Noshu Low Carb Pancake Mix: Product Review
Nothing beats a warm stack of fluffy pancakes in the morning to set the tone for the weekend. But it’s also nice when this doesn’t require too much effort. Could our product of the day be a healthy partner in making this happen?
Noshu Low Carb Pancake Mix @noshufoods markets itself as being 99% sugar free and low in carbohydrates. It was recently spotted by one of our members in our Facebook Eat Savvi Group (a free group with loads of practical healthy shopping and cooking tips – click here to join!), who after trying and liking it themselves, asked us for our review. At an initial glance it looked promising, but is it worthy of Eat Savvi approval? Join Eat Savvi Dietian Tuo as we find out how it rates.
Ease of preparation 4.5 / 5
It comes in 240g cartons, which is a small quantity when compared to other regular pancake mixes. You’ll need to add 1 cup of water and 1 tablespoon of butter. The lid is very easy to open and the bottle is quite easy to shake with. I used coconut oil instead of butter when cooking these for my family, as coconut oil has healthier medium-chain fatty acids. You can try using olive oil as well if you’d like, it may just add a more herby flavour. After mixing the water and coconut oil/butter, the batter becomes quite thick. I found it a bit hard to combine the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients down the bottom of the carton despite my best shaking efforts, however I found it easy to use a long utensil to do this.
Prefer to watch a video? Watch our review of Noshu Low Carb Pancake Mix now!
Nutrition 5/5
This pancake mix brings me straight back to my uni life. Why? Because it contains a very unique ingredient – resistant starch (RS). I was first introduced to it during my university studies almost 10 years ago, though it’s not a new concept. It was first discovered in the early 1980s. Recently it has been appearing more and more in a variety of food products in Australian supermarkets due to its unique nutritional character. Resistant starch is a type of starch (carbohydrates) that resists digestion in the small intestine and at least partially ferments in the large bowel. It acts as a great prebiotic to nourish our good gut bacteria in the large intestine. It has quite a few health benefits including improving insulin sensitivity and increasing the feeling of fullness.
For Noshu Low Carb Pancake Mix, the resistant starch comes from tapioca starch. Simply put, compared with digestible starch, tapioca starch causes less blood sugar and insulin spikes after meals.
Pros:
Compared with other regular commercial pancake mixes
Almost no sugar
Less carbs
30% less calories
30% less sodium
Less impact on your body weight and blood sugar levels
Resistant starch and chickpea flour improves the gut microbiome
The same amount of pancake fills you up quicker and makes you feel full for longer
Cons:
If eating a large quantity, it will still affect your blood sugar level and weight, although this impact is less than regular pancake mixes.
Taste: 4/5
It has a very nice vanilla flavour. Compared with regular pancakes, Noshu Low Carb Pancakes taste slightly dry though. Therefore, they’re best served straight away while still warm as the main ingredients resistant starch and chickpea flour will make the pancakes become a bit stiff when they turn cold.
I normally use these topping when eating pancakes to minimize my refined carb and sugar intake:
nuts,
yoghurt,
lemon juice,
fresh/frozen berries,
and natural peanut butter/nut butters.
I tend to use less jam, honey and marmalade.
For this breakfast, I had about a third of the pancakes that were made from the mix, which is about 3-4 pancakes, and I was pretty full.
Conclusion
If you are a pancake lover and looking for a healthy, convenient option, Noshu Low Carb Pancake Mix should be your number one pick. Paired with healthy toppings, pancakes made from Noshu Low Carb Pancake Mix will leave you feeling satisfied and keep you fuller for longer. You’ll just still need to be mindful of the quantity you have.
Have you tried this product yet? Let us know what you think!
References:
Postprandial carbohydrate metabolism in healthy subjects and those with type 2 diabetes fed starches with slow and rapid hydrolysis rates determined in vitro
https://eprint.ncl.ac.uk/file_store/production/56413/C6D128DC-844F-497D-81CD-1A5378CFA26E.pdf