Today on the Regained Wellness supplement review I’m looking at something that’s not necessarily a supplement but based around healthy snacks. Naturebox is a subscription service geared around providing healthier snacks. So in this NatureBox review, there is a podcast version that you can listen to below and then the blog all contained into one. So listen, or read, at your own leisure! Just don’t pull a muscle if you try to do both at once..
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What Is NatureBox?
As I mentioned NatureBox is a subscription service which seems to be really popular right now. People love to have a monthly delivery of a specialty item whether that be cheese, cured meat, collectible toys, clothes or Golden Girls commemorative collectible plates. That last one might be more in my interests though…
With Naturebox.com you sign up and they give you your first month free. After that, it’s a recurring monthly fee that’s only around $5. When you refer friends you also get $20 credits towards your snacking desires. Having a membership gets you 40% off snacks.
They are primarily based in the States but I believe they have spread to Canada. I used NatureBox while living in the States and they have very quick shipping and delivery. Your first order is a sample box that contains a variety of the type of snacks they carry from starchy ones to dried fruit to nut snacks to give you an idea of everything they carry.
What’s Included?
There’s a lot to cover because as of right now there are over 100 different snacks available. Instead of listing them all I will list out the categories that NatureBox provides to help you narrow down the type of snack you prefer. These categories include:
- Gluten free
- Vegan
- Non-GMO
- Less than 150 calories
- Low fat
- No sugar added
- Less than 10g sugar
- Less than 15g carbs
- Good source of protein
- Good source of fiber
- Low sodium
How Does it Taste?
At this point of the review this is where I would give feedback on the taste of the product but with over 100 this is a little difficult, like Kim Kardashian trying to solve a Rubix cube. I have tried a good amount and am more preferential to the nut based and granola snacks. They offer a lot of fruit chew type snacks which I am not a big fan of. It’s not their particular snacks, I just have never enjoyed those type things.
They offer lots of dried fruit snacks, and cookie and brownie bites. There are also some nice cheddar cheese crisps and yogurt pretzels which are popular.
Issues With NatureBox
I have to be honest and say I was disappointed with NatureBox in that some of these snacks I would not consider healthy alternatives. In my mind, I thought I would be getting more organic, minimal ingredient type snacks that only used the best ingredients. As I looked through the ingredients I was seeing things that also show up in inferior junk food snacks you find on convenience store shelves. They use some added sugars, refined vegetable oils like canola and soybean along with palm kernel oil.
A top health tip myself and others give is to ditch the vegetable oils as they can lead to inflammation in the body and create a misbalance of omega 3 to omega 6. Here’s some of my info on how important omega 3 is and why you want to avoid omega 6 and vegetable oils:
NatureBox prides itself on not having artificial flavors or ingredients but I noticed “natural flavor” popping up in quite a lot of them. I recommend reading “The Dorito Effect” and/or listening to my podcast interview with author Mark Schatzker to learn why natural flavor is not any different than “artificial flavor”.
This is not to say all the snacks fall into this category but I would double check the ingredients if you’re looking to avoid some of these things I’ve been mentioning.
What’s Best About NatureBox
If you’re thinking of trying out NatureBox and are wanting to do it as healthy as possible I would focus on the snack choices that are more protein based. They have a bunch of great choices like pistachios, blueberry almonds, various jerkies, trail mix and different nut medleys. Nuts honestly are one of the best snacks you can have.
I would also focus on the dried fruit choices they have, which are a lot, but just be aware they still contain natural fruit sugar which you might need to be aware of if you have diabetes or blood sugar issues.
Final Thoughts On NatureBox
Like I mentioned, NatureBox wasn’t exactly what I was expecting. I had been hoping for a more organic, raw ingredient snack company and NatureBox still uses some inferior ingredients. They are a better choice than commercial junk/snack foods but they have some items I would steer clear of.
Once I looked past that I realized there were some good choices that you can be confident are a good health choice and not detrimental. As I said, I would focus on the protein based snacks and the choices that have as few ingredients as possible and free from vegetable oils and natural flavors. Be vigilant and look through the ingredient lists which are included on the website for every product.
NatureBox is far from perfect but can definitely be used advantageously when you know what to look for and what to avoid.
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