Okay... So I broke my mom's heart and crossed the picket line, just this once, at our local Von's, which is on strike, here in Long Beach.

First of all, it was depressing. The place was empty of people. They only had two short check-out lines and one of them was express. The concessions were all unmanned and unlit. Spooky...

This is the part that really shocked me, though. They seem to have gone absolutely stark raving mad with low-carb food. It was everywhere! It wasn't just in the diet section. It was all over the store, huge amounts of shelf space.

And, sadly, almost all of it was low-carb maltitol-ridden candy.
They had many brand names I knew, like Russel Stover and Whitman's and Guylian and the usual suspects. They also had many, many more I'd never heard of. I wonder if one of the more ubiquitous ones might be a Von's store-brand. I suspect we would have already heard of that if it were true.

If I could eat just one percent of that stuff, I'd move into Von's with a pup tent. Too bad. I wonder how many people are going to have their diets totally blown by this! This is past the point where we should feel good about industry finally catering to us. This is nothing short of a low-carb health disaster.

How can we expect any of the newbies to succeed if they have this tempting them and looking so innocent at every turn? At some point there has to be some massive education campaign to warn people about the problems of maltitol.

I noticed a number of the products were made with hydrogenated starch something-or-other. I don't know what that is, or whether it's okay for low-carb eating or not.

Needless to say, I skipped all of that stuff.

**************
"Sometimes I think you have to march right in and demand your rights, even if you don't know what your rights are, or who the person is you're talking to. Then on the way out, slam the door."

isn't it maddening to see this kind of trend? I just don't buy that garbage because I know what it will do to me, but also out of principle. I am silently boycotting most of that garbage. If it has maltitol, lactitol, and all the other "ols" with the exception of erythritol, I just throw it back. I read, read, read labels. I had found LC cookies at Trader Joe's, bought them and didn't read the label. (I was hungry at the time.) When I read the label it had maltitol AND Hydrogenated soybean oil. So now there they sit. Oh well.........live and learn.

Barb - 30 lbs gone FOREVER!
Atkins-3/14/03
174/144.8/135 5'2"
"A little knowledge is a dangerous thing."
Knowledge is POWER

Hey Barb,
take the cookies back!

Doc,

the hydrogenated-starch-somethings are sugar alcohols.

I have to admit, that at times I will buy those treats. I can tolerate them rather well. Those things stay just that though - a treat.

Never give up! Never surrender!

Katrin

Ya know, Katrin, I should. I also have a pot of lard I want to return, but keep forgetting. It is partially hydrogenated, YUK!!!! Just wish I could remember to bring it with me the next time I go to the store.

Barb - 30 lbs gone FOREVER!



Atkins-3/14/03
174/144.8/135 5'2"
"A little knowledge is a dangerous thing."
Knowledge is POWER

I find that when I pick something new up and see any of the sugar alcohols, it helps to put it back down and leave it on the shelf if I say to my dh, "Exlax".

Joyce

At the risk of being in the vast minority - I don't have a problem with maltitol, either stalling me or causing the "ex-lax" effect! So, I'm HAPPY to see products I can use IN MODERATION. And I think for me at least, that is the key, I've never EATEN enough of anything containing maltitol at one sitting, or even in one DAY, to test the gastrointestinal after-effects that seem to plague many people.

So, I don't know if it's quantity or simply that my body can deal with the stuff, but I like it!

Now, partially-hydrogenated, that's another story - I steer WAY clear of anything that contains it.

So as always, YMMV but I, for one, am happy to have some low-carb counterparts to formerly consumed sugar-laden goodies that don't cause problems for me. Wish we had Von's around here!

Char

Don't squat with yer spurs on!

I agree that's it's nice if you can eat that stuff but after eating 2 (yes, just 2) little pieces of that Hershey stuff they call candy, I achieved an exlax moment. That lives with ya. There are probably more people who can't handle the sugar alcohols than who can. It just helps that people know it can go either way. And the effect of sugar alcohols can be more than just the laxative effect.

Joyce

Dr,
I live in East Tennessee and have few LC luxuries. I was at the local grocery store
yesterday to pick up some Atkins shakes(my daily breakfast), I was absolutely amazed at the new LC stuff they had gotten in since my last vist{aprox 1-2 wks ago)I know yall are used to these choices, but I finally got some lc tortillas and pasta. We've had a lot of the LC candy(which I love-in moderation) but to finally see foodstuffs was great!


deb t
Atkins since 08-11-03 5'1"
152(highest Mar 03) 146/125/118(?)

Joyce, YUP, you aren't kidding about an exlax moment. The first time I did 2 of those Hershey's I had SEVERAL exlax moments. And my tummy was loud enough to wake my neighbors with ALL the windows and doors shut,

Deb, it's great to find some more of those convenience LC foods, but be leary of using them TOO much. They can still have a glycemic affect on your insulin levels. I use them now, just as a "treat" or reward. Stick with the basics for the most part. If you end up stalling, those might be considered as the culprits. Just a thought.

Barb - 30 lbs gone FOREVER!



Atkins-3/14/03
174/144.8/135 5'2"
"A little knowledge is a dangerous thing."
Knowledge is POWER

I have to agree with the doc....it makes me angry to see the food manufacturers trying to capitalize on the low carb craze by offering all the goodies with no regard to the possible side effects or added calories. Much as we don't like to admit it even if the "goodies" have no side effects on us the extra calories are definately NOT NEEDED!!!!

It reminds me of the low fat craze when everything started coming out with big letters......LOW FAT......BAKED NOT FRIED..... The problem is just because something was low fat one could easily eat a bag of low fat chips and justify it to themselves but then wonder why the scales went up instead of down.

I guess I'm venting because thats what happened to me. I lost 50 lbs by going low fat just before all the hoopla...than when the goodies started being made I gained it all back PLUS!!!!

Lesson learned. I much prefer this WOE and steer totally clear of the goodies. I stick to the KISS mentality.

Live well Love much Laugh often
Started June 25 2003
235/178/160

Becki

I'm not as concerned about the lactitol candies, like the ones Hershey make. I haven't tried Hershey's. There was a site I wish I could find again that compared the glycemic indices of different sugar alcohols. Lactitol was near the bottom of the list.

Darn... where was that site? I'd really like to know the numbers on sorbitol.

I guess the lactitol candies cause such bad intestinal problems that they seem to have a self-limiting quality, as well.

Intestinal distress is one thing. Blowing your diet is another, and that's what maltitol seems to do to most people.

I respect the people that can eat maltitol candies and not get thrown off their diet. We've heard theories that might explain that. I don't know what's going on with that. It just all seems so pointless because they don't NEED to use maltitol. There are other ways of sweetening products and providing bulk.

**************
"Sometimes I think you have to march right in and demand your rights, even if you don't know what your rights are, or who the person is you're talking to. Then on the way out, slam the door."

We have a candy store here in the sticks, that makes home made chocolates, he uses splenda, I was just wondering if these would be as "unhealthy" as the store bought ones. I bought some around christmas time (for medicinal use only, you understand)and they were quite good! I had'nt had a chocolate covered cherry in several years!!

Jackie

Chocolates made with splenda by a candy maker would be awesome. I don't know about the chocolate covered cherries, though. The cherries in and of themselves might stall you. One probably wouldn't hurt, but I would use those with caution. If he could make chocolate covered nut concoctions, now THAT could get dangerous, only because you might not be able to stop. How lucky for you to have found this guy.

Barb - 30 lbs gone FOREVER!
www.iwsgroupinc.com - website design and development


Atkins-3/14/03
174/144/135 5'2"
"A little knowledge is a dangerous thing."
Knowledge is POWER

A couple of the above posts refer to steering clear of hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated items. One specifically was Soybean oil. Please fill me in...I haven't a clue why.

Atkins since 09.02.03
148/120/the weight where I like how I look in a bathing suit!

Marj. hydrogenated oils have had hydrogen forced into the molecules. It causes a change in them that clogs our arteries. Hydrogenated fats are lethal. They are also very close to plastic in their chemistry. Margerine is polyester. I really can't see taking a 1 inch square of a baby blue leisure suit and spreading it on a whole grain cracker and calling that yummy. Hydrogenated fats also can be stored away in the body in the abdomen especially, where it does the most heart damage. It penetrates the organs and veins and arteries and wreaks havoc. People with apple body types have probably eaten a lot of hydrog. fats in their lifetime. It is just another man-made poison. AVOID IT LIKE THE PLAGUE!!!!!!!

(I often will be seen holding my fingers up in a cross position when passing by that stuff in the store..........kinda like warding off a vampire, LOL )

Barb - 30 lbs gone FOREVER!
www.iwsgroupinc.com - website design and development


Atkins-3/14/03
174/144/135 5'2"
"A little knowledge is a dangerous thing."
Knowledge is POWER