Vitatops--should I order them?

I've heard a lot about vitatops, muffins, etc., and I really want to order them just because I've heard so much about them, but I'm trying to save $ at the moment, so I really don't want to waste money on something that might not be worth it.

I bought the Vitalicious brownies at my supermarket today, and they were good, but not extremely delicious if you know what I mean. They were great nutritionally though-- 24% of my daily fiber and 4 grams of protein each, but they were still too pricey for me, and I don't miss my desserts THAT badly... Are the Vitatops similar in taste to the VitaBrownies? (Unfortunately, the supermarket only sells the VitaBrownies.)

yeah they are definitely very similar in taste. a little less dense than the brownies, more of a cake like texture. if you weren't thrilled with the brownies i'd save your money.

but i LOVE the brownies and tops!

I have to say that Vitamuffins are yummy and obviously nutrient-packed.  However you can really overload your body if you have too many of these things.  There is such a thing as too much of a good thing.

I have had a lot of experience about creating a good diet and sometimes what I have come across is that some diets contain too much fiber. 

• Too Much Fiber Prevents Absorption of Protein + Nutrients in the Large Intestine

What happens when there is too much fiber in the diet is that it can prevent the absorption of proteins and nutrient-contained lipids in the large intestine.  Sure, you'll get carbohydrates from food because they've already been absorbed before they hit the large intestine. So you'll really be adding carbohydrates to your diet nutrient %, if you add too many Vitamuffins/High Fiber (25%+).

• Increases of 12grams of Fiber can "Negate" Calorie Totals

There's a known fact that fiber will increase the "thermogenic" effect, (which is the basis to the "Negative Food Theory”), which is if you eat more mass (grams...etc.) it will take your body more energy to digest the food.  Research shows that with every increase of 12g of fiber 100 calories or so is negated from the daily total.

For example:

2000 Calories with 25 grams of fiber = 2000 effective calories

2000 Calories with 36 grams of fiber = ~1900 effective calories

Now, don't let me change your mind.  You can use this to your advantage if you have an "off day" - LOL.  Anyways I would say that if you already get adequate fiber (25 grams) than stick to that and find a way of working in Vitamuffins to not go too far above the 25 gram recommendation.   Too many of them can give you stomach cramps as well, especially those with the Sugar Alcohol in them.

what do you mean by the negated thing? does that mean only 1900 calories get absorbed so technically your body thinks it only ate 1900 instead of 2000? isnt that a good thing?

Wow, I never heard of those before but I checked them out they look awesome. I'm like you though they are really expensive! I really want to try them now though hahaha, I love corn muffins! I'm adding that to my wish list for when I start my new job.

Okayyy finally someone to answer your question :)

The chocolate brownies taste just like the 'deep chocolate' vitatops. It's the same mix, just in a different form and it has nuts on it. The chocolate cake is the same way. I've had both.

There are several others that I do like, and I do order them all the time. I wait until hungry-girl announces a 'free shipping' promo code in her newsletter  (because shipping is next day and not cheap - you actually just missed out on one yesterday. she announces every month a new code that is only usable for 2 days). My favorite vitatops are the banana nut and dark chocolate pomegranate. :) I've also had the corn ones that were good next to some chicken for dinner. And the multigrain one was good too.

Hope that helps! You can PM me and ask me about specific ones if you have questions. I've had some that wern't worth the money spent.

To list a few I personally didn't enjoy:

Triple chocolate chunk

Double chocolate dream

Fudgy peanut butter chip

Well the negative-thing is a result of a biochemical reaction in the body.  It takes energy to get energy out of food.  Processing fiber is like processing food that doesn't have energy in it - therefore it still uses the energy need to process it.  This doesn't mean that if you eat pure-fiber that you'd just lose weight...that would be rather dangerous.

Vitatops are very good - dark chocolate is the best

 

Reason for editing: just added the last line.

I should add that some people CAN tolerate over the 25g RDA to women of fibre (and it's 30g RDA in men) but it's a case of trial and error. Never increase fibre drastically without appropriate intake of fluids too and aim to get a mix of fibres - insoluble fibre, or the fibre that forms bulk and regulates acidity and PH in the gut, and soluble fibre, or the fibre that helps regulate blood sugar and cholesterol. For a list of fibre sources, take a look here.

Just an honest opinion on my part:  These products are overpriced and over glorified.  If you don't get the mixes, you are supposed to freeze the product. Even if you do the mixes in "fresh" baked, you are advised to freeze what hasn't been eaten.  I don't care about the "fiber" and "vitamins" debate; the cost is more than they are worth.  Chances are good that if you didn't like the brownies mix, you are not going to like the other o-line products.  Opinion, sinc you need/want to save money, pass on this  VitaTop muffins; again over priced and over glorified.  I can't think of another similar product off the top of my head, but whole grain/whole wheat bread, english muffins with a light spread is a better taste, provides you vitamins and minerals.  Again, just an opinion.

Original Post by opeca64:

Well the negative-thing is a result of a biochemical reaction in the body.  It takes energy to get energy out of food.  Processing fiber is like processing food that doesn't have energy in it - therefore it still uses the energy need to process it.  This doesn't mean that if you eat pure-fiber that you'd just lose weight...that would be rather dangerous.

 Yeah, but US nutritional info. has already taken that into account - which is why all your foods are listed as lower calorie than the exact same food in Canada (where they don't subtract out the fiber calories). 

I think chocolate Vitamuffins are delicious, but they are ridiculously expensive. I have to think about my budget, & I much prefer to have a drink at happy hour over a box of Vitamuffins.

It's really easy to whip up a chocolatey cake-yness for a similar calorie & nutritional value e.g.

Flax"muffin"

1 Tbsp cocoa powder

1/4 cup (or 2 large) egg whites

2 Tbsp flax meal (or ground flax seed)

2 pinches salt

Splenda, stevia, davinci's sugar free syrup to taste

ground chocolate or chocolate chips, if desired

Beat the s*** out of the ingredients

Microwave 1-2 mintues until puffy like a muffin

Frost with fat free cream cheese beaten with the sugar free sweetener of your choice.

Eat with a multi-vitamin = Vitamuffin! Get it!??!1?!

 

really? I didn't know that. ty. ;)

I am a huge fan of their product. I usually order them in blk using the hungrygirl.com free shipping option (which is announced once a month in their newsletter)....I have had all of their products and really love them. I actually bought a few boxes of the corn muffins yesterday b/c there was a sign saying they were being discontinued and were on sale for 2 dollars and change....