Good For You: New World Pumpkin Flax Granola

Good For You:

Though granola is widely perceived as a nutritious food, it is often anything but a health-enhancing addition to the diet. Many commercial granolas are chock-a-block full of saturated fat, refined sugars, and less than salubrious additives like “modified milk ingredients” sulphites and “natural flavourings”.

Thankfully, British Columbia’s own New World Foods has created a line of palate-pleasing organic granolas with nary an additive or refined sugar in sight. What’s more, their granolas—made solely from pure ingredients–are abundant in the super-foods that can help prevent chronic disease and fuel active lifestyles.

I recently tried the Pumpkin Flax variety and was duly impressed. It didn’t have the cloying sweetness some granolas can have—the light touch of organic cane sugar and molasses whispers rather than roars—and its delicately crunchy texture held up, despite lingering far too long in my bowl of Greek yogurt!

Aside from first-rate taste and texture, this granola packs a serious nutritional punch, which is why I am giving it my “Good for You” thumbs up. Its organic barley and oat flakes are teeming with cholesterol-lowering beta glucan, B Vitamins, copper, manganese, selenium, tryptophan and both soluble and insoluble fibres. Not surprisingly, studies indicate regular intake of these two whole-grains can slash the risk for heart disease, breast and colon cancer, type 2 diabetes, obesity and childhood asthma. The cereal’s unique seed combination—flax, pumpkin, sesame and sunflower—also offers a dizzying array of health benefits—in addition to a “smoky nuttiness” that I just loved.

Flax seeds, rich in heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids, can help dethrone diabetes, chase away arthritis pain and even improve your mood. Pumpkin seeds, one of the plant world’s richest sources of protein and zinc, boast anti-viral, anti-fungal and anti-microbial properties. And here’s more good news to digest – sesame seeds, though tiny, are bursting with collagen-boosting, anti-aging, arthritis- relieving copper, in addition to a compound called sesamin, that protects the liver from oxidative damage. Rounding out this seedy quartet of crunchy goodness, sunflower seeds deliver a wallop of Vitamin E, one of nature’s most powerful antioxidants. They are also a rich source of the renowned cancer foe, selenium.

Ok, I know what you’re thinking—the granola’s delicious, über healthy—there has to be at least one drawback. Well um…yes, there is – or, perhaps more accurately, one caveat.

This product, like all granolas, is not exactly low-cal: so it’s best consumed in moderation. I found this easily achieved by mixing it with other healthy foods, like Greek yogurt and low-fat cottage cheese. A particularly memorable experiment involved serving it overtop a grilled banana with Greek yogurt and a light drizzle of clover honey.  In the near future, I’m going to mix it in pancake, cookie and muffin batters for added texture and encourage you to ignite your own culinary creativity with this decidedly groovy, and surprisingly economical granola!  (I paid $4.69 for the 1 pound bag—an exceptional value for an organic granola)

Available in 1 or 2 pound bags

In Victoria @ Lifestyle Markets, the Market on Yates, Oxford Foods, Market on Millstream.

In Vancouver—Save-On Foods, select IGA stores, Whole Foods, Capers.

Visit New World Food’s Facebook page for more info.

Rating – 3.5 stars