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Plant Chat: David Ingalls, MS, RD, of Zing Bars

Sharon Palmer

It’s such an honor to have David Ingalls, MS, RD, co-founder and CEO of Zing Bars, on my blog today! David earned his Masters degree in nutrition science from Bastyr University in 2004 and completed his dietetic internship at the Swedish Medical Center in Seattle in 2005. He is now a registered dietitian and has served as a nutrition counselor at the Seattle Healing Arts Center over the past seven years, where he counsels patients with issues ranging from diabetes and heart disease to weight loss, food allergies and digestive disorders. David launched Zing Bars in 2008 as a way to provide a nutrition bar that has a smart balance of high-quality protein, slow-burn carbs, good fats and dietary fiber. They are free from allergens, like gluten and soy protein, additives and preservatives, and GMO ingredients. They come in vegan and vegetarian varieties, too. Known for their great taste, Zing Bars have a creamy nut or seed butter base; pea, rice or whey protein, and wholesome ingredients like quinoa, gluten-free oats and nuts.

I think it’s so cool that dietitians are leading the way to creating healthful products today! Listen in on my interview with David to learn more about the inspiration behind creating Zing Bars!

How did a dietitian become involved with developing a food product?

It was a natural extension of my nutritional counseling practice. Everyday I was counseling patients to eat small, frequent meals, including 1-2 wholesome snacks comprised of low-glycemic carbs, quality protein, healthy fats and at least3 grams fiber. I worked in a busy, multi-disciplinary clinic in Seattle (Seattle Healing Arts Center, https://www.seattlehealingarts.com/) and the clientele essentially mimicked the broader population, over half of which is either diabetic or pre-diabetic. Blood sugar disregulation was rampant and people needed healthy snacks to help control hunger and provide consistent energy throughout their busy days. I went to Bastyr University, which is the country’s leading natural medicine university and there was a huge emphasis on whole foods nutrition. Hippocrates’ famous quote, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food” was a constant refrain. I would continually suggest snacks such as hummus and carrots or almond butter with an apple. In Seattle’s fast-paced, high-tech urban milieu, people had difficulty preparing food and following through on these recommendations. In regular communication with fellow Bastyr grads, we lamented the lack of follow through and knew, “If there was just a convenient, packaged product that fit our requirements, our patients would have a much easier time with compliance.” One of my colleagues had been involved with a bar company a few years prior and we thought, “Why not us?” We developed three flavors initially and sold them out of our counseling offices. Many of our colleagues in Seattle sold them as well, and it started as a small, side business for us. Unbeknownst to us, some of our patients asked local health food retailers to stock Zing Bars. Back in 2008, gluten-free was a novelty and retailers were looking for products with clean labels, higher fiber and protein and no additives. Zing Bars fit the bill and suddenly we were getting calls from local natural foods retailers, smoothie shops and boutique gyms. It was all an organic extension of the recommendations we were giving to our patients and our desire to make healthy eating habits easier to adopt.

What was that journey like for you, as a dietitian? 

Not without hurdles, as you can imagine. Learning about the grocery trade, distribution, brokers, margins, magic price points, MCBs, TPRs, end caps… It was a whole new world and we were completely unprepared for the business part. I started the company with three other dietitians, and I was the only one with business experience from a t-shirt company 20 years ago, so I emerged as the general manager. We had to create our systems from scratch and learn on the fly, not something I would recommend to a future entrepreneur. But throughout, we were guided by our passion for nutrition and improving peoples’ lives. That’s why we became dietitians in the first place, because we love food and nutrition. I remember reading a statistic during my masters program that dietetics has the smallest cost-to-income ratio of any profession, meaning the expected income compared to the time and cost of the education is lower than any profession. You go into dietetics because you have a passion for it, not to make a lot of money. This love of nutrition has fueled our mission of making the best tasting, most nutritious bars on the market. This passion helps guide us through the challenges and keeps us excited about what we’re doing.

What is your own nutrition philosophy? 

Borrowing a phrase from the business mentor Trevor Blake, my philosophy is “Change a little, change a lot.” Small dietary changes add up to tremendously positive health outcomes. It starts with a simple glass of water in the morning. Then a small breakfast, eating a snack in the afternoon to keep cravings at bay and weight down, or exchanging your white bread for whole grain. When working with clients who have strong emotional, cultural, religious and familial connections to food, you can’t come out of the gate and advocate quinoa and kale. You have to meet people where they are comfortable and nudge them out of their comfort zone toward healthier options. As their energy improves (or they begin to lose weight, feel better, have better digestion…), their motivation increases, and it becomes easier to make further changes. For most of us, myself included, healthy eating is a process that takes months and often years to dial in. Small changes make a big difference. They also add up over time with sometimes miraculous results in well-being and health. So I don’t subscribe to a specific diet or eating plan or regimen. Personally, I follow the 90-10 rule. 90% of the time I eat a variety of nutritious foods: fruits, vegetables, beans, grains, nuts and lean protein. 10% of the time, I eat whatever I want, including pizza, ice cream, or a big ol’ slice of my kids’ birthday cake.

What is unique about Zing? How can it contribute to a healthful diet? 

Zing differentiates itself in a number of ways.

1. We steer clear of common allergens. When we started in 2008, we were the only gluten-free bar on the market. We don’t use soy protein either, which is a by-products of the refined oil industry and very difficult to digest. 9 of our 12 flavors are dairy-free as well. Many of our customers like whey protein for its high biologic value, so we have three flavors with whey.
2. We embrace Nutrition Science as our guide and consequently created Zing Bars with an ideal ratio of macronutrients, as defined in the Accepted Macronutrient Distribution Range (AMDR) established by the Institute of Medicine (IOM). Zing bars contain an average of 45% carbohydrate, 35% fat and 20% protein. Note the attached brand info sheet, ‘Where do Nutrition Bars Fit In?’
3. Clean label. We use the best ingredients we can find, no additives or artificial ingredients of any kind.
4. Equally important is the type of the macronutrients. The carbohydrates in Zing Bars are low-glycemic and high fiber (4-8 grams per bar); the protein is complete, containing all 9 essential amino acids, and the fats are predominantly heart-healthy monounsaturated from nuts and seeds.
5. Highest quality ingredients. Nuts, nut butters, rice and pea or whey protein, quinoa, organic blueberries, real 56% dark chocolate as opposed to waxy, bland compound chocolate.
6. Taste. We intentionally made sure Zing Bars taste delicious. We elected not to add kale or greens powder or use non-caloric sweeteners like stevia or monk fruit, because we wanted the bars to taste good enough that our patients would enjoy them. Providing nutritious foods that actually taste good not only makes it easier for people to make healthier choices, it changes perceptions. We tell our clients every day that nutritious foods are not bland or bitter. Part of our mission is to prove that nutritious foods actually taste good. Today’s consumers, especially the younger generation, don’t want to sacrifice flavor for nutrition. They know they don’t have to compromise, and Zing wants to be leading the charge for nutritious, flavorful packaged foods.

 

Tell us your five favorite plant foods that you simply can’t live without? 

1. Nuts and Seeds
2. Berries—all kinds, totally love them
3. Leafy greens, kale and spinach in particular
4. Bananas
5. Pickled vegetables—all kinds from pickles to sour kraut to kim chi

What’s a day in your professional life like? 

As of last year, I closed my private practice to focus on Zing full time. My days are very busy managing the business. As dietitian I am the nutrition expert and make sure that we hold true to our core nutrition principals. As CEO, I oversee our production, sales and distribution, marketing, branding/messaging, operations and investor relations. Like many dietitians, I tend to be a perfectionist, so I keep tight control on product quality and our communications (with customers, vendors and investors).

We asked David to share one of his favorite plant-based recipes. Enjoy!

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Joy Balls (Vegan, Gluten-Free)


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  • Author: The Plant-Powered Dietitian
  • Total Time: 15 minutes
  • Yield: 8-10 servings 1x

Description

One of my favorite recipes is Joy Balls. They’re easy to make, very nutritious, incredibly satisfying and can be stored in the freezer for a few weeks. Kids love them too, which is always a good litmus test for taste. In many ways they were the precursor to Zing Bars with their nut butter base. I came across this recipe 15 years ago during a 3 week elimination cleanse called Food is your Best Medicine put on by Charlie Cropley, ND in Boulder, CO. As fate would have it, I met my wife during the course, so there’s a personal tale behind this recipe as well. I’ll save that story for another time… 


Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 16 ounce jar almond (peanut or cashew) butter
  • 1/3 16 ounce jar sesame tahini
  • ½ cup honey or maple syrup (more or less as per preference)
  • 3 tablespoon crushed walnuts
  • ½ cup coconut flakes
  • ½1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • ½1 teaspoon cardamom 

Optional

  • Finely chopped nuts such as pecans or Brazil nuts as well as pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds can be used to replace or accompany the walnuts.
  • 12 tablespoons carob chips or dark chocolate chips can be added as well. 

Instructions

  1. In a large bowl, mix almond butter and tahini, then add the honey which tends to firm up the mixture. If you’re using a jar of the tahini and almond butter, do not add the oil that collects on top as it will make the mixture too soft.
  2. Then stir in seeds, nuts, carob and spices.
  3. Finally, form the mixture into small balls. Pour the coconut flakes onto a separate plate and roll each ball individually in the coconut flakes, coating thoroughly. Resist the temptation to eat them all at once as they are quite filling! EnJoy. 
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1

 

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