I was happily surprised to see that LoveLula carried Kiki Health, and I jumped right in to try some of their products! Kiki Health specializes in all types of superfood supplementation that may help boost your health or spice up your smoothies. They carry everything from probiotics to camu camu to hemp seed oil. I decided to try out their SBO (soil based organisms) probiotics, baobab powder, and acai powder which I’ve actually never tried before!
Kiki Health | Body Biotics*
Kiki Health offers an SBO probiotic formula of 8 highly effective friendly bacteria super-strains together with prebiotics. This type of probiotic doesn’t need refrigeration and is a more natural kind. Meaning, before we became the clean-freaks we are today, we got our daily dose of probiotics through the soil/dirt on our vegetables. Nowadays our soils are so depleted, that we wouldn’t find this type of bacteria anyways.
You can listen more about this on Kimberly Snyder’s Podcast!
Body Biotics don’t have a definitive number of how many millions or billions there are. Kiki Health describes it as:
“When activated with water or juice, these”alive and thriving” organisms, trained in nature to withstand the harshest of environments, awaken and begin immediately to multiply. Therefore, listing a CFU amount on the Body Biotics™ label would be inaccurate and misleading. Each individual will experience a multiplication of the number of organisms in one capsule of Body Biotics.”
You can take a capsule before or with food, but you can also sprinkle it onto your food instead, as this type of bacteria is more resistant to temperature.
Kiki Health recommends you to follow a regime where you take one caps a day for the first week, the second week you up to one caps twice a day, and the third week one cap three times a day. You can go so far as up to six caps depending on your condition. After that, you should maintain the recommended dosage of one-two caps a day.
Because I don’t suffer from any gut or other health problems I’ve actually only been taking one per day. I did take two for a week but without feeling indifferent. It doesn’t mean they aren’t good, just means they don’t do much for me at this point in my life as I’ve recently tried several different probiotics and don’t notice a difference. Although my thoughts about probiotics are that you don’t need to take them every day and that there will come a point where they lose their effect because your gut is in balance, I still wanted to test these out.
Unfortunately though, because my body is in balance, I don’t have anything good to say about them, but I don’t have anything bad to say about them either… My only complaint is that following the advice of taking the recommended dosage of two-three caps a day can become very expensive in the long run. I personally think one capsule is enough for maintenance and I like that these are as close to nature as possible.
Kiki Health | Acai Powder*
There’s something I have to admit to you… I am an acai bowl virgin! While I definitely had acai in a raw food bar or similar, I’ve never really tried the actual product itself. It’s a rare little berry that is only found in the Amazonian rainforest and, compared to other berries, it’s composed of almost no carbs and is mostly made out of fats. With a very high ORAC-value, they are said to be extremely high in antioxidants like anthocyanins, a type of antioxidant that supports balanced cholesterol levels; and it is also high in many forms of phytochemicals, that may slow or reverse aging processes.
While most recipes call for the frozen berry packs, I was still very excited to try the expensive powder form. To my surprise, I learned a few pointers on the way that none of the acai bowls on Instagram could tell me by just looking at the pictures: 1) Acai does not make your smoothie vibrantly purple and 2) It barely has any taste, at least none that affects your food.
From one retrospect, this may be all pros. Meaning, you can add a boost of antioxidant to any liquid food without worrying that it will ruin the taste, texture or color. But I personally found it a tad boring as I was expecting more. Maybe it’s naive of me and I should’ve read all the acai smoothie recipes closer… But I always thought those lilac acai bowls tasted differently and got their color from the actual berry? It does give some color, but it’s mostly purple bits floating around.
I’m always a realist when it comes to superfoods, and though there’s many positives provided outside thanks to this rare little berry (like helping and supporting jobs in the Amazon – which is amazing!), I’m not sold that it’s a necessity to have in one’s diet or that it will boost your health immensely. I personally wasn’t deeply amazed by the value of the prize and how plain the berry actually is. There’s not a lot of information on its nutritional value either apart from the obvious that brands like to brag about. And there are a few blanks on other minerals and whether it has B-vitamins or not? Also, brands say different things. All we know is that acai berries are a source of good fats and are high in vitamin A, calcium and potassium. But based on those three last nutrients, one tablespoon of carrot powder looks more nutritional adequate than acai. And you can always get your fats from flax and chia seed without breaking the bank.
There’s not a lot of information on its nutritional value either, apart from the obvious that brands like to brag about. And there are a few blanks on other minerals and whether it has B-vitamins or not? Also, brands say different things. All we know is that acai berries are a source of good fats and are high in vitamin A, calcium and potassium. But based on those three last nutrients, one tablespoon of carrot powder looks more nutritional adequate than acai. And you can always get your fats from flax and chia seed without breaking the bank.
With that said, I do like to play around with superfoods and I don’t see anything wrong with it! Acai may be a cool addition to your smoothies amplifying its ORAC value, and because it’s so versatile you can sprinkle it onto almost anything! I’ve been adding it to my raw food balls, soygurt, smoothies, and even warm (not hot) soups!
Kiki Health | Baobab Powder*
After trying the Baobab oil from Ooh!, I got smitten to try the actual food! Baobab powder is made out of the pulp from the Baobab fruit. The pulp is naturally dry and doesn’t require heating of extreme temperatures to make into powder, and therefore it’s considered a “raw” product. The tree itself is often referred to as the “Tree Of Life”; as its bark, leaves, fruit, seeds and roots can be used as a valuable source of food or in traditional medicine.
Baobab powder has a tangy citrus taste that mixes well with smoothies and even yogurts without ruining your meal, like say Maca. It’s rich in Vitamin C, Calcium, Magnesium, Potassium and B-vitamins. It’s quite low in fats and protein but is a great addition for active people promoting faster recovery and energy. It also has got some prebiotic qualities.
However, I’m still being a realist here, and any claims of it being more loaded with vitamin C than oranges are quickly dismissed by me. As I know that I can manage to eat 1 orange (150g), but I cannot chug in 100 grams of Baobab powder – which is this whole jar – to get the same amount of vitamin C! The same logic applies to acai powder and some of its nutritional claims. Comparing nutritional value per pound is not always the smartest thing.
Despite it not being able to compete with acai’s antioxidant qualities, Baobab fell a bit more in my taste. It’s got a good price point and actually has a taste that can be added and complimented in other foods. I personally like to add it in my vanilla soygurt bowls as it gives it a more citrus taste that I like and sweetens it without being an actual sweetener. You can add a tablespoon in your smoothie, but the taste can be somewhat lost. Nutritionally, it compares a bit plain to other foods to be real. But because it’s got an actual good flavor to it that you can experiment with, I’m considering repurchasing Baobab powder when I’ve finished this bottle!
(Quickly after I mentioned about this product on Instagram, it seems to run out of stock at LoveLula)