Because You Need to Know What a TigerNut Is
Usually, when a food pitch crosses my desk, I hold my reaction until I’ve read the whole thing … or at least until I’ve gotten through the full description of the product.
But sometimes, a pitch comes through and I realize I don’t even care what it is — I’m so intrigued by the name that I want to check it out (almost) regardless of what the actual product is.
Enter: Organic Gemini TigerNut.
Right? Right?
So, a TigerNut is … not anything you’re thinking it is, I can almost guarantee. It’s actually a small root vegetable (not a nut … of any sort) that originates from Africa and is currently cultivated in West Africa and the Mediterranean. It comprised a large percentage of our Paleo ancestors’ diet around two million years ago, according to Organic Gemini, and it’s an excellent source of fiber.
While you can eat TigerNuts raw, right out of the bag … well, that’s not exactly my favorite snack. However, this company offers a variety of TigerNut products so you can get the health benefits in ways you really like. Like raw granola (the Banana Cacao is especially killer), smoothie mix (just mixed the vanilla with a banana, some frozen blueberries and a little coconut water — yum!) and horchata (which comes in a variety of flavors and was positively awesome). There’s also flour (which I haven’t tried out just yet) as well as oil for cooking. All products are organic, gluten-free, Paleo, vegan and kosher.
Wanna talk nutrition? We can do that. Here’s a quick look at the info for Cacao Bean Smoothie Mix, Banana Cacao Raw Granola and the Unsweetened Horchata.
So, you can see that fiber is a bit of a shining star and there’s other good stuff in there, too (potassium, iron, a bit of protein, low sodium). You’ll want to watch the sugar content on the granola, but since I consider granola more of a treat than a staple, personally, I can live with that.
Oh, one other thing — you know how we’re all about pre- and probiotics over here? TigerNut products are also a super source of Resistant Starch, which is a prebiotic fiber that resists digestion and fuels probiotic bacteria.
So, ‘fess up: Do you ever buy a product based solely on the name? It’s not necessarily a bad thing — that’s how I discovered dinosaur egg pluots! —Kristen