Deep Into Ketosis? Can’t Fight Off The Craving For Sweets? Indulge With Endulge
Written: Sep 28 '03 (Updated Sep 28 '03)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Good taste, helps satisfy strong cravings, gaining popularity.
Cons: Small bar, tiny little pieces, melts easily.
The Bottom Line: It’s not exactly “real” chocolate but when you’re knee deep in ketosis, it sure tastes like the real thing.
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| Freak369's Full Review: Atkins Endulge Chocolate Candy Bar |
As you may have gathered from my other reviews, I maintain a low carbohydrate diet almost all of the time. It is the one way I can prevent the pounds I worked so hard to lose when I was younger from creeping back. This type of low carb diet isn’t something that most people will find appealing and I’ll admit it, there are times when I am making dinner for the boys that I secretly want to go into the pantry and devour an entire loaf of garlic bread. The only thing that keeps me from snapping is knowing that I’ll have to start all over and that within a few minutes [and a few glasses of water], my craving will pass. Lately I’ve had a chocolate monkey on my back – the craving that hits you so hard you don’t really care about having to start over to get back into ketosis. Someone suggest the Atkins Endulge line of bars and I laughed at them, having tried other Atkins products with mixed results, I was more than a little hesitant about trying yet another low carb bar, let alone an Atkins one. Rite-Aid has a huge selection of bars and when they put them on sale, it’s a great time to stock up and take advantage of the rebate offers they usually run at the same time. Be sure to check the dates though, you don’t want to get a stale low carb bar, you’ll just have to trust me on that.
Atkins Endulge Candy Bar Chocolate
I’ll admit it, I’ve never tried one of these bars. I picked up a few of the flavors when Rite-Aid had them on sale and they sat in the cupboard for about a month. I’ve just entered day ten of my ketosis cycle, a very critical time when every carb counts. Blow it now and you have to start all over. So here I sit, sick of chicken, tuna, fish and bacon – I want real food - I want chocolate. The front of the package says ‘net carbs 2’ with a little asterisk that leads you to the back panel and this statement “For those watching their carbs, count only two grams, as all other carbs [including fiber] have a minimal impact on blood sugar”. Then I look up and see that the bar contains 16 grams of carbs – enough to knock me right out of ketosis.
Feeling the wrapper, the actual bar is a lot smaller than you think, the wrapper is six inches long but the actual bar – four inches and thin! OK, so the first sniff, smells like dark chocolate … this might not be too bad. The bar is divided up into ten small [very small] sections. Given that I’m at a critical stage of my cycle, I’m only going to try out a few squares. It takes a while to get the taste of the bar and I’m resisting the urge to chew it up – in my honest opinion, it tastes a lot like the cheap chocolate you get around the holidays. You know, the stuff no one eats and you buy it just because it’s colorful. Since I haven’t had any carbs except those in eggs and the small portion of chip dip I had with my bacon, you could probably serve me something that would revolt everyone else and as long as it even had a hint of chocolate in it – I’d love it. So take my comments with a grain of salt, you might try this and completely hate it.
Flipping back to the Epinions page where this is listed, I have to laugh when I look at the photo of this candy bar. It looks so rich and has that nice sheen to it, it’s a completely different story when you unwrap this puppy. Mine had a slight white haze to, that’s called ‘bloom’ and has to do with the oils separating and rising to the top due to temperature changes. It doesn’t affect the product in the least, it just doesn’t look all that appealing. Hummm … no nasty after taste but you do have a lingering light chocolate taste but nothing that’s offensive.
Ingredients
Maltitol: [not mannitol]: Artificial sweetener that doesn’t cause a significant rise in blood glucose levels. This is also marketed as a consumer end product as an alternative to Sweet-N-Low and NutraSweet.
Polydextrose: A food additive that acts as a stabilizer to prevent the product from becoming brittle, this is also where part of the three grams of fiber come into play.
Sucralose: Artificial sweetener, no calories. When taken in large quantities, it may have a laxative effect on your body.
Also contains: chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, lecithin, natural vanilla flavor.
Nutritional Values
Taking into consideration that I almost fell off my chair when I saw the carb count, this bar isn’t all that bad in the nutrition arena. It certainly shouldn’t be used as a meal replacement – just something as a snack or as a treat if you reach a goal on your diet. One bar yields 12 grams of fat, 5 milligrams of cholesterol, 16 grams of carbs [3 fiber, 0 sugar, 11 sugar alcohol / maltitol] and almost negligible amount of protein – 1 gram. For 150 calories, this isn’t all that bad but excessive use will negate any benefits that this could have wile dieting to lose weight. These nutritional values are for one serving, which thankfully is one complete bar [30 grams]
The Bottom Line
While finishing off this review I grabbed a few more squares of this bar and couldn’t resist chewing it up – big mistake. It doesn’t have a chocolaty taste when you chew it, maybe its just me but letting it melt in my mouth was a bit more satisfying than grinding it up and swallowing it. I can honestly see me purchasing a few more of these for those hard to deal with cravings and it would be a welcome change from sugar free Jell-O or pork rinds. Taste wise, this is a lot better than I expected but it definitely isn’t real milk chocolate. As I mentioned, I am ten days into my cycle and pretty much anything that’s the least bit forbidden is mouthwatering. That might be one of the reasons that I’m giving this thumbs up – and I’m not entirely sure that if I was on a break I’d have the same opinion about it. But for now, all I have to say is that this tasted like a little slice of heaven, killed off my craving and left no foul after taste.
If you are doing any type of ketosis diet, you really have to be careful with these types of bars. Having one at the wrong time could mean having to wait an extra 24 hours for your body to slip into a complete state of ketosis [where your body draws on stored fat for energy instead of your dietary intake]. When in doubt, check with your doctor about this type of bar, especially if you have any type of sugar related health issues. This bar can be a real benefit to those who are seeking out a low carb existence but remember to use these moderately and never as a meal replacement.
As always, thanks for the read!
^V^ Freak ^V^
© 2003 Freak369
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Recommended:
Yes
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