Barney Butter (Crunchy Almond) *Review*

The Food Guru here with another review of one of my favorite products of all time.  Surprise surprise, it's ANOTHER nut butter!  I'll tell you what, I'm completely addicted to this stuff, whether it be peanut butter, cashew butter, almond butter, pistachio butter, or all of the above mixed into one.  Heck, when I get the chance I usually whip up my own batch of homemade nut butter, a mixture of almonds, peanuts, and cashews.  Nuts butters are EXTREMELY good for you, especially in their natural form, and on my weight gaining journey I've been consuming a LOT of them.

Today's product is called Barney Butter, and specifically it's the crunchy almond butter variety.  I will say one thing first and foremost.  THIS STUFF IS FREAKING TASTY!  Seriously, be careful about sticking your finger in and having a little morsel, because more than likely you won't be able to stop.  I have to FORCE myself to put the lid back on sometimes, belittling myself with mental phrases like "OK Seth, come on now, what happened to all your self control?  You've had enough.  Stop eating it.  STOP."  And yet, for some reason it's like this stuff STILL jumps out the jar and into my mouth.  It is good, oh so good.

Health Factor:  As I've already mentioned, natural nut butters in general are VERY good for you.  That's because they contain a lot of healthy, unsaturated fats that help to maintain good cholesterol levels, slow digestion, and can actually be used as a good fuel source by your body on ketogenic diets.  Almonds themselves contain a lot of Omega-6 fatty acids, which when balanced properly with Omega-3 fatty acids (found in tuna, salmon, shrimp and all sorts of other fish and shellfish), can ensure your body stays in top form and is resistant to excessive inflammation.

Almonds themselves are also packed with antioxidants, which help to neutralize free radicals in your body and prevent disease.  They're also loaded with vitamin E, manganese, and magnesium.

Finally, almonds may actually help you to lose weight, despite being a high calorie, high fat food.  There have been all sorts of studies done on the consumption of raw nuts, including many tests on human subjects regarding diet and weight gain.  People who eat nuts at least twice a week were drastically less likely to gain unwanted fat when keeping their diet in check.  So what are you waiting for?  Have some almond butter, and don't you dare feel guilty.

Nutritional information:  

Here's the label from the back of the jar, which is probably easier to read than me just spewing off all the nutritional facts in the article. More efficient too, I'd say:

As you can see, this almond butter has similar caloric content to peanut butter, however much less saturated fat.  The ingredient list is short and sweet, and free of things like HFCS and hydrogenated oil.  It also has a relatively low sodium count, and low sugar as well.


But my friends, where I have to go off on this butter is the taste.  It is truly remarkable, and is without a doubt the best nut butter I've ever eaten to date.  You put a spoonful in your mouth, and it's like you took a little trip to heaven.  If the spoonful is big enough, you may close your eyes in ecstasy.  It's sweet, salty, and crunchy, and has such a beautifully strong taste that your whole mouth is enveloped in it.  Besides the perfectly sized chunks of almond, the butter is super creamy, and makes it awesomely hard to chew it.  It's like the perfect blend, and I'm not exaggerating.

Guys, this stuff is gold in a jar, NOT KIDDING.

So what are you waiting for?  Pick up some Barney Butter ASAP.  It's healthy, natural, and RIDICULOUSLY delicious.  It's a great break from peanut butter too, if you've gotten stuck in that rut.  It can fit into pretty much any diet too, whether it be weight loss, maintenance, keto, paleo, or mass gain.  Get some NOW, because these guys got it right.

......Barney Butter rules.  Good luck!


References:
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=20
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12442909

"Naturally More" Peanut Butter *Review*

I couldn't resist, I just had to review another peanut butter.  And before you go clicking away to some other online place, let me tell you this:  This peanut butter might just be the healthiest peanut butter out there on the market today, combining everything necessary to build muscle and stay lean and fit?  Would that grab your interest?  What if I told you that this miraculous peanut butter also had some of the best taste and texture I've ever experienced in any sort of nut butter EVER?  Well if you're wondering what the heck I'm talking about, let me at last relieve your curiosity.

The peanut butter of which I speak is called "Naturally More," and it proudly boasts the slogan "The way Peanut Butter Should Be."  After trying this stuff the very first time, I tend to agree.  This stuff IS the way peanut butter should be.  It's a formula of perfection, at least in my opinion.

What makes this stuff so great?  Well, they started with a natural peanut butter base (good start, healthy monounsaturated fats and nutrient dense), and added everything that PB tended to lack in terms of health factors.  Peanut butter in general isn't a very good protein source, as it's not very protein dense AND most of the protein in peanuts is incomplete (unusable by the body for muscle repair) in its natural form.  Naturally More peanut butter fixed this, and added egg whites to the butter itself.  This bumps up the protein to 10g per serving, a good 30-40% MORE protein than just plain peanut butter!  And you can bet that the protein in Naturally More is a lot more bioavailable to the body, having a more complete nature.

But Naturally More didn't stop there.  They also noticed that while peanut butter itself had a remarkable amount of monounsaturated healthy fats, great for heart health and cholesterol, it was lacking what your body really needs, which are essential fatty acids (EFA's) like omega-3 and omega-6.  They easily solved this dilemma by adding both flax seed and flax oil, two substances extremely rich in EFA's.  But they didn't stop there.  Peanut oil itself has a good amount of omega-6 in it already, and most people consume PLENTY of omega-6 already, therefore Naturally More didn't only add flax oil, they removed most of the peanut oil in favor of a more beneficial omega-3 to omega-6 EFA ratio.  This ratio is very crucial to maintaining health (and a trim figure), and it's another reason why this peanut butter RULES!

Oh, and because it's a natural peanut butter, it has no hydrogenated oils that would produce trans fat.  NO TRANS FAT!!!

Naturally More still wasn't quite done though, and realized that the final category that good ol' natural peanut butter was lacking in, was the fiber department.  Traditionally peanut butter usually has about 1 gram or less of fiber per serving.  Naturally More decided that this wasn't enough, and added wheat germ to their product to increase the fiber count to 2 grams per serving.  Now I know that doesn't sound like a huge jump, but one more gram of fiber can definitely make a difference.  The wheat germ also adds a little more protein, making the overall protein profile more varied.  Nice!

Finally, Naturally More added a little bit of honey in there to replace a good amount of added sugar with natural sugars.  As such, Naturally More only has 3 grams of sugar per serving, a very low overall simple carb count.  There is a slight bit of processed sugar added, which is my only beef with this amazing peanut butter.  At only a few grams though, I don't expect it to ruin anyone's diet.

Here are the nutritional facts for Naturally More Peanut Butter:

Now, for the taste.  I personally think this peanut butter is some of the best I've ever tasted, EVER.  It's rich, creamy, soft, powerful, aromatic, and completely satiating.  I take a tablespoon for breakfast after my whey loaded oatmeal, and always have to just sit back for a minute and just enjoy the amazing flavors coursing through my mouth.  It tastes like a cheat meal, but it's very far from that.  It's hard to believe something so good can be so healthy.

But does it taste like peanut butter?  Well, actually, not exclusively.  Don't get me wrong, the peanut taste is there (in force!) but it's strongly complimented by other flavors, especially that of the flax seed oil, with a slight crunch from the flax seed itself.  I can also taste the wheat germ to a slight degree.  Now I personally LOVE these tastes, and in my opinion they only make the stuff more enjoyable.  But I won't be surprised if this is one of those "love it or hate it" foods.  Some people would die to have another spoonful, others would rather die before forcing it in their mouths.  But that's absolutely NO reason not to try it.  I bet if you try, you'll love it.  I hope you believe me when I say that this stuff is like heaven in a jar, that for once is actually good for you.

What would I rate this peanut butter?

Taste: 9.5/10 


Nutritional profile 9.999/10 (if only there wasn't that tiny bit of added sugar)

Cost value 8/10 (this stuff is pretty cheap, but there are cheaper varieties)

All in all I would definitely, definitely, DEFINITELY recommend trying some Naturally More.  It's got all the right ingredients, an incredible fresh taste, and huge potential to keep you healthy and strong for a long time.  Give it a try!

Seriously, flax-oil, egg whites, and peanut butter?  That seems too good to be true.  GOOD LUCK!