[adarmaSen]

Ok... So I've been on the diet since Janurary and I've lost arounfd 50 lbs. But I've hit a bit of a stopping point. My body just doesn't seem to want to let go of anymore weight and there is plenty more to lose. I've started a workout program and it's going well and the weight that was holding in the same spot for a month has now slowly begun to move donward again. One of my problems is that I don't eat often enough in the day. Part of the reason why I am overweight is because I'd go 24 hours without eating and then eat a large pizza LOL. So getting out of the eating once a day habit was bad enough but doing it within the guidelines of the diet is proving to be a little aggrivating. I bought some of the Atkins Advantage snack bars and such. But I find their numbers confusing. The pack says "Only 2 Net Carbs" But there are 18g of Carbs and only 10g of dietary fiber per serving (one bar). What am I missing. Is it a trick. Is the "only 2 Net Carbs" part only if you eat 25% of the bar even though one bar is a serving? Help. These things will help me get calories through the day and they have lots of vitamins and such so they'd be good for me. But I don't want to get too many carbs. And the difference between "Only 2 Net Carbs" and 8g is enough to be concerned about. Especially if I'm gonna eat two or three of these things a day.

[slimfifa]

The manufacturer (Atkins Nutritionals... think that's the name) subtracts the sugar alcohol carbohydrate as well as the fiber. That's how they get such a low number. They say that the sugar alcohol carbs have "minimal impact on blood glucose"... in other words, your body doesn't digest them so it doesn't make glucose from it and then respond with an insulin output.

I understand your need to have something quick and easy to meet your needs, based on your eating history. BUT, these bars have often been blamed for weight loss stalls. Maybe for the short term they'll work for you.... as in helping you get used to eating meals and snacks throughout the day. I'm not sure that they are your answer long term. Maybe you could use them for now... and slowly start weaning off the bars and eating REAL food occasionally. After all... you need to learn to eat during the day or your weight issues won't ever change. You can't live on those bars forever, ya know?

Other really quick foods that take no more time to eat than an Atkins bar are:

boiled eggs
slice of meat
cheese sticks
cucumber
mini quiche cups
nuts
pepperoni
cherry tomatoes

I boiled and peel a dozen eggs at least once a week (store in a ziplock bag with two large paper towels). Nature's best snack and all I have to do is take one out of the fridge. Grab a couple grape/cherry tomatoes and you've got a healthy quick snack every time.

Hope this helps... I know that changing habits is HARD. The key to doing it is first wanting to, and then finding a positive behavior to sub for the undesireable behavior.

Tril

[adarmaSen]

The manufacturer (Atkins Nutritionals... think that's the name) subtracts the sugar alcohol carbohydrate as well as the fiber. That's how they get such a low number. They say that the sugar alcohol carbs have "minimal impact on blood glucose"... in other words, your body doesn't digest them so it doesn't make glucose from it and then respond with an insulin output.

Still doesn't add up. Here is the lower portion of the nutrition table

Total Carb 18g 6%
Dietary Fiber 10g 40%
Sugars 1g
Sugar Alcohols 0g
Protein 11g 22%

The proper way is 18 minus 10 right? For a total of 8 left over. Even if I subtract the sugar... it's still 7g of Carb. So am I to assume that my math is right and this company is just using false advertising?

[slimfifa]

I went to the Atkins site and looked up the ingredients for these bars. They contain glycerine. Look it up. These are the other names this chemical compound goes by:

glycerol
glycerin
glycerine
propane-1,2,3-triol
1,2,3-propanetriol
1,2,3-trihydroxypropane
glyceritol
glycyl alcohol

Glycerol is a chemical compound also commonly called glycerin or glycerine. It is a colorless, odorless, viscous liquid that is widely used in pharmaceutical formulations. Glycerol is a sugar alcohol, and is sweet-tasting and of low toxicity.

In foods and beverages, glycerol serves as humectant, solvent and sweetener, and may help preserve foods. It is also used as filler in commercially prepared low-fat foods (e.g., cookies), and as a thickening agent in liqueurs. Glycerol also serves as a way, along with water, to preserve certain types of leaves. Glycerol is also used as a sugar substitute. In this regard, it has approximately 27 calories per teaspoon and is 60% as sweet as sucrose. Although it has about the same food energy as table sugar, it does not raise blood sugar levels, nor does it feed the bacteria that form plaques and cause dental cavities. As a food additive, glycerol is also known as E number E422.

If there's any "lying" going on with the packaging... it's the 0g of sugar alcohols. Evidently, Atkins Nutritionals does not consider glycerine/glycerin/glycerol to be a sugar alcohol. Semantics? Spelling difference? Who knows.

Which flavor did you get your nutritional info from? I couldn't find one on the website with the same numbers for total carb and fiber.

[joanasevilyboaz]

Hi Unbreakable,

I agree with you that the Atkins corp should be more clear about their math on the Net Carbs. The nutrition label and the Net Carbs logo on the front of the package seem to be contradictory to me also. Maybe we should all go on to the Atkins website and ask for an explanation. I think Tril is right, they're referring to the sugar alcohols. Nutrition labels are regulated by the US govt. and they might require the food manufacturers to count only such sugar alcohols as malitol and sorbitol.

I just know that I have to be careful with them, because it's hard for me to eat just one. One bar is a convenient snack. A box of them is trouble.

[eFDMBwKH]

I second that! I sometimes have EAS low carb bars over atkins as they have good flavors like cookies and cream. be careful not to over do them - i had at one point because i had a few in my possession and it can cause a lot of stomach problems (and i only had two! but they were at a time)

[slimfifa]

I figured out what's going on with the labeling. In the US, if a package says "no sugar added" or "sugar free" they have to list the sugar alcohol grams on the nutrition label. If they make no claims about the sugar content, they don't have to... they simply count the sugar alcohols as part of the total carbohydrate number. Sneaky, huh? They can claim "2 net carbs!" but they don't have to explain how they came up with that number. So yes, those bars have sugar alcohol (glycerine), but they aren't required to state how many grams are in each bar. You can figure it yourself easily, though. It's the difference between the total carb, minus the fiber and sugar grams. The left over "missing" carbs are the sugar alcohol grams.

Tril

[eFDMBwKH]

i think i may have seen that atkins bar too out there but what i find it odd is why leave out the sugar alcohol count on that bar and not any others? or why bother including them on the other ones instead of making this one bar so confusing lol - do u think its because this particular atkins bar contains a different sugar alcohol (like the ones listed above) than the other bars?

[slimfifa]

I looked them up on the Atkins site... they're all (the Advantage bars) labeled this way.

[eFDMBwKH]

I know they changed their sites and the packaging (the boxes for sure, not sure about the actually wrapping) and i wonder if they changed that on all of them now to make them less confusing? I know I had looked at the bars semi recently (in the old packaging) and most of them except I believe for one had the "confusing label" but all the other ones listed sugar alcohols - unless im losing my mind lol - right now at the atkins sight on a lot of their bars they are offering 30% off a 15-bar pack. Hmmmm... Lol - i love that caramel line

[slimfifa]

I haven't actually looked at a label myself (I don't eat those things... blech!), I've only looked at the labeling info on the Atkins website. They must have gotten enough flack about the sugar alcohols that they put the info on the new packaging but they haven't updated the web info. The site is also under construction. Must be doing an "overhaul" at Atkins.

Tril