Rich Piana’s Real Carbs RICE: Welcome to 5% Nutrition Cocoa Heaven

Updated May 18, 2018: This post now reflects the new name, but the formula is the same as it’s always been!

Rich Piana’s REAL Carbs is about to get a lot more real for you rice fans!

5% Nutrition has updated Rich Piana’s Real Food Rice-based carb supplement, and it’s a piece of cocoa heaven!

Most of Rich Piana’s fans know that was a major proponent of consuming food-based calories. But not everyone has the time to prep whole food meals 4 to 6 times per day.

That’s why Rich Piana’s 5% Nutrition launched REAL CARBS, a carb-based supplement made of sweet potatoes, oats, and yams. Mike absolutely loves it (see our Real Carbs review), but there are two major problems:

The problems with the original REAL CARBS solved with RICE

• It’s a bit too expensive for some. While we still love those sweet potatoes and yams, not everyone wanted to pay the high price.
• Yams are seasonal, and the 5% Nutrition team had no clue how successful the original Real Food (now renamed to Real Carbs) would be. They ran out of stock on the powder and had to wait months to get another batch in! This is also a reason why they had to step down the amount of yams in the updated Real Carbs

5% Nutrition solved both problems in one fell swoop — and simultaneously satisfied Rich’s love for Cocoa Krispies — with REAL CARBS RICE.

The Cocoa Heaven flavor is a chocolate carb powder sourced from a variety of whole food slow digesting carbs. If you love the idea of eating real food, but don’t want to pay for the yams, then Real Food RICE is your next carb supplement.

The details are below, but first check on the best deals, coupons, and sign up for PricePlow alerts:

Our Real Carbs RICE Review

If you don’t want to read everything below, then watch what Mike and CJ had to say about it back when it was titled “Real Food Rice”! (more on the name change below)

Real Carbs Cocoa Heaven Rice Ingredients

Far too often, carb powders are notoriously made from simple sugars that spike insulin and wreak havoc on your blood sugar levels. The difference with 5% Nutrition’s REAL CARBS Rice (and the original 5% REAL CARBS) is that it’s made from complex carbohydrates that have a lower impact on blood sugar and less of a chance of causing the rapid spike/crash/fat storage situation.

• Rice Bran (RiBran 300) (23g)

  

  Real Food Rice Cocoa Heaven offers three different sources of carbs to complete it’s well rounded profile.

  Any weight lifter or aspiring bodybuilder is well versed in the world of rice. It’s quick to cook, super easy on the wallet, and downright tasty when seasoned properly. Gym bros are often split on white rice vs. brown rice though – white has a better texture and shorter cooking time, whereas brown rice may have a lower glycemic index.^[1]

  This is better than rice itself!

  However, white rice has been stripped of some of its vital nutrients due to the bran layer that is removed during processing. For those of you unfamiliar with rice bran, it’s the outermost layer of the rice grain.

  Although it does impart a different flavor and drastically changed the texture, bran is very good for overall health as it’s been used to reduces hyperglycemia in diabetics and decreases cholesterol.^[2,3]

  Improved fiber content!

  This also adds the great benefit of improved fiber content, which is low in the original yam-based REAL FOOD and needs to be supplemented or eaten elsewhere. Another problem solved!

  In the 2018 re-release, 5% Nutrition now uses “RiBran 300” by RiceBran Technologies. Their website states the following:

  “RiBran 300 is a coarse granulated food grade ingredient obtained from the nutrient rich bran layers and germ of brown rice. This is an extra fine granule product that is tan with a nutty taste. RiBran 300 is used in the baking industry.”

• TapiOK (6g)

  

  Nature has the answers, claims TapiOK. This is the second natural maltodextrin we’ve

  TapiOK is a form of maltodextrin derived from 100% pure tapioca starch. It’s hypoallergenic, non-GMO, and certified kosher.^[4] This natural form of maltodextrin is yet another complex carb contained in Real Carbs, and it also adds a bit of sweetness to the mix.

  You may be wondering why is this different from the malto you usually find in weight gainers or post workout formulas? Well, typically all maltodextrin you’ll find in other products are derived from GMO corn and are processed to the point of oblivion.

  Is the GMO-free maltodextrin really that different from the GMO corn-derived malto? When you get down to the actual nuts and bolts of it, not really, but it does matter to many real food eaters. Basically, malto is a complex carb (polysaccharide) consisting of short chains of bonded dextrose molecules.^[5,6] It behaves close enough to a sugar that we don’t really consider it a “complex carb” though, but that’s fine since the rest of this product is loaded with them. A mix of fast and slow carbs is a great thing!

  Overall, TapiOK is simply a more “natural” form of maltodextrin which appealed to Rich’s demand for high quality food.

• Oats (5g)

  A breakfast staple for athletes and lifters alike, oats also made an appearance in Rich’s original REAL CARBS. That version originally had 7g and now has 10g, so Real Carbs RICE has half that amount, which will please those who want a little bit less of the grit.

  Oats are high in fiber and minerals, and something else called “avenanthramides” which may be the compound responsible for oats cholesterol-regulating and cardiovascular benefits. “Avenanthramides” defend the body against oxidative stress particularly in the cardiovascular system that can be brought on by the presence of copper.^[7]

• The Rest

  

  Can Real Carbs RICE Replace our love for sugar-laden (and trans-fat containing!) Cocoa Krisped cereals?! We’ll find out soon enough!

  Completing the ingredient list of Real Carbs Cocoa Heaven Rice is Cocoa powder, natural flavors, cellulose gum, xanthan gum, carrageenan, and sucralose, which is the lone sweetener in the product.

The taste…

Everyone who knew Rich Piana knows that he was a crazy fan of his Cocoa Krisp style cereals (Pebbles included!)… But with 12g of sugar and trans fats (from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil), they’re simply not healthy for most people, even if you train hard. The last thing hardcore bodybuilders need is trans fats – no bueno for the heart there.

So the plan is to get Cocoa Heaven Real Carbs RICE to taste just like them — and word on the street is that 5% Nutrition did a fantastic job of this. Our tub is ordered and we’ll have an in-depth and close-up review soon!

Macros

One serving of the weight lifter’s cocoa krisp-esque powder weighs in at 37g and contains the following nutritional breakdown:

• Calories: 120
  • Protein: 4g
  • Carbs: 20g
    • Fiber: 6g
    • Sugar: 2g
  • Fats: 5g

Why the name change?

5% Nutrition released this when they re-released the original Real Carbs product:

When Rich came up with the name REAL FOOD, we did our search online to see if that name was already taken. In our initial lookup, we did not find any products with the name REAL FOOD. However, there was an existing trademark for REAL FOOD that we were not aware of at that time. The owners of that trademark reached out to us a year ago and notified us of the infringement. They allowed us to sell through our current inventory before we would re-release it under a new name. Rich chose REAL CARBS as its new name.

Takeaway

As 5-Percenters know, you gotta eat big to GROW!

Did one of our favorite supplements just get better? We’re not sure yet, but if it tastes anything like 5% is saying, then Real Carbs Rice has a chance to un-seat the other best carb supplement out there… both made by 5% Nutrition!

Today’s world is a go-go-go society that places a premium on availability, socialization, and hard work. 5-Percenters have their handle on most of that, but getting quality food when on the run is always a pain. Besides Rich Piana’s 5% Meal Plans, this is yet another solution for those of you short on time but in need of quality food.

Real Carbs RICE is yet another convenient source of nutrition that mixes easy in a shaker bottle and tastes great! If you’re going to be consuming powdered supplements multiple times per day due to hectic life schedules,having a quality option at the ready makes hitting your macros and staying on point with your diet all that much easier.

Just wait til you see the review!

The only way to make Real Carbs RICE better? To drink it in this MAMMOTH MUG! Click the image to see all Rich Piana 5% Nutrition Supplements!