Eating Bugs: That's Just Not Cricket (SENS Foods & Eat Grub Bar Reviews)

I’m no stranger to eating bugs. Every time I climb onto my bike or go for a run, I seem to become a fly magnet. They fly down my top, up my nose and if it’s a particularly nice day and I’ve been smiling lots while running or cycling then they’re also in my teeth. I am basically moving flypaper.

I am USED to eating bugs.

But what if someone handed me a protein bar. Told me it contained ground up bugs – crickets, to be exact. Would I put it voluntarily put in my mouth?

After 'Race The Train' I decided to use crickets as a protein top up! (Yep - my club mates thought I was bonkers)

Having a bar made of insects also allows for some interesting experiments, especially when the 7 year old begs you for some of your ‘chocolate bar’. Turns out she liked it. Until I told her it contained crickets. At which point she very much didn’t. However I was rather impressed that a 7 year old who has never seen a cricket knows what one is. (Although she probably thinks it’s a man wearing white clothes and wielding a willow bat). I see therapy in her future. And possibly some interesting questions at parents evening. 

Insects already form part of the diet of over 2 billion people, so I put aside my squeamishness and tried out two different types of bars containing crickets, the SENS bars and the EAT GRUB bars. The bars were sent to me to review but as usual I put exactly what I thought and wasn't paid for the reviews.

SENS BARS

Well, it turns out that the bars look very much like chocolate. Which helps. A lot. 

There are several flavours, some of which I found delicious – pineapple and coconut, peanut butter & cinnamon, some of which I found less so – chocolate & sesame. The ones with the strong flavours were my favourite and the pineapple and coconut ones were very tasty.

The bars are very compact, about 7cm x 5cm and 0.5cm thick. Handy for carrying in a running belt or in a dropbox. The bars contain up to 33 grams of protein per 100g and come in a well sealed packet. The bars are quite crumbly (texture quite similar to some chia seed cocoa bars) but most importantly I couldn’t spot any identifiable cricket body parts, because the bars are made from cricket flour. The crickets are cooled to make them hibernate, washed multiple times, then heated and dried and milled into a powder which is the cricket flour. 

The  cricket flour is apparently mainly tasteless and the flavour is that of the flavoured ingredients. Having not eaten crickets before on their own as a snack, I couldn’t comment on how they taste but the bars certainly tasted of what they were supposed to. 

About SENS Foods

The SENS team is made of of Daniel, Radek and Peter and their plan is to offer the western world a new and alternative diet that is superior, more sustainable, and moral compared to our current diet. They want animals to be treated more humanely and food production to be more rational and alternative sources of protein to be promoted as part of this. They aim to offer a nutritious and guilt free snack without soy, gluten, dairy or added sugar.

If you’d like a chance to try this food of the future, you can support SENS Foods here in their kickstarter campaign: sensbar.com/kickstarter or follow them on social media: 

Twitter: @SENSfoods 

Instagram: @sensfoods

Facebook: @SensFoods 

Website: www.sensbar.com

EAT GRUB

These bars tasted very different to the SENS Bars which goes to show that not all crickets are the same. These were moist and had a similar flavour and consistency to a Clif Bar - if I hadn’t read the ingredients and been assured these were in fact a ‘bug bar’, I’d have assumed it was an energy bar containing standard flour and ingredients. Good if you’re a bit unsure about eating bugs and would like a snack that doesn't necessarily taste different to your usual treats! 

The flavours I tried were Cocoa & Coconut and Cranberry & Orange and both flavours were delicious. The Cocoa & Coconut was moist and tasted exactly like it should - it was tasty and chocolatey. The Cranberry & Orange was very fruity and if it hadn’t been advertised as such, I wouldn’t have known it was a protein bar - it was delicious. 

The bars are also gluten, nut, dairy and soy free with no added sugar.The bars were a bit larger then the SENS bars although still compact enough to carry on the run and contain up to 12g of protein per 100g. 

About Eat Grub

Friends Shami and Neil are the guys who founded Grub, the company having started from a chat at a party! Shami visited Malawi in East Africa and enjoyed tasting local food which included the termites which are caught and roasted at the beginning of the rainy season. Neil was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease at an early age and this debilitating bowel condition requires a selective, enriched diet. Edible insects can be a great help for sufferers, thanks to the abundance of nutrients they contain, coupled with their low levels of complex fats. Together they offer a range of edible insects on their online shop and also a selection of recipes!

Twitter: @eatgrubofficial 

Instagram: @eatgrubofficial 

Facebook: @EatGrubOfficial

Website: www.eatgrub.co.uk

Why eat insects?

• Insects are already a part of the diet of over 2 billion people!
• Insects are highly nutritious and can be a good alternative to the usual sources of protein such as chicken, port, beef and fish. 
• Insects can be high in protein, calcium, iron and contain good fats and zinc.
• Insects don’t have to reared on the land and therefore wouldn’t need land clearing. They also don’t provide the ammonia emissions associated with traditional livestock rearing. They also provide far less GHGs and only a few insect groups such as termites and cockroaches provide methane. It is also a low tech and low capital investment opportunity for all sections of society. 
• They can be fed on organic waste streams - what we would normally throw away! They’re also very efficient and converting feed to protein: crickets need 12 times less feed than cattle, four times
• less feed than sheep, and half as much feed as pigs and broiler chickens to produce the same amount of protein. (Facts provided by SENS Foods)

So if you fancy a protein hit that's a little bit different and a lot more environmentally friendly, then give crickets a try! 

Dr Zak's: Is Salted Caramel Peanut Butter A Thing??

Review: I was sent the peanut butter to review. I said exactly what I thought and I wasn't paid to review it ... trust me, I'm a triathlete.

Peanut butter is peanut butter. You can have it sweetened or unsweetened, crunchy or smooth. That’s pretty much it. ISn’t it?

Then I was asked if I wanted to try some of the Doctor Zak’s. I wasn’t too bothered ... peanut butter is peanut butter. Apart from finding new hand-to-mouth-receptacles to put it on, there’s not much more to comment on than the crunchy/smooth, sweet/not-sweet choices. Right?

Nope. Now Doctor Zaks have added a new twist. Flavours to the peanut butters ...

*Drools all over self*

I chose White Chocolate & Coconut and Salted Caramel to try.

*Drools*

Yep. They’re that good. I like peanut butter, it makes eating a banana more interesting and I have an amazing white fish, coconut milk, peanut butter combination that I cook up regularly but it wasn’t not my go-to food after a run. But now it is.

I really like this. I’m quite picky about my food but this is a product I’ll definitely be buying again. 

Good Points: 

• The peanut butter contains 36g of protein per 100g (tuna contains 23.5g per 100g) and uses partially-hydrolysed whey protein isolate which means your body absorbs this faster.
• It gives me a sweet kick after a run for relatively few calories (and low in sugar at 1.6g per serving) and it’s satisfying. This is a big thing for me as I’m more than capable of clearing the fridge after a long session ‘as a snack’ and then having a ‘proper’ meal afterwards. And it’s easy to stick on a rice cake and scoff.
• Simple ingredients list. Not as simple as the MyProtein peanut butter I like but all things that I’ve heard of.  
• Free from palm oil & artificial sweeteners & Vegetarian Society approved. It’s sweetened with fruit extracts and is also low in salt. 

Not So Good Points: 

• Genuinely unable to choose between the two flavours so end up with a half-and-half rice cake or two.
• It’s expensive at £6.99 for a 450g jar compared to off-the-shelf peanut butters, but cheap compared to a sack of protein powder. 
• The flavours have different consistencies, one is a lot runnier than the other but this isn’t really a problem, more an observation. Make sure you stir the butter before using it as it does tend to settle. 
• The ingredients list doesn’t give much information about the flavourings, it just says ‘White Chocolate and Coconut Flavour’.

Other Flavours Available:

Fresh Raspberry

Apple & Cinnamon

Cherry Bakewell

Fancy a try? Get it from Muscle Food.

Review: My Protein Works - Whey Protein 80 & Genesis PreWorkout

Review: My Protein Works sent me the products to review. I said exactly what I thought and I wasn't paid to review these ... trust me, I'm a triathlete.

As I’m sure you know, there are many benefits to having powdered nutrients available in your kitchen. Gone are the days when protein powder was just associated with muscle men wanting to bulk up. Powdered nutrition is now recognised as something that is easy and convenient when you don’t necessarily want to make a meal or open a can to get your protein requirements. 

However, there are multiple brands on the market and many appear to be selling the same things repackaged. There are several sacks, pouches and tubs in my cupboard all boasting to be the best, have the best ingredients and to do better things than all the others. I haven’t noticed a huge difference between them, I have to admit. In fact, I’m pretty superficial. I check that the product does what I want … and then I go on taste, If I can mix it into cookies or puddings so much the better.

The Protein Works contacted me to ask if I wanted to try 2 of their powder mixes. I considered the flavours (see I AM shallow) … and said yes please. The Protein Works sent me a 500g pouch of Whey Protein 80 (Banoffee Pie) and 250g of Genesis PreWorkout (Tropical Punch). Here’s what I thought:

The Protein Works: Genesis PreWorkout - Tropical Punch flavour.

The Protein Works promotes this product as being ideal for strength, speed and endurance which are all things I value in my running. The strength to keep going and the speed and endurance to knock out a good (for me!) time so this was of interest. 

I don’t tend to have specific pre-workout routine. Before a marathon or an ultra I tend to shovel in a flapjack and possibly a banana and I’m ready to go. However, after reading the (VERY enthusiastic) reviews I decided that if it does what they say, then it’s something I’m willing to invest in. I also like the idea of being REALLY enthusiastic about exercise especially at this time of year when it tends to be a bit chilly, usually raining and I’m expected to go out training in a single layer of lycra. 

What do The Protein Works say?

The Protein Works says that it’s Genesis Pre Workout™ “is a high potency formula that challenges current pre workout sports nutrition boundaries and thinking”. It doesn’t say which boundaries or thinking (hopefully not the banned performance enhancing drugs kind of boundaries) but they’re enthusiastic about it being their “most advanced pre workout formula yet.” 

The product contains over 20 active ingredients including several I had never heard of but which sounded properly scientific and slightly alarming iBCAA, Arginine Alpha Keto-glutarate, Beta Alanine, Citrulline Malate, Siberian Ginseng. 

It sounded AMAZING but I was beginning to think it was probably going to be wasted on me.

Quite possibly the smallest scoop EVER

Expert dosage or beginner dosage?

The scoop size is very small and there’s an ‘expert’ dosage and a ‘beginner’ dosage which scared me a bit. It also asked me ‘to consult with a medical professional as the formula is VERY POTENT.’  But it also made it sound a bit exciting and as though it was going to make a big impact on my running. Was this going to be the equivalent of me discovering fuelling with gels on my long marathon runs? Can I expect 6 minute miles up the MASSIVE hills around here rather than the usual 8s or 9s? Hold onto your Strava records everyone …

How did it taste? 

I’d chosen the Fruit punch flavour and to be honest The Protein Works had nailed this. It was just like the orange and pink wrapped sweets you used to find in the post office as a child! However, it is a VERY strong flavour even with the beginner dosage in the recommended amount of water and - like me - you will probably taste it for an hour afterwards. However it was a great addition to unsweetened banana oatmeal cookies especially for a pre-run snack!

Price: £12.99 for 100g (10 servings)

Find out more info or buy Genesis PreWorkout here

It tasted just like these (Source)

Whey Protein 80 - Banoffee Pie flavour

This is The Protein Works premium version of the most popular form of protein shake. It has a biological value (a value which shows how easily the protein can be used in protein synthesis) which is higher than free-range eggs, chicken or beef. It has over 80% protein content and has been micro-filtered and not heat treated to ensure it’s very pure. It has also won awards; UKs Number 1 brand (trustpilot.co.uk) and awarded ‘Best protein’ at the 2014 FSN awards. 

What did I think?

I’m going to hold my hands up and say I don’t know a lot about protein powders. I use them as they’re an easy source of protein and I know that replenishing protein after a hard workout run is important, especially as you only have a short window of time to do it (within 45 minutes of finishing exercise but the sooner the better) and they’re convenient for me to use especially when I’m pushed for time. 

Often at face value there doesn’t seem that much to choose between the ingredients in the different brands but I was reassured by the awards that this powder had won and the assurances of quality. However, I’m quite shallow about these things and what is important to me is taste. If I’m going to have to use a powder and there are a lot of similar products, then I am going to choose the one that tastes the best to me. 

But did it taste of PIE?

And to me, this product is a winner as the ‘Banoffee Pie’ flavouring actually tasted like banoffee pie. I prefer to have my powders mixed into a natural yoghurt rather than in a  shake if I’m at home and this was amazing. 

Price: £10.99 for 500g (20 servings)

Find out more or buy it here  

Women In Sport: My Protein New Womens Site

When I think of sport at school, I remember 4 things:

• Being made to run around a massive field three times and feeling like I was going to DIE (Ironically the PE teacher called this form of torture The Marathon. But where were the medals, the supporters? The fully laden checkpoints?)

• Having to play hockey in the icy cold on a frozen field and getting my cold fingers hit by hockey sticks. The pain! It was the finger equivalent of stepping on an upturned plug.

• NOT being chosen for the netball team (I had HEAPS of enthusiasm and absolutely no skill at netball.  I had bouncing around like a jackrabbit down pat but apparently this wasn’t a ‘required skill’. Sulk.

• All the girls being herded into the showers, cold and clutching our towels and trying desperately not to make eye contact with anyone else for fear of being branded “A Lesbian” by one of the rough girls. Although what that was we didn’t know, because no-one actually explained, except that you automatically became one if you made eye contact in the showers. Apparently.

Needless to say when I think back to sport as a young woman, it isn’t the most pleasant remembrance and a result of all of these torturous PE sessions was that as soon as I got to 6^th form and was allowed to drop PE ... I did. 

I did no sport at all from about 16 upwards apart from a short foray into rollerblading bringing scabby knees and baggy jeans briefly back into my life. But as soon as I got to university I swapped exercise for drinking. 

As a student, I didn’t think more than a day ahead at a time and poor eating, dramatic amounts of alcohol and a kebab every evening was quite normal. Drinking is the complete opposite of exercise. You feel great while you drink, then feel like hell the day after.  Whereas with exercise you feel terrible while you do it but feel great afterwards. 

Although one thing they have in common is that both running and drinking photos are usually horrendous.

I was out of sports for at least 10 years before I started running again and now I was being conscious of my health there was a whole new set of questions. Although luckily no more shared showers.

• Do I need to eat special food? And if I eat chia seeds do I magically get quicker?
• Do I need supplements? Like special tablets that make my toenails grow faster to replace all the ones that keep falling off?
• What about specific women’s sports and exercise products? Do I need more iron? Are there supplements to help me ‘chick’ the boys across the finishing line? If so, I want THOSE. 

I learned a bit from books and a bit from other people. But the information was a bit hit-or-miss. How do I actually find out what I need? And when your local supermarket doesn’t even stock protein bars it can be a bit of a challenge. 

So when nutrition and supplement websites like MyProtein have a specific women’s section it can be really helpful. The company had been recommended by a couple of friends for sports products and they’d found them to be pretty good.  If you haven’t heard of MyProtein they’re Europe’s number one sports nutrition brand.

I was pleased to find them and even more happy to be contacted by them to say they’d just launched a new Women’s Section of their website and would I like to try a range of the products?

What? Try some women specific sports and nutrition products? Yes please! 

I browsed the new section and was pleased to note it wasn’t garishly pink OR be-decked with flowers OR patronising. And it was easy to navigate. I had a brief moment of “How rude!” when I read that the women’s sports bottles were ‘easy clean’ ... then I checked the main website and noticed that this was a selling point on there too … phew! So they weren’t having a pop at the old housewife cliche then …!

I found having a women’s section great as it helps people like me who aren’t too sure what they should be using and steers them in the right direction towards things that might be of interest. If you’re confident about your sports nutrition, then it probably wouldn’t help you as much but it was definitely helpful for me. 

I didn’t feel it excluded women from the rest of the site, but rather it saved me having to filter the products to make the choices more tailored to me. Maybe if you were more supplement-savvy, you may find this patronising, but for me I found it really useful and it was genuinely helpful.

The selection of products I tested:

Beef Jerky

I was drawn in by the 98?% protein claim and the thought of being able to munch the equivalent of chewy bacon after a long run and not get told off for it being ‘bad for me’. Also quite liked the idea of being able to chew jerky like a trucker.

When it arrived, I was pleased. It was tasty and sweet-bitter. Perfect. I munched it all the way home in the car on the way back from 10 mile race. It was an easy snack and a quick protein blast.

Cost: £2.24 (usually £2.49 - now on special offer)

Would I buy this again? Yes but probably as a treat. I liked it but probably wouldn’t be eating it every day. 

Link: Beef Jerky

Instant Oats Banana flavour:

I loved the idea of banana porridge. I adore bananas AND porridge and had a vision of a flashback to the days of good old banana medicine and ready brek and I was hoping that this would be like a dreamy mix of the two. 

When it arrived, I started mixing it up and it turned a bizarre colour, kind of a ‘Nuclear Yellow’ which was slightly concerning and had me wondering whether I’d be glowing in the dark after trying it. However, it smelled AMAZING. 

The oats are fine milled which is how I like my porridge. Am not keen on lumpy food after 18 years growing up with my Mum’s gravy so the consistency should have been great but I couldn’t get it smooth. This probably says more about my culinary skills than about the instant oats but the random bananary* lumps were a bit offputting and I did end up with a few teeth-stuck-together moments.

The taste took a bit of getting used to as is very bananary* but it had a lovely aftertaste which was totally worth getting my teeth stuck together for. I wasn’t too keen on it as a breakfast porridge but I will be putting it in my porridge oat biscuits and putting a scoop on top of natural yoghurt to give it a bit of a kick!

I’m not entirely convinced that the 3 Bears would approve but it was nice as a change.

*May be making up words again …

Cost: £4.99 for 1kg

Would I buy this again? Probably not. 

Link: Instant Oats

Protein bites

I loved the idea of these snacks. When I come in from a long run or a speed session I don’t always want a large meal. But I LOVE snacking. Running and snacking are two of my favourite activities.  So when I saw Protein Bites I couldn’t resist them.

I’m always ravenous after swimming and have to make sure I have a snack on hand to save me from the petrol-station-chocolate-bar-stops so I popped a packet of these in my bag for afterwards. The bites looked like a cross between pork scratchings and dog biscuits but tasted like creme cheese and onion heaven. 

There was only 110 calories in the bag but the packet really filled me up. I'd definitely buy these again.

Cost: £5.99 for a box of 6 packs

Would I buy this again? Yes … and have just placed an order! So convenient for after a run or a swim.

Link: Protein Bites

COCONPURE (COCONUT OIL) Certified Organic Virgin Coconut Oil

Having read about coconut oil and its unique combination of fatty acids and amazing health benefits including fat loss and better brain function, I have been meaning to try it for ages. So when I saw it available on My Protein I decided to give it a go.

I’m hooked. There are a multiplicity of benefits but just as importantly to me it tastes good. And goes with everything. Who would have thought coconutty* cheesy omelettes were the way forward? They really are. 

Benefits: There are multiple benefits of coconut oil. It's over 80% saturated fat and contains Medium Chain Triglycerides (MCTs) – which are fatty acids of a medium length (rather than the long-chain fatty acids which most people consume regularly) and which can be used by the body as a quick source energy or turned into so-called ketone bodies, which can possibly have therapeutic effects on brain disorders like Alzheimer’s. It can also assist with weight loss as the medium chain triglycerides in coconut oil have been shown to increase 24 hour energy expenditure by as much as 5%. This can potentially lead to significant weight loss over the long term. As well as all of these benefits it can help build muscle, fight infection and lower the risk of heart disease among other things.  Source

*Making up words again …

Cost: £9.99 for 640g

Would I buy this again? Yes. Definitely. Tasted amazing and the pot has lasted me AGES. I’m now using it as a substitute for all the other cooking oils I’d previously used. 

Link: Coconpure Coconut Oil

Peanut Butter:

I LOVED that all that was in this was peanuts. I compared the ingredients to the brand I usually buy which was full of things I didn’t really want in my peanut butter.

It tasted good. The consistency in the tub was slightly runnier and I was used to sweeter recipes (with far too much added salt and sugar)  but it tasted great and was lovely in my fish and coconut oil recipe. (Which basically consists of steamed white fish put in a pan with a tablespoon of coconut oil and a tablespoon of peanut butter and all mushed up. It looks like baby poo (hence why I haven’t added a photo ...) but tastes like unicorn tears and mashed up angels.  

Peanut Butter test: Did it stick my teeth together? Yes. It’s a winner. 

I would definitely by this peanut butter again.

Cost: £5.99 for 1kg (which is a great price and comparable to the most popular supermarket brand)

Would I buy this again? Yes definitely. Ingredients were 100% peanuts compared to my usual brand which has 5 or 6 additional ingredients.

Link: Peanut Butter

Note: my Protein gave me a voucher code and let me choose the products I wished to try from the Women’s Section of their website. So I went mad. Free fitness stuff? To eat? Yes please!!! NOM!

If you are looking to try out Myprotein, you might want to check out Fitness Discount Codes first, to save you some money. For more information see the site here.