Hi all! I'm new here. I've been lurking the forums for a while now.

As you all know, low carb grocery choices arent as abundant in Canada as they are in the states. It's especially hard here on the west coast since most of the big food importers are located in Toronto/Montreal area.

I think it would be helpful if we could all contribute our product finds around Vancouver. Like our favorite places to shop for low carb/health foods, specialty product findings, etc.

I put Vancouver in square brackets in the beginning of the thread topic, I think it would makes more sense to have this area-specific. Other cities can start their own shopping guides, too =).

To start things off, here are my contributions:



Now, please kindly share your favorite places to shop low carb so we can help each other out =)


Here are a few things I've been trying to find around Vancouver:

-More Torani Sugarfree Syrups (I want to try out different flavors)
-DaVinci Sugarfree Syrups (again, more flavors)
-Carb-free sweentener, ie the really concentrated liquid ones
-Atkin's bars (the smaller ones, not the 60g ones. I'm counting calories at the moment and 240cal per bar is a lot. Some of the smaller ones are supposed to be 150cal ea)
-La Tortilla Factory Whole Wheat Low-Carb/Low-Fat Tortillas (or any low carb tortilla)

What a brilliant idea-thanks cyndiwong!
A big welcome to you!
I was just 'complaining' about this issue in a few postings back. I am keeping my diet quite simple at this point-but I'll definitely will be doing my homework on this topic and look forward to passing on my findings shortly...
Thanks for a useful thread and best of luck!

T & T Market carries shirataki noodles in their produce department, next to the tofu. I like them with Thai green curry.

JJ Beans is the actual BC distributor for the DaVinci Gourmet line, they have a LOT of the flavours in their shops, in and around Vancouver.

Check out Health Food stores and grocery stores, too, these days, for Liquid Stevia; this is about the only concentrated sweetener you will find in Canada in retail stores at this time, except for the Liquid Sugar Twin (most grocery stores). I find a blend of the two works really really well, and is zero carb. That Natural Living Health is sure to carry some.

The smaller Atkins bars are really Atkins candy, not protein bars, so be wary. The maltitol might get you and you will be very uncomfortable and in the bathroom.

The wraps and other such products are much harder to get these days, definitely and at least in part because of the labelling laws that have gone into full force in Canada for every company as of last December. It's one of the reasons I had to stop carrying the tortillas, along with nobody much expecting a low carb site in Western Canada and so not searching far enough along with the certainty that they can only be kept in stock, even in a freezer, for so long.

It's good to start a thread like this, but to keep it current, it needs to be posted to regularly, or all the information (just like all the other product/location specific search threads over the years) will just disappear off the bottom of the current "page".

Enjoy!

Nature's Living Health on Arbutus and 12th is a low-carb store. They have Da Vinci syrups in most flavours; LC tortillas, breads, and other baked goods; shiritaki noodles; bars and SF candy; cereals and granolas; chips; sweeteners; etc. etc. etc. They are, be warned, rather expensive. For example, they sell bags of Russell Stover SF candies for around $6, which are are about $3 at Safeways. Other products, like the tortillas and syrups are more reasonably priced.

Red Square Bakery in Burnaby has low carb flax bread, crackers, and pita.

Famous Foods at 25th and Kingsway has lots of products for LC baking: nuts, soy flour, bran, unsweetened coconut, and so on.

That's all I can think of right now.

Rachel

So I finally had time to visit Nature's Living Health. The store is really small, but I was very pleasantly surprised to find so many rare products!

Here's a rough list of products they carry:
-Shirataki Noodles (These aren't exactly rare in Vancouver, oh well...)
-Many many different kinds of bars, flax snacks, muffins, cookies, etc.
-A whole self dedicated to Walden's Farm's products!!!
-La Tortilla Factory tortillas
-Waist Watcher's canned drinks
-Stevia in many forms
-Da Vinci and Torani syrups, flavor selection isn't that good though. They go for about $12/ea
-Pillsbury reduced sugar baking mixes

Those are the products I can remember off the top of my head.

Now I'm very curious about Sucaryl (calcium cyclamate) after reading about it around the forum. IslandGirl, you said (in another thread) that you found it in the pharmacy section in a Real Canadian Superstore. I visited a Superstore near me today, but they didnt have it. Could you tell me which Superstore you found it at? I know you are on the island, but would you happen to know where to find it in Vancouver? How does it compare with Liquid Sugar Twin (which is supposed to be absolutely 0 calories and 0 carbs too?)?

So does anyone know where to find Sucaryl in Vancouver?

Another update is, I called JJ Beans. Most locations seem to carry the Da Vinci sugar free syrup in Vanilla flavor only. This is kindda disappointing considering the wealth of flavors Da Vinci makes. The main location said they do custom orders, but only in boxes of 12 bottles. And they have to be 12 bottles of the same flavor :O...... not very feasible......

I'm still on the hunt to find the best way to get more sugar free syrups... I'm in love with these!

The Sucaryl was actually in the pharmacy section in the Save-On Foods (Overwaitea), IIRC, though I haven't seen it there in a year now...so maybe I was the only one still buying it after the Splenda craze started up. Used to be able to get it online at Global Drugs, too. A lot of Americans shopped there However, the sodium cyclamate is still available, it's the SugarTwin brand, and I have seen it at most local grocery stores, including the Save-On I think, and also Zellers. MY Superstore doesn't carry the liquid, but each Superstore has different stock, customized to their "demands", so they tell me at the service desk. They do provide customer cards so you can request specific products.

I buy some regularly just to make sure somebody does (and I use it of course) and they don't stop carrying it, wherever I can find it.

To answer your question, both the Sucaryl and the SugarTwin liquid are almost identical, except the Sucaryl (used to be) marketed to the low-sodium crowd, so it was made with the calcium cyclamate instead of the (probably cheaper) sodium cyclamate. The taste is the same, the synergy with Splenda is the same, it's the cyclamate that tastes way better (not so bitter) as the American SugarTwin which is saccharin based instead of cyclamate based. Yep, calorie free liquid sweetener. Not the best, but works great in combination with others and absolutely zero carb. It's not as concentrated as the liquid "Splenda" sucralose we can't get here, but it does the job.

Also, I have some DaVinci's left, though I am clearing out my stock because of the labelling laws. With the sale price and the shipping, it's still much cheaper than $12 a bottle! Too bad JJ Beans is still doing the case thing, I thought they would have got over that stupidity of ignoring the marketplace by now! They've been doing that for years...

Hope that helps.

I've been in love with liquid stevia lately. Namely, the vanilla creme flavored one from SweetLeaf.

I'm very curious to try out their other flavors, such as English Toffee and Chocolate, but I've been having trouble finding them. I got the Vanilla Creme one from Save-on-foods, where they also had Chocolate Raspberry and Valencia Orange. But out of the several Save-ons that I checked, those were the only 3 flavored they carried. Any idea where I might be able to find the other flavors? Or flavor recommendations? Any help is appreciated =D. I especially want the Chocolate one, but is afraid that Chocolate Raspberry would have too much raspberry. I want just chocolate =).

I have been able to find all kinds of stevia products in health food stores. Most of them carry stevia in one form or another. Tablets, powdered--just not flavored liquid!

On an unrelated note, I purchased Da Vinci's SF Irish Cream and Strawberry syrup from JJ Beans ($10 a bottle flat, not a bad price). I have to say though, I am kind of disappointed in how they taste. Da Vinci's seems to have more popularity over Torani's in the LC community, with most people saying Da Vinci's syrups are sweeter, have more flavor, and are thicker. I have tried both Irish Cream and Strawberry from Torani's, and thought both were very well done. When I bought the Da Vinci ones, I had really high hopes. But after tasting them, they somehow seem thinner and runnier than the Torani ones??? As for the flavors, I thought Torani's had a better Irish Cream. I suppose that is a personal preference though.

What are everyone else's thoughts? How do the Torani syrups compare with the Da Vinci ones in general? Or does the comparison vary with each different flavor? Is it worth the trouble trying to hunt down the Da Vinci ones when Torani's syrups are much more accessible here?

Sorry for the long post =P...

the stevia thing is good to learn - i first tried stevia about ten years ago and hated it for its anise seed aftertaste. i'll try the liquid and see if i like that better. i'm thinking orange...

When you try it again, even in liquid form, always use less at first than you expect you need. It's almost always, with stevia, too much of it that gives a pronounced aftertaste.

Enjoy!

Well, I am on stage 2 of my big city shopping, having done some in Calgary. I went to Famous Foods and was surprised to find somethings like ground almonds as expensive or even more so than they are at home on the edge of the world. And as for the Health food store on Arbutus, I headed out without the address, just with the Arbutus and 12th info and if you have been driving about the Kits area at all, you will know that my trip was a disaster. I will try again with the actual address on Arbutus. But basically, I think I am about shopped out and what I don't find I will do without. I hit the Diabetic Depot in Calgary and got DaVinci syrup which even my sister the original AS hater liked in her coffee.

Hi there,

Just a tip that there's a semi-permanent sale on Almond Breeze Almond Milk including (when they have stock -- which is often) the UNSWEETENED regular and vanilla flavours.. the "sale" price is 2 1L cartons for $4 -- an amazing deal.. it's at a store called East-West Market (?) on Main St between King Edward and 26th, on the west side of the street (Vancouver).

The unsweetened is 2g carb per 1 cup (240ml) - 1g fiber = 1 g net carbs

Here's the nutritional info:
http://www.bluediamond.com/retail/b..._Layout%201.pdf

Cheers!
Nicki

Well, I hit the East-West Market and they didn't have the almond milk in stock but they did have my favourite salsa, Que Pasa, which isn't particularly low carb but. . . it also isn't available on the edge of the world.

We get the Vancouver papers on the edge of the world and I always drool over the ads for Choices, so I went to the Choices store on W16th today. They have in-store-made sausage that doesn't have filler and is very low sodium so I bought some pork Italian sausage and will try it tomorrow. If it's any good I'm going to buy some and freeze to take home.

I'm heading through Seattle this weekend. If anyone is interested in DaVinci syrups, get ahold of me on this thread or via PM and let me know. I will be stopping to pick up a variety of flavours.

Victoria has them? I did not know that. =S Where in Victoria? Are there any other places in Victoria/on the island that sells low-carb and diet foods we cant get in Vancouver?

On an unrelated note, does anyone know where to find Chocolite Protein Bars by HealthSmart Foods?