Hey, I just wanted to let you all know that I've tried a few of the so-called 'candy' bars out there to help with that 'sweet tooth' I unfortunately have and most of them stunk. However, tonight, I had a 'Carbolite Chocolate Crisp Candy Bar' which has only 1.3 net grams of carbohydrates and is sweetened with Splenda. It was awesome. In fact, to be completely honest it doesn't even taste like a diet candy bar (which most of the others lack SOMETHING). Anyways, I got mine from Wal-Mart for only .94 ea. The Carbolite website (CarboliteDirect.com (or just go to www.carbolitedirect.com) has them listed for $1.34 ea. or $30.48 for 24 of them. Still cheaper to get them at wal-mart if you can find them there.

Have fun!

Dave

Watch out for those bars. They do contain Malitol which is a sugar alcohol. That's the same stuff that's in those protein bars that stall so many people. While the sugar alcohols in itself do not cause an insuline reacting, apparently many bodies are tricked into it anyway because of the taste of sweet.

Also, feeding the sweet tooth (I have one myself) is a bad idea. The best way to break those cravings is to just wait them out. If you keep eating your protein and don't give in, they will disappear in a couple of days.

I know from personal experience that almost any time I allow myself a treat, I usually end up overdoing it. I have to avoid even low-carb treats like peanut butter. Minus the fiber, only 3 or 4 carbs per serving - but oh so many more per jar.....

I agree, they are yummy! But yeah, watch out for them and don't eat too much. Another thing to check out is to make sure you read the label carefully -- there's a lot more than 1 serving per bar. According to my "White Chocolate Crisp" bar:

Serving size about 2 pieces (7g), Servings per bar Approx. 7
Total Fat: 2.3g or 16.1 for the whole bar
Total Carb: 0.34 or 2.38 for the whole bar

Granted, 2.38 grams of carbs isn't a lot, but it's something to consider. Oh, and it also says on the label, "Excessive consumption may cause a laxative effect." Oh joy

The makers of these candy bars (they ARE candy, don't kid yourself) have been taking liberties with the carb counts. All of them.

To get the closest thing to a true effective carb count, use the Hidden Carb calculator, click on Tools on the orange menu bar above.

Occasionally READ the other posts right here in the products forum, the ones with subject lines that include "candy" or "hidden carbs" or "sugar alcohols"... arm yourself with knowlege and THEN go ahead and rave about the candy you're eating on what's supposed to be a no-sugars lifestyle.... but with an accurate carb count at least, okay?

signed: LowCarb Products Moderator

I went to the Hidden Carb Inspector, as you suggested. Entering the data from the label on the Carbolite Milk Chocolate bar gave me the "true" carb count of -2.42 g (yep, negative), while the label claims it is 0.3.

What was it that the Inspector was supposed to do?

I didn't find the Crisp Chocolate, but entered the info of the Crisp Caramel Bar into the Hidden Carb Inspector:

Total Calories: 130
Fat: 9 g
Protein: 3 g
Total Carbs: 0 g (used the net carbs they listed)

And I came up with a total of 10.99 grams of carb per bar.

Okay, I think I get it now...if I crank the data manually, the 9 g fat equals 81 cal, the 3 g protein is 12 calories, so, based on the total calories from the label, the net must be 37 calories of carbs or 9.25 g of hidden carbs. Guess that's close enough to what the Hidden Carb Inspector reports.

My next issue is how do they get away w/ doing this? Is maltilol actually an inactive form of carbs? Does the body simply ship these carbs out the chute, or does it metabolize them? It must do something w/ some of the carb grams, or the total "hidden" grams would be equal to the number grams of maltilol muliplied times 4 calories. In the case of the Milk Chocolate bar I started w/, that would equal 14 g * 4 calories or 56 calories. I am, of course, assuming that your candy bar contains pretty much the same number of grams of maltilol. So a bit more than half the hidden carbs do not play a role in the calorie count. The amount of fibre is less than 1 gram, so I am ignoring it for now.

And I believe I recall Dr. Atkins specifically addressing the issue of maltilol and similar ingredients, and saying to not use them. Does anyone else recall this?

Thank you again...I hope the bandwidth hasn't P.O.ed anyone...I just want to grok this, and hope the experience may help someone else out there as well.

Dang! Those candy bars are SO good, too! Ah well.....

Asked and answered, Skyspinner.

First, check that same menu bar above, click on Tips and read ALL ABOUT SUGAR ALCOHOLS, like MALTITOL (which has about 2 calories per gram so is an EFFECTIVE 0.5gram for carb counting purposes).

Second, read about Hidden Carbs, Atkins Products & New Labels, etc., etc., right here in this Forum.

We've been talking and grokking about this stuff for the last (almost) 2 years... welcome to our world

Thanks IslandGirl!

Those CarboLite Chocolate Bars sure had me fooled. I've been eating the Chocolate Almond Bars which say they have only 0.2 grams of carb that are digestible. I've been having one a day for almost the past week and I just bought a bunch more of them yesterday. Well, I know where I'm heading with the bag of them as soon as I post this! I guess that old saying applies to those chocolate bars, "If it tastes too good to be true, then it isn't." I am a recovering carb adddict, so I best stay far away from such substances. I was wondering why the scale wasn't doing too much movement lately. I thought it was just water retention. I'll cut those out and see what happens in the next few days or so.

IslandGirl, I greatly appreciate your carb patrolling of this supposed "low carb" item. I better stick with the basics from now on.

Take care,

Robyn

Thank you!! Thank You!! Im a rookie and last night I had 2 small squares of the carbolite chocolate~ it was devine. OMG the cravings I had for the rest of the night were out of control. So this morning I thought I would check and see if anyone knew anything about it...... You guys are great!! Thanks for all of the information!! Cheri

That 10+ grams of carb that the hidden calcualtor show is the Malitol.

It is a non digestable carb, but it will stall some folks. I am one lf the lucky ones that can eat splenda or malitol and not stall.

A bar a day is excessive (and costly). I tried a bar for the first time 3 days ago and continue to loose. These will be an occasional treat, not a daily snack.

I will treat these like low carb ice cream. A nice snack every now and then, but not to be used daily.

Don't use these bars to slip back into old habits. That is one danger of all these new low carb foods that are out.