sugar free Popsicles; confused about nutrition info...
 

I have been treating myself with sugar free Popsicles (Popsicle brand). I do not understand the nutrition information, however....

1 Pop, 55 grams
calories 15
fat 0
sodium 0
Total carbs 3
Sugars 0
protein 0

Ingredients:Water,Glycerine,MaltoDextrin*,Citric Acid,Natural and Artificial flavors,guar gum,locust bean gum,aspartame,acesulfame potassium,ascorbic acid,red 40,yellow 6,blue 1

*Adds a trivial amount of sugar

If the Maltodextrin "adds a trivial amount of sugar", and there are no sugar carbs listed, where are the 3 grams of carbs coming from? Is glycerine a carb, is it a sugar alcohol?

Any thoughts? Thank you.

Glycerine is the culprit. Same as in many "bars". Glycerine can cause problems for those that are glycerine sensitive. Be weary...some of those labels can be very misleading. Plug into a hidden carb counter to make sure that there aren't even more surprises.

15 kcal/4 3.5g CHO

Since Maltodextrin is the only net carb in there, and sugars are listed as 0g...each Popsicle would have <1g of net carbs. Glycerine is not a carb. But, under the FDA's difference formula, anything that's not a Lipid, Amino Acid, Water, Ash (Vitamin/Mineral), or Ethyl Alcohol is counted as a carb. A very small number of folks are sensitive to Glycerine. Unless you stall out, I wouldn't worry about it.

On a side note, those contain Aspartame which Dr. A does not allow on his diet because it causes cravings/stalling [in a large number of folks] and causes horrible migraines and other problems.

Thanks cc, that explains it. No headaches, but my sleep has not been great the past couple of nights, and I had some nausea as well; I wonder if the Aspartame is the culprit? I do not drink diet sodas, and rarely use artifical sweeteners, so I really do not know if and how I react. Do you know if glycerine has any purported negative effects on us?

Thanks for the help.

Dr Atkins doesn't FORBID Aspartame, he suggests avoiding it if possible due to questions of safety. Personally, I feel there are questons about ALL the artificial sweeteners, since they can't prove conclusively that ANY are completely safe. All I know is they are less harmful to me than sugar at this point...