Amalfi

In the constant search of ways to put energy into our bodies in a sustainable, healthy and natural way the RRR team came across a new product being advertised pre-launch on Instagram, interested in finding out more and trying the product we got in contact.

Getting down to the nitty gritty of it all, Murry Shepherd from Amalfi nutrition informed us that their aim was to “produce a product range low on the glycaemic index, using the best ingredients to steady the release of sugars for a stable release of energy” no big sugar spikes to you and me and blended to be kind to our bellies. As a cyclist you tend to eat pre-packaged energy foods that have a lot of sugars in, then we stop and have a coffee and cake. As we are now being told sugar is the devil's drug, it does lots of bad things to you and with a diabetic cyclist in the family who used to race with a pocket of mini mars bars for fuel it’s easy to see the result of having too much.

The three bars they make all are produced with the same 5 key ingredients oats, raw honey, almond butter, coconut oil and dates but the quantities are changed depending on the use of the bar. To finish the recipes each bar has its own special blend of superfoods and supplementary ingredients to round things off. We at RRR towers are not going to worry ourselves about the science off how it works, especially as Amalfi has gone to the effort of getting together with nutritional experts to do that for you, but more about what the product is like to use.

The Prima Bar

Our Prima bars are designed from the ground up to kick-start your body and prepare you both physically and mentally for the ride. We’ve combined the ideal carbohydrate and nutrient mix with natural, healthy energy sources to give you a sustained release of energy while preventing a spike in blood sugar. A Prima bar 15 – 30 minutes before your ride will leave you feeling strong, stable, and focused.

Ingredients: Oats – Raw Honey – Dates – Almond Butter – Coconut Oil – Moringa – Matcha Green Tea – Rice Protein – Cinnamon

The Durante Bar

Our Durante Bars are designed to maintain a steady release of energy from a blend of nature’s most nutrient filled energy sources. We’ve developed the recipe using a balance of complimentary ingredients that work together to keep you feeling strong, level headed and your stomach in good working order. Consume a Durante bar every 30 mins and stay fuelled up for the ride ahead.

Ingredients: Oats – Raw Honey – Dates – Almond Butter – Coconut Oil – Banana – Maca Root – Cacao Nib – Beetroot – Chia Seeds – Himalayan Pink Salt

The Dopo Bar

Our Dopo bars are designed to nourish your body and help you recover after a long ride. The recipe is packed full of protein, healthy fats, vitamins and minerals with anti-inflammatory and healing properties. We have adapted it from the ancient Golden Milk Latte which is immune boosting, healing, calming and helps to stabilize blood sugar. Have a Dopo Bar after finishing your ride and give your body what it needs to recover quickly and naturally.

Ingredients: Oats – Raw Honey – Almond Butter – Coconut Oil – Flaxseeds – Blueberry – Chia Seeds – Rice Protein – Turmeric – Black Pepper

To start with the packaging looks great and when club riders saw them like magpies they wanted to investigate, all the information you could require is on the outside of this easy to tear open packet, it needs to be easy to tear open cos let’s face it not everyone is happy to spin down the road hands off the bars. It’s easy to get one out of your back pocket as well and for food on the move these are great plus points (I did practise retrieving one a few times whilst out on the Sunday club run). Now we had these bars as recommended, before, during and after a ride. For those that like a traditional flapjack the Prima is going to be the one you are going to feel the most at home with, the taste is similar (and very nice as well) and so is the colour, now the next two bars stray ffom what you are going to be expecting, the Durante has a coco taste and again this is pleasant but the Dopo will throw you, with more notes of eastern foods coming in with more than a hint of turmeric and black pepper. The Dopo did split opinion with the testers, one of us felt the tumeric taste lingered a bit too long and was a bit too strong but this is going to be a personal thing like Marmite.

Now after using them we can happily say we didn’t go hungry and they performed like other whole food energy bars we like, they are kind on our bellies as well and we didn’t feel any surges of sugar that you can get with other bars. The place where these bars fall a little short with us would have to be the texture, all three of them are a bit more crumbly than we are used to, this may be due to the lack of added sugars and we found that the Durante did need a bit of extra moisture for it to be swallowed. We must praise Amalfi for this inspirational look into energy food and there are going to be a lot of people out there who are going to find the low sugar recipes a god send and I hope it goes well for them.

The bars can be purchased direct from Amalfi at three for £5.99 including a mixed box I think we can all agree that’s a great price. For more information about the benefits of the ingredients and sale visit them online.

https://amalfinutrition.co.uk/