Glucoholic - Sugar Free Snacks

Sometimes you find a product that you like so much that you can hardly bring yourself to say anything bad about it, even when you need to. Such is the case with Smucker’s Sugar Free Caramel Sundae Syrup. Up front, let’s just get it this out of the way - this stuff is delicious. We topped some low carb ice cream with this sundae syrup and could not believe how awesome it was. It was just the right consistency, it was creamy, and it was sweet. It was so good that we were tempted to turn up the bottle and waste away in Caramelville. The problem is, being sugar free does not mean being carb free. Don’t get us wrong, we grasp that something this good must have a catch; and the 17 grams of carbohydrate (mostly from sugar alcohol) is that catch. If you’re one of those people that just can’t tolerate a lot of sugar alcohol, then this product is not for you.

Each serving is only two tablespoons, and will provide you with 90 calories and 65mg of sodium. Smucker’s Sugar Free Caramel Sundae Syrup is sweetened with Splenda, but our guess is that obtaining the right consistency required the use of more sugar alcohol than sucralose. We really want to find a compromise position for this product, so maybe we could recommend using a teaspoon or so in your coffee? Since many, like us, might tend to go a little overboard with the ice cream toppings anyway; we can’t really recommend this product unless you have a pretty good tolerance for sugar alcohol and a lot of will power!

Today we’re celebrating for two reasons. First, Independence day is upon us in the U.S.; and second, we found Atkins Endulge Peanut Butter Cups! These great little sugar free snacks come in packs of two. They are poured into a tray that makes getting the cups out whole, and without damage, a breeze. And what magnificent cups they are. The first bite leaves you with two words on the tip of your tongue - rich and creamy. These cups are not quite as sweet as some of their competitors, but we think the blend of dark chocolate and peanut butter is fantastic. The taste most reminds you of chocolate candies made from scratch. We’re happy to endorse these wonderful snacks.

The serving size is two cups. Two cups will get you 160 calories and 13 grams of fat, which includes zero trans fat. You’ll also get 5mg of cholesterol and 55mg of sodium. Two pieces also contain about 8 grams of digestible carbohydrate. As is true with many of the low carb diet products, this product has quite a bit of sugar alcohol, so consume wisely. You’ll also get 4 grams of fiber, 60mg of potassium, and 3 grams of protein! Those with food allergies should check the packaging carefully, as this product will impact most of them.

It is so good to see so many sugar free snacks showing up on the grocery store shelves these days. This time of year we are particularly interested in the frozen variety, and today’s review wins a blue ribbon in that category. PhillySwirl Sugar Free Vanilla Cream Stix are fantastic! We could stop there and feel totally comfortable with the review; but truthfully, we just can’t stop talking about these things. Each box of these wonderful frozen treats contains three flavors of vanilla cream swirled goodness. More on that in a moment. We found these sugar free snacks to be most readily available at Sam’s Club. They usually cost less than seven dollars for a box of thirty. That’s less than a quarter for each snack people. And well worth it if you ask us.

Nutritionally these snacks are a home run as well. Serving size is one frozen snack. Each serving contains only 14 calories, 7mg of sodium, and 3 grams of sugar alcohol. They are sweetened with Splenda and acesulfame potassium. With these kinds of numbers the only danger to your health will be from eating half the box and ending up in the rest room all afternoon. Seriously, we can’t remember a taste-to-nutrition ratio this good in all our previous sugar free snack reviews.

Let’s take a closer look at the three flavors.

Read More …

Russell Stover really is providing variety in the world of sugar free snacks. We’ve reviewed several of their products, and have always enjoyed the taste. Russell Stover Sugar Free Toffee Squares are no different. These wonderful candies remind you of Butterfinger bars, and their chewy texture leave you satisfied. If taste alone were the criteria for our reviews this candy would be a winner hands down, but unfortunately we have to consider the nutritional value and that’s where Russell Stover Sugar Free Toffee Squares come up short.

Each serving contains 210 calories, 16 grams of fat (of which 9 grams are saturated fat), 25mg of cholesterol, 140mg of sodium, and about 12 grams of digestible carbohydrate. For those who are very sensitive to sugar alcohol, there are 23 grams in each serving. For all this you only get 2 grams of protein. Not a good trade in our opinion. As a result, we can only recommend these for your most decadent treats. Russell Stover Sugar Free Toffee Squares are probably the best example we’ve seen that being sugar free does not guarantee being healthy.

Don’t you just know that the person responsible for “inventing” turtle candies was just sitting around one day trying to figure out how to get the chocolate covered goodies they were experimenting with to stop forming the little drops of chocolate around the edges? At some point they looked at a piece and said “That looks like a turtle!” There we have it, a whole class of products from one simple mistake and a simpler observation. Now we don’t know if this is anywhere close to the truth, but hitting the internets to find the turtle’s real origin kind of takes the romance out of it doesn’t it? Let’s look closer at DeMet’s sugar free version of the turtle.

DeMet’s turtles come individually wrapped, and are about the size of a Sacagawea dollar. We thought they were very tasty and, as you might expect, shockingly similar to most other turtles we’ve had. If we were granted one request by the fine folks at DeMet’s it would be to include more pecan and cashew and less caramel. Conversely, if you really like caramel then this might be the turtle for you. Each turtle has excellent sweetness provided by the sucralose in the recipe. Nutritionally, these should be used as occasional treats and not low carb staples. A serving size is three pieces of candy and those three pieces will get you 150 calories, 11 grams of fat, 70mg of sodium, and about 11 grams of digestible carbohydrate. Given the seven grams of saturated fat and 17 grams of sugar alcohol you’ll want to go sparingly with these turtles. The food allergy warnings are prominently displayed on the outer package and on each turtle, so you’ll definitely want to check those out. We really liked DeMet’s Sugar Free Turtles. Much like a Snicker’s Bar, we wish they were a little more friendly to our waistlines and our blood sugars!