Brach's Candies (and others)

[Beetle]

My girlfriend and I were in the store shopping and we came across some "low-carb" gummy fruits made by Brach's and some hard candies (Baskin Robbins and some butter-toffees) that were also "low-carb." The label shows:

Total Carbohydrate: 21g
Dietary Fiber 0g
Sugars 0g
Sugar Alcohols 21g

Am I correct that this means that there are 0 net carbs? It seems too good to be true, honestly.

The ingredients are:
Maltitol, Erythritol, Gelatin, Grape Juice from Concentrate**, Citric Acid, Ascorbic Acid, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Mineral Oil, Carnuba Wax, Sucralose (SPLENDA), and vsrious dyes.

Can we eat these? I also saw low-carb peanut butter cups that seemingly had 0 net carbs, but I'm in disbelief. I don't want to blow my low carb lifestyle, but these sound and look really good.

[Piasabird]

Well, I don't know what stage you're at with your Atkins journey. You most definately want to avoid low carb candy during the induction phase.

And you might want to do a search on Google or on the board for "sugar alcohols" like Maltitol and Erythritol. At the least, your symptoms will probably be that you'll feel gasey and bloated. Whew! And if you eat more than a couple of these candies your stomach will hurt like **** and you'll most likely be on the pot the rest of the day. Definately not fun at all. :sadblinky

Your best bet is to eat healthy natural foods and to stay away from the frankenfoods.

So, now I've thrown my 2 cents in, for whatever it's worth. I hope you have a nice low carb day! :wave

[AllieCat0817]

It is too good to be true. You might find that sugar alcohols cause you to have cravings and stall.

[allierw26]

Eat them if you want...but you might want to be REALLY near a bathroom afterwards. I made the mistake of eating some sugar free jelly beans and gummy bears once....it had an EXTREME laxative effect on me (and I am NOT kidding!) Yikes! I know I will NEVER eat SF candy again!

[Sarah1341]

I tried some once and they did not stall me. I definitely wouldn't go overboard eating them. Maybe as a once in a while treat (again, depending on what phase of the diet you are in). I agree with the PP re: effects to the tummy for some of the candies, but this only happened to me if I ate more of them than I should have.

[Momtofour]

A friend gave me a LC carmel to try. She warned me of the laxative effect and boy was she right. Use very sparingly! I will not have them again. I only ate 1/4 of the caramel and it gave me stomach upset.

[Moochiecat]

As it's been pointed out quite clearly and graphically here...lol...it's what's in the low carb item that you want to examine, and the carb count is really secondary to that. Just because it says 0 carbs doesn't necessarily make it ok to eat.
This goes for candy and any other frankenfood...check the ingredients, and be aware of what they can do to you, as in the case of sugar alcohols, and whether they are appropriate for the rung of Atkins that you are on.


...I'm a'skeeeeeered to try any sugar alcohols after the horror stories I've heard about them on here... :yikes

[cruiser gal]

I tried some lc jelly beans that I took with me to a movie theatre once. Had about 3-4, could barely chew and swallow them, and then within 1/2 hour my stomach was churning, and I had some major cramps and it had a laxative effect on me! That's it no more of those for me!!! The pkg should have a warning "Eat at your own risk"

[sidrah]

The pkg should have a warning "Eat at your own risk"

It comes with a warning about laxative effect for over-consumption, but I think their buisiness would crumble if they wrote:"Warning: Causes diarrhea and percolating in the stomach. Buy extra TP" :joy


Then again, some people feel no impact. Weird. I know it gives me bad stomach cramps, but not after only 1 piece.


Try at your own risk is right!