<font size="3">I recently discovered low carbs bars such as the product lines Pure De-light, Carbolite, etc. They have chocolate bars that taste very much like typical candy bars and real chocolate is used but sweetened with splenda...

I also found that in many of these products the first and foremost ingredient is Maltitol which is extracted from maltose and used as a sweetener too and it is said to give the chocolate bars their creamy butter texture.

When I ate these bars, I noticed I got gas and bloated stomach for most of the night...sometimes to a very uncomfortable degree.

I decided to do a search on this ingredient and read that it can cause gas and bloating and they listed another ingredient "mannitol" as a causative factor too.

Some of the bars are said to have a laxative affect on some people accompanying bloating and gas.

What are your feelings on products such as these? Is the gas and bloating causing any long term damage? Should I be concerned about this and lose interest in the low carb bars or are they fine but I just need to pay attention to how much or many I eat a week or within a day as a snack?

Has anyone else heard of these low carb bars? Have you (or do you) eat them? Do they disrupt your weight loss and/or stage of lipolysis? </font>

Hi ANJ!

Low carb chocolate, candies, protein bars and all the rest have been the topic of many discussions here in this forum.
Maltitol can cause a good bit of gastointestinal distress if you overdo or are sensitive to it as it seems you've already discovered, especially if you're eating more than one serving in a day. I once ate two (forgot I had the first until it was too late) and was in absolute misery for about 3 hours. Many people also report that they stall their weight loss completely. Still...others seeem to have no problem with them. We're all different in how we react to these things and each of us has had to find out for ourselves how our bodies react to them. If you are still on induction, though, I'd advise you to not use them at all until the two weeks are up and then only as an occasional treat, if you decide you want to use them at all. You may find that after a couple of weeks without sweet things, you don't want them at all or at least not nearly as much as you used to.
Hey....it's only two weeks. You can do it!

I have been eating the zone perfect bars. I think they taste great! I havn't noticed any excessive gas or bloating. I am not much of a "sweets" person as much as I am a "gotta have something quick to get me by" person.

Hello Lisa

Well I have been on Induction for about almost 3 months now...so its been awhile. I want to stay on induction until I lose 40-50 more lbs...then I will move on to the second phase and stay on it until I lose about 20 more lbs and after that I should hopefully be to my goal weight and that I when I will move to stage three to maintain my weight.

This is my -plan- although it may not work as smoothly as it sounds...LOL


but regardless I will still aim for it.

I was interested in the idea of eating the bars for special occasions (Halloween, Thanksgiving, Xmas coming up) and for when I have very strong cravings for sugar. So yes I guess moderation is the key when having these treats


Thanks for the encouragement We all need it.

hello twofoofers,

I haven't tried the zone bars. What are the main ingredients? Are they made with Maltitol too?

I've tried the atkins bars and those are very tasty although I would eat those more on the later phases of Atkins becaues they have a higher amount of carbs than the amount in the pure delite and carbolite bars.

The pure delight bars have less than 4 grams of carbs in each bar. The dominating content if fat rather than protein and carbs because of the large amount of cocoa butter.

For the carbolite bars, they tend to average about 15-17 g of carbs per bar.

and the Atkins advantage bars tends to average about 20-22 g of carbs per bar...they contain a lot more nutrients and protein than the low carb candy bars from pure delite and carbolite.

I just ate an entire EAS low carb bar.

The label was clear that it only had 2 grams of carbs, with no references to adjustments using formulas.

Now, I'm worried. How long will a stall from this kind of thing usually last?

I was eating an Atkins Advantage chocolate peanut butter bar every day, thinking that they only had 2g effective carbs. NOT! During that period I stopped losing weight, I even gained a little. I don't know for a fact that it was the bars. I also cut out Diet Coke. But do know that I am losing weight again now that I stopped eating them.