[00:00:00] Jenn Trepeck: Welcome to Salad with a side of Fries. I'm your host, Jenn Trepeck, talking wellness and weight loss for real life. We're here to clear up the myths, misinformation, bad science and marketing to teach you how to eat and how to cheat. Are you ready?

[00:00:20] Zora Benhamou: I'm having salad with a side of fries.

[00:00:23] Jenn Trepeck: This week we're talking about Javvy Coffee.

[00:00:26] Now, I haven't seen this one, but Sarah sent it to me on Instagram. She said, I keep seeing these everywhere. I would love to hear a nutrition nugget about them. I've never had them, but they sound tempting. Well, Sarah, here we go. So I went to their website. So it looks like there's protein, coffee, coffee concentrates, protein, creamer, and syrups.

[00:00:48] Now their marketing. So it says bold flavors, better fuel. I don't know that all of them are better fuel. Maybe that's about the protein one. They highlight some flavors [00:01:00] including chocolate, raspberry, truffle, salted caramel eggnog. I wonder if that's seasonal brownie batter. S'mores, so interesting flavors.

[00:01:10] Then it says, protein coffee, perfect for customizing your favorite iced coffee, helping you get healthier, lose weight, and reach your fitness goals. That's a lot of claims in there, and I am curious how they deliver. So then it says 100% real coffee, no added sugar, naturally derived. Now I'm pausing here because I think this just makes me curious because we saw those flavors and now they're saying no added sugar naturally derived.

[00:01:39] So my spidey sense is like, well, what sweeteners are they using? And it also makes me think that they're using maybe potentially some like super chemistry, food science, and calling it naturally derived. That maybe is also my skepticism. We will see. For [00:02:00] the coffee syrups, it says, indulgent javi's, naturally flavored coffee syrups, specially designed to bring out the best in your daily coffee rituals.

[00:02:08] Perfect for crafting coffee shakes, mocktails cocktails, and more. We probably need a different nutrition nugget to explore those, so let me know if you want that. The site goes on to say delicious coffee in seconds, zero calories, zero sugar. Again, this is just making me wanna know what is in there because it still may or may not be an optimal choice for us.

[00:02:32] They say the about the protein creamer. Again, I feel like protein creamer probably has to be its own nutrition nugget. So let us know if you wanna dig into that one. I'm really curious as always about who's behind the company and I think unfortunately, there's no about page or even any about info.

[00:02:51] Nothing tells us about who they are. The story behind the brand, you know, it's part of me. When that happens, I'm always like, what are you hiding? [00:03:00] So then I was digging, looking for some information in the support section I saw an FAQ. One of the questions was, what is Javvy Coffee? That one they say at Jaffy Coffee, we are committed to making custom coffee that's convenient without compromise.

[00:03:16] We aim to improve not only the lifestyle of our consumers, but also the world we all live in. We offer several customizable coffee products from our flavored coffee concentrates to our protein coffee. So I don't know, as I read this, I have no idea what they're doing to improve the world. I haven't found that anywhere in their site, at least so far.

[00:03:36] So we still don't know much until we dive in. I wanna start with the coffee concentrate, because my guess is that's the base for their other products could be wrong, but that's my guess, so, oh, okay. So then in looking at the coffee concentrate, we get more marketing language. It says incredibly convenient.

[00:03:53] Add one to two teaspoons. I'm noting that for serving size mental note, one to two teaspoons of Javi [00:04:00] to water or milk for drinks in seconds. Ultra affordable Javi costs less than K-cups. Drip and store-bought coffee rich, bold flavors that cater to every coffee lover's preference. Any style of coffee you crave in seconds, hotter, cold.

[00:04:13] And then now I see it says, ethically sourced, committed to regenerative farming practices and ethical labor. So I suppose this is how they're improving the world. Then it says, stays fresh for months, always ready to enjoy. They offer a happiness guarantee, so it says a Javi. We're dedicated to providing flavorful, convenient coffee solutions for those who value taste without compromise.

[00:04:38] Our products are crafted for coffee lovers seeking easy to make guilt-free beverages, saving you time for what truly brings you joy with Javi. Enjoy coffee your way, backed by our 100% happiness guarantee. And in response to that, I sort of sit here and go, I don't know. I, I mean, it's just all marketing language and so until we see the nutrition facts, [00:05:00] I don't know, so, okay.

[00:05:02] Looking at the concentrate, serving size is one teaspoon. So note before they told us that we are to use one to two teaspoons. So serving size, one teaspoon five calories, zero grams of fat, one gram of carbohydrates with zero grams of fiber, zero grams of sugar. Protein isn't even listed on this one. On the micronutrients, there's virtually nothing.

[00:05:24] There's like 10 milligrams of calcium and 55 milligrams of potassium. So again, before we get to the ingredients, that serving size piece, one to two teaspoons is what they told us to use. And so based on that. I don't know. My personal opinion is that these nutrition facts are a little bit misleading.

[00:05:41] Like I wonder if, and I don't know for sure, but I wonder if this is a case of like 0.5 grams of something rounding down to zero in a single serving at one teaspoon, but that once we do two teaspoons, it's no longer zero. Again, I'm [00:06:00] completely speculating, but it's curious to me. So then the ingredients, okay.

[00:06:05] This is the original flavor coffee concentrate made from filtered water and coffee. That's the coffee concentrate. Then caffeine Aquaman, which is a trademarked ingredient. It says in parentheses after that, calcium from marine algae, and I'm confused why they added this. Because in the ingredients, that would be the only source of the micronutrients, but then also in the nutrition facts, the micronutrients were in such negligible amounts that like, I don't really know, and they aren't marketing any of the benefits from this ingredient, at least from what we saw.

[00:06:41] So I'm not really sure on this because I'm not really sure. And I'm also curious because they keep touting all the flavors. I wanted to look at a flavor. I chose the vanilla one. Frankly, it gets a little weirder now. So the French vanilla concentrate has the same serving of one teaspoon, but now we have zero calories, and then all the rest of the nutrition [00:07:00] facts are exactly the same.

[00:07:01] The ingredients, we now have coffee concentrate made from filtered water and coffee. Then we have natural flavors, caffeine. The Aquaman for that calcium. So we have no idea what the natural flavors are that they're using to get the vanilla. So for some people this may be a deal breaker. The fact that this one says zero calories and the other one without flavoring had five calories is a little suspicious to me.

[00:07:27] It also seems like they're doing this one teaspoon serving size on purpose for the nutrition facts versus helping us really understand what we're getting. So. I don't know. It kind of adds to this piece of like, we have no idea who's behind this company, and I don't know, there's like too much that doesn't make sense to me.

[00:07:50] Now, of course. Curiosity kills the cat. So I also wanted to look at their protein coffee, and now they're getting into a whole bunch of other claims. So now they [00:08:00] talk about energy endurance, muscle building strength In all of these marketing claims for the protein coffee, it says they're using premium whey protein.

[00:08:11] 10 grams of protein per serving. Then again, more claims, energy, heart health, antioxidants, amino acids, appetite control, immune support, gut health, metabolism, mental clarity. Now, all of those claims have an asterisk by them, and it's one asterisk, and yet I cannot see where the single asterisk connects to, like what that's supposed to mean.

[00:08:33] There is a double asterisk lower on the site where they give the standard FDA disclaimer, so. Maybe that's what it's supposed to connect to, but it's not done properly, so I'm not totally sure. Okay. Protein, coffee, original flavor. Serving size is one scoop. We have 70 calories, one gram of fat, of which it's 0.5 grams of saturated fat, five grams of carbs with less than one gram of fiber, less than one gram [00:09:00] of total sugars, and then it says zero grams of added sugar, 10 grams of protein, more micronutrients than the concentrate.

[00:09:08] Still not really much to speak of. On the ingredients we have, whey protein concentrate, 100% Arabica Instant Coffee, natural Flavors, purified, Acacia Hydrolysate, medium chain triglycerides, pink, Himalaya, salt, and red M Okay, let's look at this for a second. It's about one and a half ounces of protein. Do with that what you will.

[00:09:32] Less than a snack. Certainly, I don't know. I don't think that's really moving the needle, but if it makes you happy, okay. If lactose is an issue for you, take note that this is whey protein concentrate, because concentrate has lactose, Arabica Instant coffee. I like that one. I. Have a different sort of functional coffee that uses the Arabica instant.

[00:09:55] Natural flavors are still here. Again, for some people that might be a deal breaker. The [00:10:00] purified Acacia Hydrolysate is a prebiotic fiber that's used as a sweetener. I don't know. I'm kind of neither here nor there on that one. I leave it up to you. As with everything, it's up to you. The medium chain triglycerides.

[00:10:13] They're not my favorite pink Himalayan salt. That's probably the source of the little bit of minerals that we see in there, but again, it's such a small amount. The re M is another sweetener. Sore M is derived from stevia. We've talked about this before in some other nutrition nuggets when it's used as an ingredient.

[00:10:33] Again, this one for some people may be a deal breaker. It is like 200 to 350 times sweeter than sugar. So again, it can certainly keep us addicted to sweet and craving sweet and those kinds of things, so you get to decide for you. By the way, all of this was for the plain flavor. Interestingly, the French vanilla version of the protein coffee, everything is exactly [00:11:00] the same, which is kind of curious to me, but I suppose we have that caveat of the natural flavors and so there you go.

[00:11:08] So overall, where do we land on Javvy Coffee, Sarah? I think I'm a mat on these. If I was personally going to use them, it would be on occasion. You know, I guess their thing is about being maybe more cost effective than going to a coffee shop to get a flavored coffee or you know, an iced coffee or those kinds of things.

[00:11:31] But I also think now there are so many options for home that I don't know, we haven't dug into all of them, but part of me thinks there's probably ones with cleaner ingredients or fewer ingredients, or maybe more transparency. So, I don't know. I'm a meh. As always, you get to decide for yourself and if Javvy Coffee works for you, awesome.

[00:11:52] I'm also a big fan of pick your battles. Like right now, your iced coffee may not be the battle you wanna [00:12:00] pick and that's a thousand percent. Okay, so Sarah, I hope this was helpful. There you have it. Friends, my take on Javvy Coffee. Well, as always, everybody, I'm your host, gen tre. Connect with me on Instagram or all social media.

[00:12:14] I'm at Jenn Trepeck J-E-N-N-T-R-E-P-E-C-K. Website is a salad with the side. fries.com. Pick your platform. Send a message. Send a message to this week's featured guest, Zora Beamus. Zora, thank you again for being here.

[00:12:28] Zora Benhamou: Thank you so much for having me. It's so much fun.

[00:12:31] Jenn Trepeck: Likewise, and friend, if you're not already become a member of the Happy Healthy Hub, you'll go to a salad with the sat fries.com/membership.

[00:12:39] This shows your support for this podcast, this community, and of course, your health. On top of this week's episode, in full video with behind the Scenes. Bonuses your 24 7. Ask me anything. You'll get this week's recipe for the vegan Caesar with shave Brussels sprouts and crispy chickpeas. Well, friends, that's it for today's episode of Salad with a Side of Fries.

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