Lily Pops by Karma

Reminder: All my reviews are from products I personally purchase because I want the item.  I am not sponsored and I don't ever receive free items.  These are 100% legit reviews.  If you make a purchase from a link in my review, I may receive a small commission, but it's always after the fact.  First and foremost is me buying a product, liking it, and wanting to share my excitement with you.

Here's a link to the product.  

Those of you who know me know I try to limit my processed foods. That makes it all the more crucial which processed foods I "go for" when I do go for them because they're going to be few and far between.

So let me start with a mini diatribe... I rarely ever refer to myself as a "vegan" because although I don't eat animal products (99.9% of the time), the word vegan doesn't fully explain my way of eating (or "diet"... but I hate using the word "diet" because it has the connotation of something you're ON... like, "what diet are you on"... when in fact "my diet" really means "how I eat on a daily basis for my entire life"). Okay, where was I? Oh yeah, rather than refer to myself as vegan (even if it's true), I say "whole foods plant based" because those four words truly sum up what I strive for with my way of eating. "Whole foods" as in foods that are as unprocessed as possible... so buckwheat rather than buckwheat flour, oranges rather than orange juice, almonds rather than almond butter, etc. And "plant based" as in foods that are from plant sources, so fruits, vegetables, legumes, grains, nuts and seeds rather than animal milk, cheeses, meats, etc.

Okay, now that we have that out of the way... yes, I do try to limit my intake of vegan, but processed foods. And when I do want something like that, I take care to look at the list of ingredients. What I'm looking for is generally things like... is palm oil the first ingredient, what's the fat content, how much added sugar is there, how many chemical-sounding ingredients are there, etc?

So now we come to Karma brand water lily seed snacks. Mmmmmm...

An entire package (about the size of a lunch-pack potato chip bag) is 130 calories. For someone who tries to keep their daily calorie intake between 1300 and 1600, 130 takes up a lot of calories, but it's still very do-able for the occasional treat to accompany a salad, soup, or sandwich.

Fat content is 7g which is again a little higher than I'd like but totally understandle for a luxury snack and also totally doable. I try to keep my daily fat content under 30g so while this is almost one-fourth of my daily, I can adjust elsewhere to compensate. Carbs are 15g, and I know these are empty or simple carbs, but again... it's a treat, not a meal. 4 grams of protein... that's a lot for something like this in my opinion.

Okay, now the ingredients: water lily seeds, olive oil (not palm... yay!), yeast, salt and pepper. (see the actual product for the proper wording of the ingredients).

This fits RIGHT IN for what I allow myself in the way of "snack", "cheat", "occassional treat".

And the taste? LOVE THESE THINGS! They are fresh tasting (not stale... and I got no hint of rancid oil like when opening some other processed foods). I love the flavoring. If you're not a fan of salt, you might find them a bit heavy in the salt department but I'm kind of a saltaholic so it was all good for me. The size is just right. When I eat chips, I want a lot of them. I am completely satisfied with the amount in each bag.

This product makes me want to explore what else this company is producing. Well done, Karma!

Here's a link to the product.  If you purchase from this link, I may get a small compensation.  Important to note that my opinions are always from items I've purchased myself FIRST.  I never get paid to write an opinion.