Bonnie: As a business traveler, I always stash a granola, cereal or fruit-and-nut bar or two in my computer case for those moments when my plane sits on a runway for hours, or when I run between my connecting flights with no time to buy something to eat. In other words, for when I’m starved.
And, being a food-product reviewer, I always have a variety of bars to sample in my testing closet — a three-shelved, two-foot-deep, always-full-of-samples cabinet. From this group of samples, I hadn’t found many that I would actually purchase. That is, until I tasted this KIND bar.
These bars contain only ingredients you can pronounce, are gluten free, a good source of fiber, have a low glycemic index (see Note) and — best of all — taste delicious.
My favorite: the KIND Almond & Apricot Bar, which tastes just like — surprise, surprise — almonds and apricots. Yum. KIND also makes yogurt-covered variations of many of these bars, which are too sweet for me.
BTW, these bars were first brought to our attention when Diane — a member of our Bite of the Best community — suggested them to us. So if you have a product that you feel is outstanding, scroll to the bottom of the page, click on “Suggest a Product” and tell us about it. Your suggestion just may turn into a FeaturedBite, as Diane’s did.
One more thing to share — I thought you’d like to know that 5 percent of the profits go to the PeaceWorks Foundation that fosters coexistence between people in conflict across the world.
Note Glycemic Index (GI) – is a tool that measures the quality of carbohydrates according to how they affect blood glucose levels. Foods are rated on a GI scale of 1 to 100, with 100 being pure glucose, AKA sugar, which would deliver a spike in blood sugar levels.
Bryan: We generally keep to the topic of food here at Bite of the Best (and why wouldn’t we with all the amazing products out there?). Our readers would likely not know this, but I studied politics and diplomacy in school; I found it particularly interesting that we would be reviewing KIND bars this week in light of the recent (and ongoing) conflict in the Middle East. A quick note before I really confuse you.
KIND Snacks is part of the PeaceWorks group, a self-described “not-only-for-profit” company established in 1994 to pursue both profit and peace through sales of healthful food products produced by neighbors on opposing sides of political or armed conflicts. Its philosophy is to pursue peace through cooperative business ventures — essentially peace through mutual profit. Whether you agree or not with this capitalistic spin on international morality, you have to applaud KIND’s efforts towards a society with more understanding and interdependence.
Aside from KIND, PeaceWorks is also involved in MEDITALIA, a company making tapenades and pestos produced with cooperation between Arabs & Israelis; olives grown in Palestinian villages, sun-dried tomatoes from Turkey and glass jars from Egypt…all packaged in Israel. The company believes that personal contact between these groups will shatter cultural stereotypes and help people live together peacefully — quite a lofty goal and quite amazing food to boot!
KIND’s story is not quite as uplifting (these bars are made in Australia), but their food is equally amazing. KIND Snacks are healthy, nutritious and all-natural, offering a welcome change from the generic, processed, homogenized products usually seen in the “energy bar” aisle. There is a wide variety of incredibly intense combinations (walnut-date, peanut-chocolate, mango-macadamia, etc.), which made picking a favorite as complicated as a BCS debate. Our round-table discussion did eventually center on Almond & Apricot, a powerfully flavorful snack with hints of honey and coconut. Though Bonnie notes the “normal” version, I prefer the yogurt-wrapped bar that has an extra kick of creaminess.
KIND bars are truly delicious snacks for a heart-healthy diet; handmade with premium almonds and chunks of all-natural dried fruits. Healthy snacking can be the basis of a healthy diet since fruits and nuts lower the risk of heart disease, cancer and high blood pressure. Do you really need another reason to try KIND?
Eric: Nuts and seeds and fruits, oh my! As you probably read already, unless you peruse down below-the-fold first, KIND bars are all-natural snacks made from ingredients that don’t involve a chemist, and whose parent company donates a certain percentage of its profits to its foundation that support “moral globalization.” Usually, the unfortunate side affect of such a morally uplifting and tasty product is the price, but at roughly $2 per bar, you’re not going to pay much more for this nutritious snack than you would for a muffin or a bag of chips.
KIND bars also come in such a variety that even the pickiest of eaters can find one that satisfies his or her hunger. If you’re not an almond fan, then try walnut; if you’re not a walnut fan, then try macadamia; and if you’re just not nuts about nuts, then opt for some dried fruit. Next time you’re reaching for a granola bar, or simply a healthy snack that’s not a piece of fruit, read the nutritional information. If you can’t pronounce more than one of the ingredients, then should you really be eating it? Be KIND to your body with these wonderful snack bars.
I’m glad you were able to finally give these bars a try. I keep a stash in my locker at work and have been known to pass them out to people having to work overtime as we health care workers are required to do lately. Locally, I recommend buying them at Edge as they are almost always on sale at $1.50 a bar. There is also a mixed nut version called “Nut Delight,” that because it has no fruit, is even higher in protein than the others. It is yummy; it even has whole Brazil nuts in it (Brazil nuts are high in selenium, a powerful antioxidant). (And, of course, I read the entire Newsbite. 😉
Priced a little high, but a good healthy snack that doesn’t leave you feeling guilty
I won the Eagle Mills All purpose unbleached flour last month. I decided to bake a batch of Oatmeal Raisin cookies to give this a try. I found this flour to be just like a regular flour, but knowing that it provides more dietary fiber was a welcome fact. Also it having 9 grams a whole grain is an added plus. I would diffently buy this over regular white flour anytime, knowing that it was healther for my family. I very much appreciated this win of flour and would recommend it to everyone who loves to bake.
I found that the bars with fruit were too sweet, but the ones with just nuts—yummy! A nice “pick me up” post workout snack.
[…] already been featured here on BiteoftheBest.com — including the Food Should Taste Good chips and Kind Bars. (We now have both the Food Should Taste Good chips and Kind Bars in our shop. Just click on each […]