Are you someone that loves a good protein ball or a snack ball? Do you make your own? Maybe you buy them from the supermarket. Now, snackballs can be a quick and convenient source of nutrition, but we probably need to be weary as some are far better than others. On today's episode of The Nutrition Couch, we take a
closer look at three popular snack balls in Aussie's supermarkets. Hi, I'm Leanne Wood and I'm Sizzy Burrow and a still of austrays leading dieticians who specialize in evidence based nutrition. We bring you the Nutrition Couch product with you a weekly chat on new products and old favorites that you can find at the supermarket. So I would say Zuzie that I'm overall not a big snackball person. I don't find them feeling, but on a car trip or if I'm traveling on a plane, I will absolutely load up
on them. Is your family a snackball type of family? Do you have them on the car trips on the plane trips?
I think what you said in the beginning really sums it up to me. Their energy balls, and that's a great way to describe them. I am not a big fan of them, myself. I don't love dried fruit, and often they do have a dried fruit base, and as such, I've never really given them to my boys, but as a sports dietician, I did use them frequently as a quick energy food on the go. Certainly I use them to make my lunchboxes on Instagram look pretty because they
can be quite nice and round. But no, and definitely online when we post recipes for them, they do really well. But no, do I buy them? No, And I'm not a big fan and I but I've got some clientsy like them and I as we know, there's been an increasing number in supermarkets, which is why we thought we would cover them today. But yeah, take what you will. If the dieticians aren't buying them, that's probably a little bit of a reason to take notice of. Starting point.
Absolutely so the first one I've got I always loved to include a little health halo for a sushi. And the first one is the Tasty Brands. So it's available at wools only, and it's the Tasty Fruit and Veggie whole food balls with mango and carrot. So you would take one look at the front of packaging and go great, I'm going to grab that work it in the jolley and the kids are set. So they're now added sugar, they're gluten free, and they're vegan. But let's take a
closer look at the ingredient list. So the first ingredient is apple pure concentrate at seventy seven percent, So already we know that that's going to be a high proportion of sugar because the concentrate has more sugar than if it was like you munching into a whole apple. Second ingredient in some flower seed butter. So we've got some nice, healthy fats, followed by coconut, two percent dried carrot. For something that's marketed as a fruit and veggie ball, I'm
very disappointed that there's only two percent dried carrot. There's freeze dried manga one percent and a hint of natural flavor. So, considering these are called mango and coconut fruit and veggie balls, we have two percent carrot and one percent mango. If that's not a health halo, Susie, I honestly don't know what is. Absolutely, so I'm a little disappointed. Just based
on the ingredient list. These are three dollars fifty for sixty grams, so I think there's about six balls in there, so they're sort of, you know, fifty cents of ball or something, So they're not relatively inexpensive, but they're not something that's too high end either. So looking at the nutrition information panel, so we've got perse serving five hundred killer dules in terms of energy, one point two grams of protein, so you right, they're not protein balls. They
absolutely energy balls. Three point nine grams of fat predominantly coming from our some flower seed butter in our coconut. We have nineteen point six grams of carbohydrate, with twelve point seven grams being sugars, one point two grams of fiber, and very minimal sodium six milligrams. So nutritionally they are absolutely energy balls. The bulk of the calories is coming
from carbohydrates and sugar. Yes, the sugar is natural, it's not quote unquote process white sugar, but it's heavily you know, it's a lot of fruit sugar. So these are something that you would use for a quick energy hit. These for me wouldn't be a substantial afternoon snack to keep my clients going until, you know, until dinner time, because you the body's going to absorb that energy so quickly and it's going to be like what, now, give me more.
So pairing these with maybe something like a boiled egg or a handful of nuts or something to sort of slow down the digestion of the carbohydrate and the sugar might be a good option. But I think for the majority of peace, these aren't I don't know, Susie, maybe five out of ten, six out of ten. That's what they sort of get from me. They're not a standout and they absolutely don't you know, they don't contain what they promise on the front of package label. Really well.
First of all, I think that the numbers are wrong because it says six serves per pack, but that it's only sixty grams the entire bag. So I think that they're a serve must be three balls. They must weigh ten grams each. So because it's only sixty gram that bag, so there'd only be two balls and if they were thirty grams each, So that's an inaccuracy on.
Them, Like, oh, you're right, yeah, six servings per pack, Yeah, you're right.
Yeah, So I think it must be three balls a serve. Am I right, ten grams each of the ball. So that's sort of just over one hundred calories, so you know, a country calories snack's quite light. But I love a snack to have protein. So if you know twelve grams of concentrated sugars, you know some dried fruit, for me to give that as a balanced snack, I would have
to add them protein in. So it would be pretty tricky to get the protein in without adding more fash just thinking how I would potentially do it, Like, it's a bit tricky to balance out as a snack.
Isn't it. I do it with a boiled egg maybe, but it's a bit odd.
Two if you light round stuff, oval shapes, Yeah, that's how I would do it. If you love them. I would use two or three in a serve in a mixed lunchbox. But you would as a snack for morning or afternoon tea, you'd have to add the protein back in, which, yeah, your best option would be a boiled egg.
You're right, yeah, yeah, they're just not going to tie you over. There's no substance there.
I don't know if they taste good, but it is misleading because they've got no veggies in.
Them, and even the mango like, there's one percent mango like, it's mostly apple pure. Their market is mango and coconut balls. It's seventy seven percent apple and one percent mango. I mean, I think that in itself, I wouldn't buy it on principle because they're misleading their consumers.
Yeah, and I'm with you all the way. I think the only thing that I quite like on the label is sun fout Sea buther like that's giving a nice fat profile, but then you're teaming it with coconuts. So yeah, I'm with you one hundred percent. It wouldn't be my go to, And I think they need to fix the label so tasty. If anyone's listening, your labeling's wrong, all right.
So the second product I have chosen is more of what I would term a protein ball, So it is the balance peanut energy protein ball. So this one's guten free, which is great for all of our celiacs. And is it vegan as well? No, it's not. It's got way protein and it's not vegan apologies, it does contain dairy.
They do have vegan ones. So about Bounce, I've got a range of vegan balls, which is good to know.
So top ingredient is peanuts twenty nine percent, followed by brown rice, starch, whey protein blend which adds the bulk of our protein in there. It's got grape juice I imagine as a bit of a sweetener. It's got sesame seeds, water, tapiocre starch, natural flavors, sea salt, some mineral salt being calcium carbonate, and some sunflower Ethosen contains sesame seeds, peanuts, and milk as our allergens, and his process on the same line as sweeping treenuts and eggs and made from
eleven percent of Straian ingredients. So definitely not a ossie home grown ingredient list that. Look at the serving size, it's forty nine gram so one ball in one packet is one serve. They are two dollars at Coals in three point fifty at wal worse at the time of recording, so I think Coals might have a bit of a sale on at the moment, which is good. So definitely for one ball, I would be trying to get these on sale if I were to buy them. So per serve.
Energy wise, they are eight hundred and eighty kilodules, so what's that roughly so over two hundred calories, so quite a good energy you know, packs a punch in terms of energy, So a good, well rounded snack, I would say. But if you're not someone that's going to eat this and find it filling, if you need to pair it with something else, it is quite a high energy snack. Fourteen point three grams of protein, which I think is
wonderful in a snack. Eight point eight grams are fat, with only one point five of that being saturated, so a good fat profile. There seventeen grams of carbohydrate twelve point five coming from the sugars. That's weird. The dietary fibers is one hundred and forty four milligrams, so that's obviously incorrect.
It's one point five. I've just looked it up online. It's one point five grams of dietary fiber. It's just a misprint, i'd say, on the Willies or coal site.
Yeah, okay, so one point five grams of five Yeah, so that's probably a little bit too low with ideally like that a bit higher. And one hundred and forty seven billigrams of sodium, so not know, nothing, not insignificant, but still you know, quite small in the grand scheme of things, So I like this for the higher protein profile of it. SUSI. It's got to you serve carbohydrate, and they're seventeen grams of carbohydrate. I think it's a quick and easy thing. I'd probably i'd recommended this for
my clients. Sometimes I travel a lot that always need just a little quick snack in their handbag to tie them over between meals. But it's not what I would call volume dens. If you're somebody that genuinely feels quite hungry during the day, it's probably not something that I would recommend, but I don't mind it. I think the ingredients list is pretty okay. I would turn this with maybe some Veggi sticks to add a bit of bulk and fullness to it. I don't mind them.
Yeah, I like them too. I like Bounce. They do some great products. But you do have to really take a close look at the labels. There's a great difference in protein levels. It is a quite small product. When you open it at two hundred and twenty cow, they're only quite little, like I want to say, not a massive you know what I mean. For the calorie density, it's.
Not the size of a golf ball, probably smaller.
I do use them and quite like them one night because they're gluten free, and so when you're looking for gluten free products that can be really useful, and that load of protein at fourteen grams is really strong, I should say that you're not going to get a peanut based product with a lot of Austraian peanuts. We just don't grow that many peanuts here in Australia, so that's not unexpected.
You know.
I use them the air, but I use them with active people, you know, someone of the using with teenagers or athletes, you know, as a cycling snack on the bike. They're getting carbohydrate. So do I recommend it for my average female No, because it's one hundred and twenty cow. They eat them really quickly. They're not overly filling in that context of someone who needs a lot of volume,
but they've got a place in dietary planning. And if you've got high energy demands or really struggle with protein and do need gluten free snacks, you know that the overall profile for a relatively high calorie product is strong. And it's one of those things if you're traveling and needed a substantial routine hit on the run. It'd be quite a smart product because you'd be sort of full from it. Have it with a coffee, you'd be full,
and great for gluten free people. So absolutely I do use bouts and this is one of my preferred varieties.
I think.
The other one I like is the coconut Maceademia. But do check the protein amounts because some of them are quite low and hence don't have that added bonus.
Definitely, yeah, yeah, So I think you know gold Stars.
From us and I only buy them on sale two dollars and the two dollars gold Stars from the Nutrition Couch.
For the right type of person, I think. And then the last product we've got today, Susie, is one that I've seen quite a lot just on sale at the end of the aisle. They've got them there quite a lot, and I've picked them up a few times and I'm always disappointed every time. So I'll show you why. They're
the Uncle Toby's Peanut and Strawberry oat balls. They retail it calls for two dollars fifteen and they're six balls in there, so they're relatively you know, they're probably the cheapest one out of the three that we've reviewed today, and a serving size is forty two grams, so the serving size is three, so it's half the packet. So when we look at the ingredient list, we start with date paste, followed by peanut butter, followed by apple juice concentrate.
Then we've got some oats, some pear pure concentrates, some coconut peanuts, strawberry pure, elderberry juice concentrate, salt food acid, and then we've got our allergens listed as gluten and peanuts and also may contain tree nuts and lupin. So there's a lot of concentrated sugars going in there. Are they natural? Are they from fruit? Yes, but there's still a lot of concentrated sugars. The date paste, the apple juice concentrate, the pear pure concentrate, the strawberry pure, the
elderberry juice concentrate. So looking at the nutrition label per surface for three balls, we've got seven hundred and five kilojeels, three point five grams of protein, seven grams of total fat with two point five grams being saturated, twenty one point two grams of carbs, with fifteen point six grams being sugar. That's a high sugar product. Like it's a lot of sugar for three small balls, and these balls
are a lot smaller. Yeah, I think three of these would probably be equivalent to the size of the balance ball. Three point two grams of dietary fiber, So pretty good in terms of dietary fiber compared to the other ones, because there's a lot of fruit going in there and thirty seven milligrams of sodium, which is very, very low.
So I don't love these because I feel like that is a high sugar product, and I just feel like you're not going to get any sustenance from it, and you're just going to have sort of a bigger blood sugar spike. It's going to come crashing back down again, and you're going to sort of want more sugar or more food within probably about a good hour. I just don't feel like this is going to be feeling or sustaining.
So I would probably only be using these for athletes or somebody that needs really quick energy, you know, for some weight gain or something like that. This definitely would be my product if the goal was fat loss or honestly even health. I just don't think there's a lot of quality, nutritious ingredients in here.
When they came out, I was so disappointed because I was so excited they had a new product like this, and when I looked at the nutritional I've been like, you have picked them up several times and then put them back just because that load of sugar seems so high. And I think, you know, are they better than a chocolate bar? Is a sweet hit? Yes, but they're not really offering the protein that we like as a snack. There's a bit of fiber, but you know, nothing blowing out.
So yeah, I think that they're that middle ground. Like if I was rating them, say, i'd give the bout, say three and a half four out of five. I'd give the tasties one or two, and i'd give these probably three. It's kind of middle ground. They're not the worst thing in the supermarket. They're not the best. There's not any standard nutritional qualities in them. I don't you know. You can't send them to school because of the nutbase.
So that's the other issue, Like we're always looking for lunch box friendly snacks that have protein, so you can't send them to school, So where would they fit even I'm not going to give my kids three balls in the afternoon. I'm not going to give it to my adult clients with fifteen grams sugar. So I just have
difficulty placing them in a diet. Really, are they better, as I said, than picking up a chocolate bar in a store and having them in the car, Yeah, one hundred percent, But certainly they're not on my routine shopping list and there's better snap products out there. And it's a difficult one because they've got to be able to be used in context in a diet, and they don't fit in any of my modeling. You know, they're not gluten free or they're not not free, so they're not
something that I go to regularly with my clients. And they're not bad, there's just nothing standout that would make me recommend them.
Yeah, I'm agree, all right, Souzie. Well, that brings us to the end of the Nutrition Couch product with you for another week. Remember, guys, we are about to go on tour, so if you haven't grabbed your tickets for the Brisbane, Sydney or Melbourne event, please head to the nutritioncouch dot Com click on the event tabs and we absolutely cannot wait to meet you all and just give you the best morning in a really, really long time.
I like that promise. Yes, have a good week. People will see you very soon.