Review: NatureBox Masa Crisps

So, I'm sitting at my desk a bit hungry but not hungry enough to cook something and I reach over and grab the masa crisps. On first taste they taste a lot like Fritos Corn Chips with a little hint of something extra and a little bit of a sweetness to it. The after taste is rather pleasant as well. My biggest thing here is the nutrition. Since these snacks are supposed to be more healthy it's only fair that we compare these crisps to what their competition is.

Nutrition

Masa Crisps

Ingredients: Yellow Corn Masa, Flax Seeds, Soybean Oil, Salt.

Calories: 140

Fat from Calories: 70

Total Fat: 8g

Saturated Fat: 1g

Trans Fat: 0g

Cholesterol: 0mg

Sodium: 170mg

Total Carbohydrates: 16g

Fiber: 3g

Sugars: 0g

Protein: 3g

Vitamin C: 2%

Calcium: 2%

Iron: 4%

FRITOS Original Corn Chips

Ingredients: Corn, Corn oil, and Salt.

Calories: 160

Calories from Fat: 90

Total Fat: 10g

Saturated Fat: 1.5g

Trans. Fat: 0g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sodium: 170mg
Total Carbohydrates: 15g
Dietary Fiber: 1g
Sugars: <1g
Protein: 2g
Calcium: 2%
Vitamin E: 6%
Phosphorous: 4%
Vitamin B6: 2%

In light of the nutrition being very close in range I did a bit more investigating. In the masa crisps I looked more into flax seed and what the purpose is for it. Flax seeds have been consumed since about 3000BC. Some of the health benefits are omega-3 essential fatty acids which aids in having a healthy heart, soluble and insoluble fiber, as well as lignans which has plant estrogen and plant antioxidants. Eating flax seeds daily can cut down on cancer, cholesterol (lowering your LDL) and type-2 diabetes.

Nutrition for Flax Seeds

Amount per 1 tablespoon

Calories: 55

Total Fat: 4.3g

Saturated Fat: 0.4g

Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g

Monounsaturated Fat: 0.8g

Cholesterol: 0mg

Sodium: 3mg

Potassium: 84mg

Total Carbohydrates: 3g

Dietary Fiber: 2.8g

Sugars: 0.2g

Protein: 1.9g

Calcium: 2%

Iron: 3%

Magnesium: 10%

According to a bit of research I did on sunflower oil, which is what was used in the masa chips, it's overall healthier for the heart than corn oil but only if it's oleic sunflower oil which has a whopping 83.6g of omega-6 fats. Linoleic sunflower oil contains 45.4g of omega-6 fats so that's the second best, corn oil coming in last with 27.6g. When you compare the two options it's clear that on first sight they appear to be neck and neck in nutrition. If you break the components down and look deeper into where the nutrition facts are being appropriated you can get a better idea of what the true healthy option is. 

These two products taste remarkably the same however if I were to choose between the two I would be better off with the masa crisps. The only change I would like to see is, perhaps, cutting the salt content in half. It doesn't matter which option you look at, 170mg of sodium is a lot for chips that are supposed to be healthy. When I taste the masa crisps I feel like the sodium could definitely come down a bit and not ruin the integrity of the flavor thus overall maintaing the healthy factor. 

Resources

Corn Oil vs Sunflower Oil: http://oilypedia.com/corn-oil-vs-sunflower-oil-choose-the-best/

Benefits of Flax Seeds: http://www.webmd.com/diet/benefits-of-flaxseed

Review: NatureBox Sample

In a quest of finding something awesome to watch on YouTube I came across a ton of reviews on something called NatureBox. While I was watching I thought "gee, these people sure sound like they are getting a cut of the proceeds, I wonder how many of them actually tried this product and gave an honest and unbiased review". After going to their website I saw that there was a sample box being given out for free and all you pay is $2 for shipping so I decided to dive in. You receive four single serve packages and one regular size package.

First of all, what is NatureBox? This company prides themselves on creating snacks that are better for you than commercial snacks that we typically eat. They don't add preservatives, a ton of salt, hydrogenated oils, fructose corn syrup or other additions that just aren't healthy for you. All of their snacks are nutritionist approved and best of all the snacks are delivered directly to you. You can subscribe for $19.99 a month for 5 snacks, $29.99 for 10 snacks and it goes up from there. Every month you are sent items from your pantry list (a list where you can add items that you want to try). You can either design your own box selection or you can let the company compile a box of random snacks to send. The subscription can also be set to send every other week, every month, every two months and on from there.

I received my sample box and here's what I got: Jalapeno Cashews (single serving), Masa Crisps (single serving), Cranberry Medley (single serving), Sweet Blueberry Almonds (single serving) and Dark Cocoa Nom Noms (full size). I haven't tried them all because the single serving bag is not resealable but I did try the almonds and they were so good! I am not a large fan of blueberries but I found that the almonds were amazingly paired with this flavor. I actually want to add the full bag to my shipment in the future. The second thing I tried were the nom noms. The regular size bags are resealable so I felt comfortable trying them. One cookie was so rich and chocolatey. I enjoy chocolate, especially dark chocolate, and I felt that hit the spot. The flavor was completely on point and due to the richness the one cookie per serving feels justified.

I am going to try the other packs over time and I might do mini reviews to list what my experience was of them. So far I'm impressed and even if the other three completely suck I feel comfortable continuing the membership and choosing my own items for the June box. I highly recommend this product, especially at the trial price of $2. You get a lot of product for that little amount of money. Every sampler comes with a different supply so you may not get the same items I did but it's completely worth it to try. I look forward to more experiences and reviews with this company.

Nutritional Facts

Dark Chocolate Nom Noms

Ingredients: Rolled oats, almonds, for added freshness (grape juice, rice dextrin), honey, sugar, canola oil, dark chocolate flavored chips (sugar, vegetable fat {palm, palm kernel}, cocoa processed with alkali, dry buttermilk, soy lecithin {an emulsifier}, natural flavors), cocoa powder, egg whites, unsweetened chocolate, unsweetened coconut, brown rice syrup, natural flavor, pumpkin seeds, cocoa processed with alkali, salt.

Serving Size: 1 piece

Servings Per Container: 5

Calories: 100

Calories from Fat: 45

Total Fat: 5g

Saturated Fat: 1.5g

Trans Fat: 0g

Cholesterol: 0mg

Sodium: 20mg

Total Carbohydrates: 12g

Dietary Fiber: 1g 

Sugars: 5g

Protein: 2g

Iron: 4%

Sweet Blueberry Almonds

Ingredients: Almonds, sugar, natural flavor, red cabbage juice extract (for color), beet juice concentrate (for color), soy lecithin.

Serving Size: 1 packet

Calories: 160

Fat Calories: 110

Total Fat: 12g

Saturated Fat: 1g

Trans Fat: 0g

Cholesterol: 0mg

Sodium: 0mg

Total Carbohydrates: 9g

Fiber: 3g

Sugars: 6g

Protein: 6g

Iron: 6%

Cranberry Medley

Ingredients: Pomegranate flavored dried cranberries (cranberries, sugar, sunflower oil, natural flavor), acai flavored dried cranberries (cranberries, sugar, sunflower oil, natural flavor), dried blueberries (cultivated blueberries, sugar, sunflower oil).

Serving Size: 1 packet

Calories: 100

Fat Calories: 0

Total Fat: 0g

Saturated Fat: 0g

Trans Fat: 0g

Cholesterol: 0mg

Sodium: 0mg

Total Carbohydrates: 25g

Fiber: 2g

Sugars: 20g

Protein: 0g

Masa Crisps

Ingredients: Yellow corn masa, flax seeds, soybean oil, salt.

Serving Size: 1 packet

Calories: 140

Fat Calories: 70

Total Fat: 8g

Saturated Fat: 1g

Trans Fat: 0g

Cholesterol: 0mg

Sodium: 170mg

Total Carbohydrates: 16g

Fiber: 3g

Sugars: 0g

Protein: 3g

Vitamin C: 2%

Iron: 4%

Jalapeno Cashews

Ingredients: Cashews, Jalapeno seasoning (salt, dextrose, maltodextrin, spices, onion powder, torula yeast, green bell peppers, garlic powder, natural flavor, spice extractive, calcium stearate {to prevent caking}.

Serving Size: 1 packet

Calories: 160

Fat Calories: 120

Total Fat: 13g

Saturated Fat: 2.5g

Trans Fat: 0g

Cholesterol: 0mg

Sodium: 220mg

Total Carbohydrates: 9g

Fiber: <1g

Sugars: 1g

Protein: 4g

Calcium: 2%

Iron: 10%

Is Your Friend Really Your Friend?

We have all had friends that we thought was actually pretty decent and then they do one thing that makes you re-evaluate the entire friendship. How do you know if that friend is actually loyal and one of a kind and how do you know if that friend should be let go? I have a few ideas on this.

1. Say something bad happens to you, like a family member dies. You are upset, distraught, and need someone to talk to so you talk to your friend. If that person listens to you and never says that they're sorry for the loss or worse, they don't respond at all, that person is not really your friend. Lets expound on that a little. This is a friend that you talk to all the time and they confide everything about their family in you. There's nothing that's been off limits in their life and you had conversations with them and was even there for them when one of their family members were sick. If this same friend, in return, chooses to sit by idly knowing you're in pain this is not someone who regards you as a real friend. They only care about themselves but when it's flipped around they don't care about you.

2. They highlight your negative traits. For instance, lets say that you are usually a pretty bubbly person and you laugh and joke a lot of the time. One day you hit a funk and don't feel so bubbly and it bleeds into the next day. In spite of the fact that you are normally bubbly and the funk is out of character that friend only highlights the fact that you aren't happy for a couple of days and exacerbate it saying that you are always upset and mad. Now, you know this is incorrect and most around you know this is incorrect but they insist on harping on the couple of days you were upset while ignoring who you truly are. This kind of person is overly critical over everything you do while not looking at the fact that they have had bad days and you were there for them without judging. This is not a true friend, this is someone who will, over time, make you feel like something is wrong with you. Very toxic.

3. Inconsiderate. It's time to go out. The outing is your idea so you decide that you want to be nice and pay for your friend. So, you go out and have a wonderful time. At a later date that friend decides that they want you to go somewhere with them and they plan the entire afternoon/evening/night. This friend doesn't pay for anything (even though you've paid for them in the past) and on top of that never asks you where to eat or ask you for your input for what to do for the outing. You are pretty much on the hook for any and all costs accrued to you that allows you to keep up with that friend. Here's another example. It's their birthday and you take them out and paint the town red. You have a good evening and, again, because it's their birthday you pay. The time comes for your birthday and that same friend wants to take you out (their idea). They don't pay for anything and you pretty much feel like you are on their itinerary of what they want to do but they never ask your input on the activities or dinner, you are just assumed to be paying your own way. That's not a true blue and genuine friend. Mother manners dictates that if you are friends you should do things for each other, not a one sided situation of you doing things for them that they would never do for you in return. Another mother manners moment is if someone asks you out to celebrate your birthday it should be pre-determined that they are footing the bill. Who pays their own way on an outing that you didn't approve ahead of time and have no real say so over? It doesn't make much sense but that person is so selfish and self absorbed that they will convince you that what they're doing is sane and how things are done.

4. Movie night. The time has come to watch movies and you are excited. You ask your friend what's on the agenda for the night and they tell you the titles. Now, the titles are a part of a genre you don't really dig too much but you ride along with it anyhow because you just want to hang out with them. On the next movie night gathering you ask if it's possible for you to choose a movie to watch. That same person says no, that's something that is reserved for people that they're dating and friends don't get to choose movies on movie night. This is not an even friendship, this is someone who's only interested in doing what they want to do and they just so happen to want company and since no one else is available they contact you. On the flip coin you want to watch a movie and you invite them, only they decline because they don't want to watch what you watch but insist and assume that you will always accept their invitation. Poor manners.

These examples are just a few out of many but should give a general overview of what type of signs to start looking for. Every single example has happened to me with the same person and at this point we aren't really speaking. I am taking this time to really evaluate everything that's happened over the years and most signs indicate that I have tolerated and allowed way too much to pass by while being blind and not wanting to see what the truth is. Life is too short to allow someone to treat you with such disrespect. If this person has been like this for a long time the probability of saying anything to them and getting a decent response is very slim, unfortunately. In my case this is a male friend and anytime I want to bring up my grievances with how he treats me overall he retorts with the fact that he feels I want more than a friendship and the issues I have (those listed above and more) are not that important and that I'm overly sensitive. This is a reaction that you have to watch out for. That person is incorrect, you aren't being overly sensitive they lack empathy to understand how you feel and care enough to maybe adjust how they're acting. Don't waste too much time on friends like this, you could be cultivating a friendship with someone who truly appreciates and gives a damn about you.