The OTB is delighted to share that organic, vegan brand, Human Food has joined as a new member.
Human Food beginnings
Human Food began life in 2014 when founder, Ky Wright was looking for the perfect nutrient-dense smoothie. Having excluded animal products and sugar from his diet, he started his search testing different components, including functional foods, to maximise vitamin and mineral content.
Through the development process Ky identified the need for a product that would be easily stored and portable.
Over the past 5 years he has worked with registered nutritionists, doctors, researchers and professional athletes to create and develop a product range that make a truly positive contribution to the diet with three bars: The Red Bar which includes goji berries, The Yellow Bar which contains turmeric and The Green Bar which contains spirulina.
New products launch
Today the team at HF are launching two new bars:
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An orange bar with 40mg of organic orange oil, providing 100% recommended vitamin C intake
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A White bar that contains over 850mg of Omega 3 oil from 16g of organic walnuts, almonds and cashew nuts.
Nutrition innovation
The bars are unique in that they are the only meal replacement bar that’s organic, vegan and uses whole food sources of micronutrients. They also contain no added sugar.
Each bar contains about 23% of the recommended in take of protein and 50% of key nutrients including Vitamin D, Iron, and calcium and 100% of the recommended Vitamin B12 intake. These tend to be more challenging to meet requirements for in the vegan diet:
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Vitamin B12 in the bars is provided by Quinoa sprout extract
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Vitamin D and is from Mushroom extract (the equivalent of 1.4kg of mushrooms)
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Iron is contained in hulled hemp seeds, organic curry leaf extract, organic spieling and cacao
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Calcium in the bar comes from the hulled hemp seeds, sunflower seeds and algae extract.
Evidence-base
Ky has worked with researchers from Swansea University who carried out a small randomised control trial to assess satiety levels (feeling full) and blood sugar levels in the two hours after consumption. They found that blood sugar levels were lower compared to a control meal (containing the same amount of macronutrients as the bar) and that 2 hours after eating the bar, participants were fuller than if they had had the control meal. You can find out more about the study here.
Whole food vs synthetic micronutrients
Through the research and development process Ky also found that vitamins and minerals from whole food sources can be better absorbed and more bioavailable.
When vitamins and minerals are naturally present in food, it will be alongside other micronutrients, co-factors and enzymes which can work cohesively to enable absorption across the gut wall and bioavailability within the body.
In contrast, synthetic nutrients are taken into the body in isolation, and while they will provide some nourishment, they will not be used in the body in quite the same way as naturally derived nutrients and can, in some instances, pass straight through the digestive system without being absorbed and utilised. Studies have shown increased intake of wholefoods to have significant health benefits while the results of studies on the efficacy of synthetic supplements have been inconsistent, weak or shown no effect.¹
Human Food will soon be working with researchers from Aberystwyth University to assess the bioavailability of nutrients in Human Food bars compared with other meal replacement bars that contain synthetic vitamins and minerals.
Zero waste packaging
Human Food is committed to good environmental practices, as well as being organic, the bars are shipped in cardboard packaging, and are wrapped in compostable packaging too. You can read their principles here.
Where to buy
You can purchase the bars directly from Human Food Website here, either as a one off purchase or subscription.
With each bar retailing at £3.30, it’s worth noting that they are meal replacements rather than snacks and that the ingredient and nutritional quality of the product is a reflection of this cost.
¹https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/synthetic-vs-natural-nutrients#section5 accessed 27/08/2020
