Wellness Wednesday: Sneaky Pete’s All Natural Oat Beverage + A Giveaway

Hi friends! Wednesday already! Such a short week!

If you missed it yesterday, after months of researching, recipe testing, planning and organizing, I finally published my very own “Five Day Real Foods Detox” program. No starvation, no pills, no scary powders; just real, wholesome food. Be sure to check out yesterdays post for more information!

Today is an exciting day for many reasons, one being a giveaway at the end of this post, but stick with me first! Today we’re talking fiber.

What is fiber and why is it important?

Fiber is a nutrient found only in plants and plant-based products: fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds, whole-grains, etc. It is undigestible and unabsorbable by our bodies, thus fiber is responsible for keeping our digestive system moving, fending off constipation and disease, lowering cholesterol, and regulating blood sugar, as well as helping us maintain a healthy weight.

There are two types of fiber, soluble and insoluble, and both are equally important.

• Soluble fiber: helps lower blood cholesterol and blood sugar; found in oats, barley, peas, beans, apples, citrus fruits, etc.
• Insoluble fiber: helps regulate our digestive system, moving foods through the body, thus preventing constipation; found in whole grains, beans, nuts, fruits, vegetables, etc.

While most plant-based foods, contain fiber it is important to eat both kinds of fiber to ensure adequate health.

So how much is enough?

Men should consume ~38+ grams of fiber per day, women should consume ~25+ grams per day.

So how can you get in enough fiber throughout the day?

• choose a high fiber cereal, at least 5+ grams of fiber per serving
• choose whole grains over refined, enriched, or white grains, things like whole-grain pasta, brown rice, oats, whole-grain bread
• increase your fruit and vegetable consumption
• choose beans, lentils, and legumes over animal based products
• snack on nuts and fruits instead of chips, crackers, and sweets
• give Sneaky Pete’s All Natural Oat Beverage a try!

What is Sneaky Pete’s All Natural Oat Beverage you ask!?

I was contacted by Sneaky Pete’s a few weeks ago, requesting that I try and review their product so today I want to share my thoughts.

Sneaky Pete’s Natural Oat beverage is an all natural, vegan, gluten-free beverage, containing 3 grams of fiber and only 40 calories per serving. Most of you know, my problem with juice is the high amount of sugar and no fiber. As stated above, fiber helps slow down the absorption of sugar, thus making this product a better choice than juice for blood sugar regulation. Sneaky Pete’s also is void of any artificial colors or additives, making it a good alternative to empty calorie sports drinks, as I talked about a few weeks ago.

So what did I think of the product? Being very sensitive to a sweet taste, this product is  slightly too sweet for my personal preference, but the company was nice enough to send me six different samples and the rest of my tasting panel really enjoyed it! My dad even left me a PostIt note next to an empty bottle that said, “Yes!” The husband has been enjoying sips here and there for the past week and according to my mom, “that’s really good!” If you like a sweet taste with few calories and a little bit of added fiber than this product is definitely for you!

Sneaky Pete’s has been nice enough to provide a free sample for one lucky Guard Your Heart/Gypsy Dietitian reader! There are three easy steps to join in on the  giveaway:

1. ‘Like’ Guard Your Heart on Facebook (located on the right hand side of of this site) or search Gypsy Dietitian on Facebook (if you have already done so then awesome!)
2. Subscribe to the Guard Your Heart email list (in the top right hand corner)
3. Comment that you have done both in the comments section of this post

This drawing will be closed on Friday (08/05/2013) at 11:59pm and a lucky winner will be drawn to receive a free sample of this tasty beverage mailed right to your front door!

I hope you’ll join in! Have a great day!

Good health!

 

Tagged as: fiber, health, natural oat beverage, sneaky pete's