords some texture and felt substantial, it was as close to eating whole foods as you could get in a drink. I do the same when I make my own smoothies.
I also tried the meal replacement in a bottle with the blender ball that came shipped with the meals when we went on a camping trip and found that although the drink came out okay, it took A LOT of shaking and there was still a bit sticking to the blender ball. Since this was my first time using one, I don’t know if that is normal or not! Good exercise, I suppose. Letting sit for a few minutes as advised, it was thick and creamy like when I made it at home.
But I will say that when I take this out into the wilderness again, my preferred way will be as I did on our last backpacking trip with just using the package itself to prepare the meal. I wasn’t sure about carrying the packaging because it is pretty hefty but decided to leave the extra weight and clean up of a bottle at home and see how it was to just eat from the package itself. Each package weighs about 4 ounces and affords 501 calories which puts it at slightly higher than an all protein (115 calories/oz) or carbohydrate (110 calories/oz) meal with about 125 calories per ounce. An all fat meal would be 220 calories per ounce. You could supplement your drink with a coconut oil packet or added powdered coconut milk to up the fat ratio.
To prepare the drink, I opened it at the top and squeezed the contents to break them up. Next I added water, stirring with a spoon until it was all incorporated (make sure to scrape down to the bottom). The design and stiffness of the package allowed me to just drink from it (the bottom folds out). Then, I just added the package to a garbage bag in my pack to carry out when I was done. Easy and no clean up. Of course, I probably shouldn’t have eaten it only a few hours before arriving at the bakery at the end of our hike, I wasn’t as hungry as I would have liked to be. Oh wait, I guess that was a good thing!
Nutberg also offers a good taste guarantee:
In addition to nutrition and usability, taste is our top priority. We are so sure that you will love the taste of Nutberg that we guarantee it. If you’ve followed the preparation instructions, consumed no more than 3 meals, and still aren’t happy with the taste, you’re eligible for a full refund.
If this meal sounds like it is in line with your nutrition goals while hiking, go ahead and give Nutberg a try. If you would like to learn more about the company and how to order their real food products, visit their website at www.nutberg.com.
Editor’s note: as of 11/2024, this product was not found online anymore.
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