12.31.04 :: Product
Recommendation & Review:
Sometimes we tend to forget the reasons that low carb diets work so well... because we are able to avoid sharp peaks in
blood sugar, we avoid the flood of insulin that causes fat storage. When we can stabilize blood glucose levels, we feel
better, lose weight (or maintain a healthy weight), and control diabetes (or insulin resistance.) But how to best do
that? Eating foods that don't cause a spike needs to be the basis of your diet. But more than that, finding
foods that allow the carbohydrates they contain to be slowly and gradually released over time is the key to appetite
control as well.
It's been a long time since we reviewed a "bar" here at Low Carb Luxury. It had gotten to the point where there were far
too many, and they were playing fast and loose with the ingredients and health claims. And then we heard about the
new Extend Bars... bars with a different makeup... a different philosophy.
They come in 3 low carb varieties:
Apple Cinnamon Delight (with 3 net carbs per bar), Chocolate Delight (with 2 net carbs per bar), and Peanut Delight (with 2 net carbs per bar).
Extend Bars are snack bars that were originally developed for people with diabetes, so they stabilize blood sugar
for up to nine hours... yeah... really. And that means a better night's sleep (free from blood glucose dips), and no nagging hunger pangs. It's even clinically proven to reduce the calories eaten at your next meal an average of 21%!
Dr. Francine Kaufman, Head of the Center for Diabetes,
Endocrinology and Metabolism at Childrens Hospital in Los Angeles
(and a recent past president of
the American Diabetes Association) led the 5-year effort to develop these bars, making them a product like no
other on the market.
The secret to their long lasting control might surprise you... it's uncooked cornstarch. You see, when cooked, cornstarch turns
rapidly to glucose. But uncooked, cornstarch has a very slow release profile that allows ExtendBars to maintain a steady blood glucose
for many hours.
It's also important to note that they chose to use true clinical studies to arrive at a "net" carb number, rather than using the
subtraction method of calculation. Testing for the Low Carb line of ExtendBars were done at the University of Sydney,
Australia — a leading laboratory for Glycemic Index research and certification. The numbers break down like this:
- Peanut Delight has a glycemic index of 32 with a glycemic load of only 4.
- Apple Cinnamon has a glycemic index 33 with a glycemic load of only 4.
- Chocolate Delight has a glycemic index of 41 with a glycemic load of only 5.
Do they taste good? That's always a question with low carb products that often taste little better than the box they
come in. Not the case with Extend Bars. Our review team found them very tasty and had no problem wolfing them down. :)
The Peanut Delight was a favorite with the majority, but all three flavors were received well.
They contain no trans fats, are low in fat and calories, are high in fiber and protein, and of course contain no added sugar. And the
Chocolate and Apple Cinnamon flavors are gluten free as well. Low Carb Luxury strongly recommends Extend Bars as a great
snack bar for low carb dieters, diabetics, and those with insulin resistance.
For purchase information, visit their website.
02-08-04 - Product Recommendation & Review:
Late last Summer, we reviewed the first round of the new Keto Mini-Bars. We're so
pleased that they've released a new flavor in their Mini line-up.
They now offer Mini Chocolate Coconut Creme. The creamy coconut filling is delectable! A perfect marriage with the chocolate coating and
these really hit the spot when you just want a small treat that will keep hunger at bay. Like the others, these
mini-bars are half the size of regular bars, so there's not more than you really want...
If you're a coconut fan, these creamy bars are right up your alley!
They're available from KETO Low Carb Food & Snacks.
08-19-03 - Product Recommendation & Review:
If you love the new super chocolatey Keto Bars, but always
felt they were a little too large for you, then the new Keto Mini Bars are just what you're looking for.
I'm one of those people that could never eat a whole bar. I always seemed to have one in my desk
with half the wrapper folded back over itself across the half of the bar I couldn't finish. And
I know I'm not the only one... More than half of our reviewers said they do the same thing.
Keto is making the Mini versions of their bars in their most popular flavors: Chocolate Fudge, Lemon Chiffon, and Chocolate Peanut Butter. They offer up a mere 1 or 2 grams of effective carbs, and don't contain maltitol or other polyols that can cause gastric distress.
They're available from KETO Low Carb Food & Snacks.
10-08-02 - Product
Recommendation & Review:
We've been buying Keto bars for what seems like forever now, and have surely
had our favorites. Up until now, I think our group-favorite was Caramel Nut
Crunch. But by a majority, we've now voted the newest of their flavors,
Blueberry Cheesecake to be tops on our list.
To be honest,
I don't think we'd have named it that, since more of us felt like we were tasting
fresh, tart blueberries topped with a rich French-vanilla ice cream. Either way,
this bar is refreshingly good, just sweet enough, and brings out a very strong,
genuine blueberry flavor. (Yes, they do contain real blueberries.)
They're even better cold! They're 2 grams of effective carbs per bar (excluding 2 grams of
maltitol, 4 grams of fiber, plus glycerine.) Very, very yummy!
They're available from
KETO Low Carb Food & Snacks, or
from The Low Carb Connoisseur.
09-10-02 - Product
Recommendation & Review:
Looking for something extremely different in a low carb bar? The new
Strive Bars from Biochem are a deliciously new concept
that are more like a crunchy sweet Rice Krispie bar than the usual soft bars.
They currently come in three great flavors:
Dark Chocolate Raspberry Crunch, Mixed Berry Crunch, and Crunchy Chocolate S'Mores. We had a hard time deciding on a favorite,
but I think the Mixed Berry edged the others out by a tiny margin. Sweetened with
maltitol and sucralose, we detect no "aftertaste" to any of the three flavors.
These bars contain a listed 25 grams of carbohydrate per bar, but all but 3 of those
carbs are from maltitol, so if you are able to deduct sugar alcohols from your
carb count, these will be an excellent choice. If you're like me and need to count
some of the maltitol carbs, the bars will end up more like 7-10 grams per bar. With all sugar
alcohol containing products, your mileage may vary. I can tell you that eating them
did not disturb any of us from ketosis.
The Mixed Berry Crunch has a Strawberry coating, and the other two have a thin chocolate
coating. They're delish, and they're different!
They're available from netrition
or from Greenbeanz.
08-11-02 - Product
Recommendation & Review:
This past weekend, our little group had the pleasure of trying a new variety of
bar from the good folks at Keto! They've introduced a very (very) rich
flavor called Cookies and Crème! And boy are these good. They
really remind me of that super-dark cocoa taste in OreosTM... Yet, the taste of the "creme"
is distinctly there as well. I kept wanting to "dunk" these in milk.
They're definitely at their best refrigerated, but here's the kicker -- freeze 'em
and chop them up. Then add them to your favorite low carb vanilla ice cream
(or recipe.) It's so classic "Cookies 'n Creme Ice Cream"! (I know, I know, we're
always finding new things to do with ice cream... do you sense a pattern here?)
The bars come in at 4 grams each, and no that's not with sugar alcohols subtracted.
Know why? These don't contain any. So for those of us who can't tolerate large
anounts of maltitol or other sugar alcohols, these bars are all the more ideal.
They're available from
KETO Low Carb Food & Snacks, or
from The Low Carb Connoisseur.
04-09-02 - Product
Recommendation & Review:
Yes, it's another entry into the world of low-carb bars. In fact, we've tried
several new brands in the last few weeks. Most haven't made the "cut", but the
new Think Thin! bars are quite good. Creamy
and moist, and quick to satisfy hunger, these fit the bill nicely. In fact, not
a single member of our group didn't like them.
They come in three varieties:
Chocolate Fudge, Peanut Butter, and Lemon Meringue. By a large margin, everyone really
liked the Lemon Meringue the best. I agree... it's one of the best lemon bars
I've had (and is flavored with real lemon juice), but all three flavors are
winners, and we bet most of you will agree.
The addition of Cerephine with Gikgo Biloba is heralded to improve your mental
performance. Whether this is important to you or not, the good taste and low carbs
should still satisfy.
Each bar contains about 8 grams of glycerin and about 11 grams
of sugar alcohol (in the form of HSH and Maltitol), but we did not notice any
negative effects from these. They list the effective carb count as 3 grams for these
bars, but as you know, we figure in a minor amount for the small effects of the
polyols, so we count these bars at 6 carbs each in our daily counts.
These simply delicious bars are available to order online from The Low Carb Zone or from
The Low Carb Connoisseur.
03-12-02 - Product
Recommendation & Review:
If you love really, really deep chocolate, and hate the effects of sugar
alcohols, the newest addition to the Keto Bar line might be just what you're
looking for. Even though they have a very smooth chocolate coating, they've
managed to avoid the use of maltitol, lactitol, or any other polyol and the unpleasant
"laxative-effects" they bring (as well as being a source of often under-reported carbs.)
In fact, the new Keto Double Fudge Bars bear a striking resemblence to
actual fudge. One of our members put it well when she said, "if you mixed a brownie
with a good fudge and dipped it all in chocolate, you'd have these bars."
They come in at 3 effective carb grams after discounting fiber and glycerine,
and are sweetened with a mix of acesulfame-k and sucralose (Splenda.) If the folks
at Keto are listening, a common comment at our group meeting was a wish to have
a version of these with nuts (walnuts or pecans) -- the way we love our real
brownies and fudge.
Keto Double Fudge Bars (and all other varieties of Keto bars) are available from The Low Carb Connoisseur, The
Low Carb Dieter's Page, and from KETO Low Carb Food & Snacks.
11-30-01 - Product
Recommendation & Review:
Yes, it's true -- Atkins has two new flavors. And they're already a
favorite over here. Both covered in an exceptionally creamy yogurt
coating, you'll want to try the new Frosted
Cinnamon Swirl,
and Pralines 'n Creme bars.
The Cinnamon Swirl bars are very similar to the breakfast bars of the same
variety -- just bigger bars with a more candy-like coating. So if you like
the Cinnamon Breakfast bars, you'll love these. The Praline variety is good,
sweet and crunchy, but not particularly praline-like. I'm not actually sure
why they named them as such, but they are good. A member of our group
mentioned they were very much like "blonde" brownies with a yogurt topping. I
think that's a more appropriate description.
The bars list 3 grams each, but like all bars with some sugar alcohols or glycerin
(in this case the later), I believe the real carb count impact for most people
would be about 6 grams per bar. Still a good deal for a creamy, filling bar.
Many protein bars benefit from being chilled. That's not the case with these...
they are equally good at any temperature.
So, during those really hectic holiday times when it's hard to find time to
prepare every meal or snack, these might prove a great on-the-go option for you.
And heck, this time of year, they're not gonna melt in the glove box, right?
(Well, at least not for those of us in the frigid midwest.)
Atkins Bars are available at The Low Carb Connoisseur, and The
Low Carb Dieter's Page.
09-10-01 - Product
Recommendation & Review:
Last November, Atkins introduced their new line of
Breakfast Bars, which we reviewed and enjoyed. But now that Atkins has debuted
their newest variety -- Cinnamon Bun Breakfast
Bars, we have
to say this new flavor blows the others outta the water! Let's get right to
the point -- these are terrific. To put it another way, I have had a bar EVERY
single day since the first time I tried them. We had to make an extra trip to
our health food store to stock up on more of them because after our meeting,
all our reviewers wanted more.
Coated with a creamy vanilla coating that is reminiscent of pastry frosting,
the centers are buttery, sweet, and very cinnamon-y (is that a word?) Coming in
at 2 effective carbs per bar, they contain the usual polydextrose (litesse) and
glycerin in the frosting, but do not contain traditional sugar alcohols like
maltitol and should not cause any sort of gastric distress.
They're quick, they're delicious, they're low-carb. Atkins Cinnamon Bun Breakfast
Bars are available from
The Low Carb Connoisseur, and The
Low Carb Dieter's Page.
07-27-01 - Product
Recommendation & Review:
Okay, no beating around the bush here... this review -- for the newest line of
bars from  wants to simply state that they are
just "out of this world". We can barely say enough good things about these bars
and this is a group consensus here.
Before we get started - a note: These are
not the same bars they distributed last year, and indeed have tweaked the formula
for even these new ones until they were (in the words of Goldilocks) "just right".
Joining the ranks of the newly re-worked Peanut Butter Cup, are
Strawberry Shortcake, Oatmeal Raisin, and Caramel Nut Crunch. Now containing no maltitol
or other sugar alcohols and just a tiny bit of glycerine for texture, they are unique
in the low-carb bar world. And they're made directly at the Keto plant, so you
know that what it says on the label is something you can take to the bank.
Our highest accolades go to the Caramel Nut Crunch -- if you're a fan of PayDay® Bars,
and love a rich buttery taste, this is the one for you. You'll notice it takes on
a different flavor warmed vs cool/chilled. Both are good, but quite different.
Cool it is sweeter and more like candy. Warm it is more like a snack cake bar,
crumbly and rich.
Our next favorite is the Oatmeal Raisin and here's why: How many of us (let's
say "as kids"), snuck a few bites of raw oatmeal raisin cookie dough from the
bowl before they were baked? Remember how gooey and super-cinnamon-y they were?
The memories come back when you taste this exceptional bar.
But we'd be remiss if we didn't also let you know how highly the Strawberry Shortcake
rated with our group. Bits of real strawberry and a creamy (almost cheesecake-like)
consistency made us wonder if Strawberries and Cream wouldn't have been a more
apt flavor title. These are extra good cold.
Only the Peanut Butter Cup variety is chocolate coated and we're glad. Some flavors
just shouldn't have chocolate layered on. It makes these easier to take along on
Summer car or bike trips too -- no chocolate to melt. They're sweetened with a
sucralose (Splenda)/Ace-K mix and come in at 3 carbs each for the Strawberry and
Oatmeal varieties, 4 grams for the Peanut Butter Cup, and only 2 grams for the
Caramel Nut Crunch.
Those darned elves at Keto Foods have gone and done it again -- made a can't-be-without-it
treat! Keto Bars are available from
KETO Low Carb Food & Snacks or from The Low Carb Connoisseur, and The
Low Carb Dieter's Page.
04-06-01 - Product
Recommendation & Review:
Two new flavors of the always classic Atkins Bars this week. And the new
flavors are a departure from Atkins. They're not chocolate coated and they're
not uncoated. The good Dr A has followed the trend and released two
flavors that offer a creamy white yogurt-like coating. Packed with
nutrition, very low in carbs (2.5 each) and containing no transfats or
sugar alcohols, these bars are good for most low-carb regimes.
First up, there's
the Atkins Creamy
Berry Cheesecake Bar that boasts a mix of raspberries,
strawberries and blueberries (yes, the real thing) in a crumbly-soft base, and
then covered in the topping. This one was our favorite of the two. It's especially
good cold -- even icy -- and it improves the texture which crumbles a bit too
much.
The next is the Atkins Creamy Lemon
Chiffon Bar. It's a more subtle lemon flavor
than the EAS or LoCarb 2 Bars (see earlier reviews) and is less sweet as well.
So if you found those bars either too lemony, too sweet, or both, these are
probably just what you're looking for. (We suspect their more subtle lemon
is why they're called Lemon Chiffon.)
Again, it's more crumbly than we'd like,
but a pretty good on the go bar. It also benefits from being chilled, but not
iced like the Berry bar. Atkins bars usually leave a slightly greasy feeling
in your mouth as they're higher in fat (albeit good fats) than most other bars.
But these are the first where this is not the case. We didn't detect any
oily taste with these two. To sum it up, they are definitely a departure for
Atkins, but most of us liked them well enough to have on a regular basis -- especially
the Berry Cheesecake (we noted no cheesecake flavor at all, but the berries more
than make up for it.)
Both varieties are available from The Low Carb Connoisseur, and The
Low Carb Dieter's Page.
03-26-01 - Product
Recommendation & Review:
One thing low-carbers never really lack is a never-ending supply of "bars".
Call them "Protein Bars", "Nutrition Bars", or "Meal Replacement Bars", they're
a way to grab a low-carb mini-meal on the go. As you know, we've evaluated a lot
of them -- and more than half of those that are truly low-carb have been good
enough to rate a spot here in our reviews.
Yet another joins that group this week,
as we had a chance to try the super-large bars from Designer Protein. Yep, they're big. None of us
could realy eat an entire bar in one sitting. We recommend you cut these in half
(or thirds) and wrap the rest for later. They come in Peanut Better Body! (chocolate covered peanut butter)
and Double Chocolats! (double chocolate.) They offer
6 grams of carbs (5 after fiber reduction), and 30 grams of protein, but as we said,
you won't be able to eat those gigantic bars, so adjust the carbs accordingly.
Taste and texture are the key here, though. The taste is pretty true with
very little of that "soy" taste because there's only a tiny trace of soy IN them
(they contan a little soya lecithin.) The bars are primarily whey protein and
taste better for it. They also contain no significant amount of sugar alcohols
(they have a small amount of glycerin) and are sweetened with sucralose (Splenda.)
They have a heavier, chewier texture than most bars. The double chocolate is more
like eating actual fudge. The chocolate is VERY chocolate, though, so if too much
is too much for you, you might like the peanut butter better (I do.)
Both are good and both get our recommendation. They're available
online at netrition.
03-12-01 - Product
Recommendation & Review:
There are two brand new low carb bars on the market this week. If you are a
fan of the Doctor's Diet LowCarb Diet
Bars you'll be pleased to know you
can now enjoy them in Raspberry Truffle and in Chocolate Covered Banana Nut (with Soy Nuts.) Each are rich in their
flavors and are very sweet. There are those of us that liked the extra
sweetness and those that like a less-sweet bar. No doubt about it, that's the
biggest delineator here. It's also important to note that these bars are
sweetened with some Stevia, so decide accordingly. However, for those of the
group that liked "sweet" and that liked the other Doctor's Diet bars, all liked
these new flavors very much. That said, it's only fair to point out that I
personally don't love the Stevia-sweetened bars, so I found these to be only
"okay". But since so many of our group did like 'em (some of them
LOVED them), we felt they deserved a nod here.
Also of note -- the Raspberry Truffle flavor has "Carb Block" built right into
the bar (a mixture of phaseolus vulgaris and gymnema sylvestre.) Each come
in at approximately 2 carbs per bar not counting sugar alcohols (remember to allow an
extra 3-4 carbs for those if you are sensitive to them!)
All flavors of Doctor's Diet Bars are available from The Low Carb Connoisseur.
03-06-01 - Product
Recommendation & Review:
A lot of new low-carb bars are now making their debut in both regular retail outlets
and online merchants and health food stores. The times when only Slim Fast bars
dominated your local grocery or pharmacy have passed and most now boast an array
of everything from low-fat sugar-filled Jenny Craig bars through high-protein, high-carb
bars to those that fit OUR regime -- the low-carb bars! Some brands even have
a retail "version" and a health food store/online "version" (Did you know the Carb
Solution bars in the stores ARE the Protein Revolution Bars online [we reviewed them
4/26/2000]?)
Only about half the bars make it here to our product spotlight, but this week, we
simply have to share with you our discovery of the new EAS Advant-Edge Carb Control
Nutrition Bars ! At 2.5 grams per bar, they surely
qualify as low-carb, but the selling point here is definitely taste and texture.
They are available in Lemon Cheesecake, Apple Cinnamon, and Blueberry. And you won't find a drop of
chocolate here -- all three flavors are covered in a slightly sweet, faintly vanilla
creamy coating that reminds me of the icing on a sweetroll.
They're sweetened with sucralose (Splenda) and just enough maltitol to allow the
topping to "blanket" the bar. The Lemon Cheesecake is lightly lemon -- enough to
be distinct, but not enough to overpower the hint of cheesecake flavor. The
Apple Cinnamon is the strongest of the flavors with that Mom's Apple Pie taste.
In fact, the cinnamon and other spices will hit you when you tear open the
wrapper. Lastly, the Blueberry has a more "cookie" flavor with bits of real
blueberry distributed throughout the bar.
An excellent, filling, on-the-go low-carb snack, we love the departure from
chocolate. And we love being able to pick them up whenever we're at the store.
We found ours at Wal*Mart and at CVS, but I expect to see these in wide distribution
soon.
12-04-00 - Product
Recommendation & Review:
In September of this year, we reviewed the then-newly-released
Ultimate LoCarb 2 bars from Biochem of New York. At that time,
they'd introduced 4 flavors (all very good), but all chocolate
covered, and we'd wished there was an option for some of the
lighter flavors -- without a chocolate coating. Well, ask and
ye shall receive!
This week we had the delight to try their two new flavors:
Lemon Meringue, and French Vanilla Bean -- both with a lightly
sweet, smooth white yogurt coating.
We liked the fact that the Lemon Meringue is lightly lemon, not
overpowering, so you can taste the coating as well and it does truly
allude to a meringue taste! These are especially good cold.
The favorite here, however, proved to be the French Vanilla Bean with
its heady vanilla flavor that offers a sweet bakery-like taste. It's the
most like a confection of any of the bars. It proved to be good both
chilled and at room temperature, and was also delicious frozen and chopped
into morsel-size treats. These two bars rate as "must haves" -- I bet
you'll agree!
Ultimate LoCarb 2 Lemon Meringue and French Vanilla Bean bars come in at 3
carbs per bar and are available from The Low Carb Connoisseur.
11-13-00 - Product
Recommendation & Review:
One of the reasons why I've often hesitated to grab a traditional protein bar
on a hurried morning is that it just didn't appeal to me to have chocolate
coated anything at 7:30 AM. And we all know that sometimes there's
just not time to stop and make bacon and eggs, or a stack of low-carb
pancakes. Here's a great solution. Now, Atkins Nutritionals have introduced
their new Breakfast Bars ! Chewy, lightly sweet, and reminiscent of
a "blonde brownie", these bars are available in Cherry Danish, Lemon Poppy Seed, and Blueberry Pancake.
I'll wager that your next question will be, "which is best?" Well, we're not
going to be a lot of help here. It's clearly a personal taste thing. We can
give you our "voting results" (no relation to the current state of affairs in
our National elections.) [grin] Out of 17 people in attendance when we did our
taste tests, there were 9 people that preferred the Lemon Poppy Seed (it was
my personal favorite), 5 preferred the Blueberry Pancake (including my husband,
Richard) and 3 preferred the Cherry Danish.
They're easy to eat and don't over-crumble, so you should be able to eat them
on the run pretty easily. And carb count? The Blueberry Pancake variety contain
2.7 grams per bar, the Cherry Danish are 2.5 grams, and the Lemon Poppy Seed are
only 2 grams per bar.
Atkins Breakfast Bars are available from The Low Carb Connoisseur, and The
Low Carb Dieter's Page.
10-19-00 - Product
Recommendation & Review:
A little over a month ago, we had a chance to review the new
Ultimate LoCarb 2 "S'Mores" bar. We gave it a favorable review
as everyone in our group liked it. But this month, (not to be
outdone), Doctor's Diet
debuted their version of
the S'mores Bar
.
We're giving this one a thumbs up, too. This one actually uses
Graham Cracker Flavor so the taste is very authentic. And you
can make them taste different depending on temperature.
You can have these at room temperature and they are moist
(more moist than most bars), and moderately sweet. You can
have them refrigerated and they are less sweet, but more of
the graham flavor comes out. Frozen and cut into squares, they
make great little "nibble-treats", but lose the S'mores flavor
and taste more like a buttery chocolate bar. And heated a
bit in the microwave and you swear you can taste the marshmallow.
You'll probably have a favorite (each of us did), but we found it
kinda cool that these could be so flexible and changing.
To our delight and relief, unlike the previous incarnations of
Doctor's Diet bars, these are (finally) made without
trans-fats ("partially hydrogenated palm oil"). So you can feel
better about eating them. They come in with a count of 2.5 grams
of carbohydrate per bar (as usual, discounting the glycerine and maltitol
in the bar.)
All varieties of Doctor's Diet Bars are available from The Low Carb Connoisseur.
09-30-00 - Product
Recommendation & Review:
When people first started writing me recommending we try the new Doctor's Diet Chocolate Mint Cookie
bars, I'd heard they were
like the original Girl Scout "Thin Mints". I have to say, I did kind of doubt
this would be the case. But we got some in for the group to give 'em a whirl,
and okay, we admit it -- they did remind everyone of the "Thin Mints". I
can't figure out exactly how they do that without the cookie part, but they
do. They are even more minty and refreshing out of the freezer, so try them
that way!
Want to try a real treat with these bars? Slice each bar in half lengthwise (down
the middle of the cookie making a top and a bottom half.) Wrap and freeze.
Spread each "bottom" with soft serve vanilla or mint low-carb Keto or homemade
ice cream. Then place top part of bar over ice cream to make a "sandwich". Re-wrap
and freeze for at least one hour. You can make batches of these and have super
ice cream sandwiches at your fingertips whenever you want. They are really great.
The only drawback to the Doctor's Diet Bars is their use of partially hydrogenated
oils - lending trans-fats to the bars. We wish they could avoid this as many other
bars do, but for taste and low-carbs, they're hard to beat.
All varieties of Doctor's Diet Bars are available from The Low Carb Connoisseur.
09-09-00 - Product
Recommendation & Review:
If you're one of those people that avoided or didn't
care for the original Ultimate LoCarb bars because you
don't like the taste of Stevia, you'll be pleased to
know the latest incarnation - Ultimate LoCarb 2 bars
are now sweetened with Splenda. We got the chance to
try all four of their new flavors: Black
Forest Raspberry Swirl
Chocolate Smores Supreme
Coconut Almond Delight and
Chocolate Peanut
Butter & Jelly.
From the names of the bars' varieties, I personally thought I'd be a bigger
fan of the Black Forest Raspberry ones (since raspberry is a passion of mine), but
while many in the group did like that one, I felt the raspberry was a little
overly subtle.
Overall, all four flavors fared well, but two of them stood out as clear winners. The
Coconut Almond Delight was reminiscent of the Mounds candy bars. Why do I
say Mounds instead of Almond Joy? Because while the coconut is pronounced
and delicious, the almond flavoring is nearly lost. That's why it came in second, but
is still a very good bar. And what was Number One? Without a doubt -
the Chocolate Smores ! How they get that
amazingly authentic graham flavor in there
without using any graham flour, I don't know. But they did. And you can almost
smell the toasting of the marshmallows! This was a favorite for everyone.
But you know us - we aren't content to simply have the bars plain. Oh, no, we have
to "create" with them. First, we found all the bars were good both cold/frozen and at
room temperature, but again, the Smores came out more versatile. It also proved to be
the best to cook with. We made "Smores Chip Cookies"! (We used
the Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe
at the site and instead of Darrell Lea chocolate chips, we froze and chopped a couple
of Smores bars into chips. They were both melty and chewy, so we called this one
a success!
All varieties are 2 carbs per bar excluding glycerine/polydextrose
as usual. They are available from The Low Carb Connoisseur.
08-22-00 - Product
Recommendation & Review:
It's time for new flavors of Atkins Bars again, and this
time we're pretty pleased with the choices. First, if you
are already a fan of at least some of the Atkins
Bars, you'll probably like these. If you've been luke-warm
on the others, you should try one or both of these new
flavors - they might make a believer out of you.
So what has the Atkins kitchen cooked up this time? The new
flavors are Banana
Colada and Chocolate
Mocha Crunch. First, the
Banana Colada -- This was our favorite of the two bars since many of
us have been disappointed that all the other "banana" flavored
bars out there feel the need to cover them with chocolate. This
bar is very very moist and offers up a tropical banana coconut
mix with a buttery twist. This bar freezes well also and lends
itself to breaking into pieces for bite-size snacks or adding
to recipes.
The Chocolate Mocha Crunch is just what you'd expect - a rich
dark chocolate center with espresso overtones and bits of the same
little soy-nuts used in the Praline Crunch bars giving a crispy
crunch. The entire bar is then coated in a smooth dark chocolate.
The coffee lovers in our group froze and cut the bars up to serve
over the Keto Coffee Ice Cream.
The only drawback is that the bars - like all in this genre - contain
a good amount of glycerine which can cause stalls in some people. If
they don't usually have this effect on you, you'll be fine. We think
both flavors are winners and will likely be good sellers for the
Atkins line.
Both are less than 2 carbs per bar excluding glycerine/polydextrose
as usual. They are available from The
Low Carb Connoisseur, and The
Low Carb Dieter's Page.
04-26-00 - Product
Recommendation & Review:
Nutrition Bars, Protein Bars, Low Carb Bars, Meal Replacement Bars, Snack Bars...
whatever you call them, the choices are getting more plentiful! I get asked my
opinions about the various bars now more than anything else, but quite frankly,
it took a bit of time to gather all the possibilities together for taste testing.
Well, we've done it. (If, by the way, you are wondering who "we" are -- we have a
local group of low carbers now that get together for product taste and cooking
tests so you guys can get a balanced opinion shared by more than just "me".)
We've already reviewed both Atkins Bars and Keto-Bars (see further down this page),
but there have been a lot of new entries lately. Premier Nutrition makes a line of very low-carb bars
called Elite, as well as their Premier eight bars. There's a line of bars
from Biochem called Ultimate Lo Carb Bars (in Cappuccino, Brownie and Peanut
Butter), and Low Glycemic Technologies
now makes a line of Protein Revolution Bars
. There's
Optimum Nutrition's
Complete Protein Diet
Bars and Universal Nutrition
now makes
a series of Doctor's Diet LowCarb
Bars.
So... what did we really
love?
Hands down the best bars for both
low-carb value and great taste were:
Protein Revolution Bars in Peanut Butter & Jelly and in Apple Cinnamon Spice Cake.
(These two flavors tied, but their Hazelnut Toffee Crunch was also a winner.) Also
at the top of our list:
Premier's Elite Bars in Chocolate Banana and Raspberry.
Both the Protein Revolution Bars and the Elite Bars are approximately 2 carbs per
bar, but if you can afford the extra carbs, the Premier eight Frosted Lemon was
really tasty (it does contain a small amount of sugar and packs 8 carbs per bar.)
Many of these bars are showing up locally now - in health food stores, and in
specialty grocery areas. If you can't find them, here are some great online sources
for them:
The Low Carb Connoisseur, and Netrition!
One tip: Most bars are more enjoyable chilled in the fridge a bit, but it's a
personal taste thing...
01-27-00 - Product
Recommendation & Review:
For some time now I have been having Atkins Bars as occasional treats when I
want something portable and sweet. There are many "bars" on the market, but
most are either too high in carbs (many so-called low-carb bars have as much
as 15-22 grams of carbs per bar!) or taste just awful, so I thought for truly
low-carb, Atkins were my best bet. Then, this week, I tried the new
Keto Bars
from
 . Wow! These bars are
unbelievably good. Were you a fan of Reese'sTM Peanut Butter Cups before
you went to a low-carb/no sugar lifestyle? If so, you're likely to enjoy these bars.
The outside coating is a TRUE chocolate and the inside is a soft, creamy
well-textured peanut butter filling very reminiscient of the old-style
peanut butter cups. They are 4 carbs per bar and a great low carb bargain. Refrigerated,
they are at their best (of course I always liked my peanut butter cups cold too!)
They're available from The Low Carb
Connoisseur, and KETO Low Carb Food & Snacks.
8-25-99 - Product
Recommendation & Review:
Atkins Advantage Bars are now offered in Three New Flavors! The bars -- now so much tastier
sweetened with Splenda -- are available
in some interesting new varieties!
Chocolate
Peanut Butter
Chocolate
Raspberry
Praline
Crunch
Go get yourself some of these
great new flavors! If you've been a fan of the original Atkins Advantage Bars, you'll
really like these! They're available from The
Low Carb Connoisseur, Netrition, and The
Low Carb Dieter's Page.
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