There are a few questions re: sweetener and product content.

1. Which is your preferred product sweetener?
Probably sucralose, but am happy with aspartame

2. Do you find sucralose acceptable as a sweetener?
Yes

3. Do you find polyols such as maltitol acceptable as sweeteners?
Yes

4. Do you find that polyols cause gastrointestinal discomfort or have a laxative effect?
I find they give me quite a lot of wind.

5. Do you find soy an acceptable product ingredient?
Yes, I have recently started cooking with soya flour.

6. Do you find whey protein an acceptable product ingredient?
Yes

7. Are you put off by the price of the Atkins products?
Yes

8. Would you like to see other branded low carb products available in your high street?
Yes

9. What is the maximum carb content you would consider for each product?
For snack bars 5 per serving, generally less than 8 g per 100g for other items.

10. Do you think the current practice of subtracting carbohydrates from polyols / glycerine and labelling products as “net” carbs or “effective carb count” labelling is misleading?
Can be, but at least UK labelling does not include fibre in the carb content.

11. Do you find that your weight loss stalls when consuming products containing polyols/glycerine?
Not particularly. If you have a lot then you can easily eat too many calories!

12. Would you prefer products with “actual” carb counts?
Most already do.

and then a few product suggestions, if you could grade them 1-10, 1 being favourite, 10 being least useful to you ...

Powdered shake mix - 10
Ready made shake - 10
Pizza bases - 8
Pizza with toppings- 8
Bread / ‘wraps’ / rolls etc- 8
Chocolate bar - 2
Meal replacement bar with vitamins and minerals - 6
Sugar Free Baking Chocolate - 2
Individual Soups - 2
Chocolate and other flavoured muffins - 6

I was interested in the poll now inserted at the front of the post. I know that there are many who would like the support of a weekly get together, such as for weight watchers. Having been low carbing for 2.5 years now I would not attend such a club, although many have suggested I should become a leader of one!! We do arrange some local get togethers and they have been well supported.

Hi there

here we go....

1. Which is your preferred product sweetener?
I think Splenda

2. Do you find sucralose acceptable as a sweetener?
Yes

3. Do you find polyols such as maltitol acceptable as sweeteners?
Yes

4. Do you find that polyols cause gastrointestinal discomfort or have a laxative effect?
Yes

5. Do you find soy an acceptable product ingredient?
Yes but quite expensive

6. Do you find whey protein an acceptable product ingredient?
Yes but quite expensive too

7. Are you put off by the price of the Atkins products?
Yes (I like the bread mix that comes in a tin but for £5 or £6 it costs for just one loaf!!!)

8. Would you like to see other branded low carb products available in your high street?
Most definately

9. What is the maximum carb content you would consider for each product?
As low as possible really so that we can have as much variety in our lc diet too

10. Do you think the current practice of subtracting carbohydrates from polyols / glycerine and labelling products as “net” carbs or “effective carb count” labelling is misleading?
Took a while but I'm there now so no not really

11. Do you find that your weight loss stalls when consuming products containing polyols/glycerine?
Not really

12. Would you prefer products with “actual” carb counts?
Not bothered as we don't have that problem (I didn't think)

and then a few product suggestions, if you could grade them 1-10, 1 being favourite, 10 being least useful to you ...

Powdered shake mix
7

Ready made shake
8

Pizza bases
8

Pizza with toppings
7

Bread / ‘wraps’ / rolls etc
3

Chocolate bar
4

Meal replacement bar with vitamins and minerals
4

Sugar Free Baking Chocolate
5

Individual Soups
4

Chocolate and other flavoured muffins
4

I hope that all this helps

Fi
x

Thank you so very much for all your replies, it really is great to have such energetic feedback and suggestions. The strength of the feeling you all have is very compelling and I will try to get that across as strongly as possible when communicating the results of these questions.

Please do keep your replies coming, anyone who has not had a chance to reply yet please do when you have a moment, the more evidence and information I can gather, the more compelling the argument I can take in with the findings!!

many thanks. Claire

1. Which is your preferred product sweetener?
Splenda
2. Do you find sucralose acceptable as a sweetener?
Yes
3. Do you find polyols such as maltitol acceptable as sweeteners?
In very small quantities, yes
4. Do you find that polyols cause gastrointestinal discomfort or have a laxative effect?
Yes - both.
5. Do you find soy an acceptable product ingredient?
Yes
6. Do you find whey protein an acceptable product ingredient?
Yes
7. Are you put off by the price of the Atkins products?
Yes
8. Would you like to see other branded low carb products available in your high street?
Yes, especially if they were not over-priced
9. What is the maximum carb content you would consider for each product?
It could vary quite a lot and still be useful; when I was on Atkins induction I had to count every single carb, but now I can eat more so long as I eat it with protein. So a wrap in which I could put chicken etc could have 5-10 carbs, depending on how big it was, whereas a sweet-tasting bar, to be eaten by itself, ought not to have more than 3 -4, unless it is packed with protein. A complete meal could have as much as 15 but that wouldn't be so useful to those on induction levels.
10. Do you think the current practice of subtracting carbohydrates from polyols / glycerine and labelling products as “net” carbs or “effective carb count” labelling is misleading?
No - so long as there is a decent explanation and a complete breakdown of the real counts on the packet. Polyols do not have the same effect as sugar.
11. Do you find that your weight loss stalls when consuming products containing polyols/glycerine?
Not personally, but I have heard of this.
12. Would you prefer products with “actual” carb counts?
So long as all the info is there I don't mind how it's presented.
and then a few product suggestions, if you could grade them 1-10, 1 being favourite, 10 being least useful to you ...

1 Bread / ‘wraps’ / rolls etc
2 Meal replacement bar with vitamins and minerals
3 Powdered shake mix
4 Pizza bases
5 Chocolate bar
6 Ready made shake
7 Pizza with toppings
8 Sugar Free Baking Chocolate
9 Individual Soups
10 Chocolate and other flavoured muffins

My requests, in no particular order, would be:

Ready meals, with meat and veg and perhaps a non-flour-thickened sauce

Wraps to make lovely meaty and salad-y sandwiches from

A low carb powder drink

Low carb sauces of all sorts; ketchup, chili sauces, stir-fry sauces.

Something, anything, to dip! We can eat guacamole, humous at a pinch, taramasalata, sour cream dips, mayonnaise dips; these things are all allowed but there's nothing to dip in them and they just aren't the same with a stick of celery.

Likewise, something, anything, to put pate and cheese on. Cracker-type things. Maybe fine crackers that could also be dipped.

By the way, LC version of the above dips and pre-prepared foodstuffs would be great.

Bake mix and/or breading mix for frying fish/chicken etc.

Cheaper continental salami's, hams etc. Every time I visit the continent it shocks me how much cheaper these things are. The markup in this country is appalling for everything but fluorescent specially greasy Danish salami.

I would also be after sweet things, if they are sweetened with sucralose rather than polyols. Some really dark chocolate, that tastes like the Lindt 70%, or not even as bitter as that, but that was sweetened with sucralose, would be such a treat. I wouldn't be after anything as sweet as mainstream confectionary; my taste changes on LC and I don't like things to be that sweet.

LC ice-cream.

1. Which is your preferred product sweetener?

Splenda.

2. Do you find sucralose acceptable as a sweetener?

Yes, although large quantities of it have a slightly bitter aftertaste, to me.

3. Do you find polyols such as maltitol acceptable as sweeteners?

Yes, as far as taste--however, I would be much less likely to regularly purchase polyol-sweetened products, because of the side effects.

4. Do you find that polyols cause gastrointestinal discomfort or have a laxative effect?

The effect on me is major, uncomfortable and extremely disruptive to my normal functioning.

5. Do you find soy an acceptable product ingredient?

Yes.

6. Do you find whey protein an acceptable product ingredient?

Yes, in fact I go through lots of whey-protein shakes in my current eating plan.

7. Are you put off by the price of the Atkins products?

Yes. I was put off by that when I lived in the US, and I'm even more put off by it here. The markup is ridiculous.

8. Would you like to see other branded low carb products available in your high street?

Absolutely.

9. What is the maximum carb content you would consider for each product?

Tortillas and wraps would have to be <10 carbs before I'd be interested. Ready-made shakes would have to be quite low, comparable to the Atkins shakes or to the Myoplex LC shakes (not available in the UK, but they have 50g protein and about 3 carbs). Shake mix could be slightly higher in carbs as I would be able to directly control the carb content of each drink.

10. Do you think the current practice of subtracting carbohydrates from polyols / glycerine and labelling products as “net” carbs or “effective carb count” labelling is misleading?

Not as long as all the info is on the package.

11. Do you find that your weight loss stalls when consuming products containing polyols/glycerine?

No. For me, the calories are most important--but it certainly does stall other people. Now, granted, because of the gastric distress, I don't eat a lot of those products.

12. Would you prefer products with “actual” carb counts?

Doesn't matter.

and then a few product suggestions, if you could grade them 1-10, 1 being favourite, 10 being least useful to you ...

Powdered shake mix 1
Ready made shake 1
Pizza bases 2
Pizza with toppings 6
Bread / ‘wraps’ / rolls etc 1
Chocolate bar 7
Meal replacement bar with vitamins and minerals 1 if not polyol-sweetened; 6 if made with polyols
Sugar Free Baking Chocolate 8
Individual Soups 10
Chocolate and other flavoured muffins 5-10 This would totally depend on taste and mouth-feel.

Emily

Anything to use as a bread substitute - lunchtime sandwiches were so damn convenient.

seriously! I used to drink many cups of milky tea a day, which may explain why I've been stalled for 18 months...
Now I buy very little processed food. It has taken me so long to wean myself off frankenfoods and get into the habit of making my meals from first principles, so to speak, that I'd be very wary of going back to convenience foods.
Having said that, something that I can toast and put a couple of fried eggs onto would also be nice.
But milk! Milk! Yes, yes, yes!!
Zan

I cannot eat any form of sweeteners or sugars - so I would like some kind of dessert and 'treat' that are free from both and low carb (well - you did call it a wish list!)

I view with deep suspicion any manufactured "added value" products which are marketed as low-carb. If you agree with Atkins' own analysis the healthiest diet is one where you use fresh fruit, veg., unprocessed meats, eggs etc. The Atkins Bars etc. sold in Boots seem to me to go against his own principles. What I'm trying to do is wean myself off cakes, sweet biscuits etc. entirely, not find an artificially manufactured substitute for them.
It's amazing how sweet a carrot tastes when your palate isn't dulled by sugar or sugar-substitutes. Mind you, I'm bad news for the supermarkets and food manufacturers, and am probably in a minority too.

I do use Splenda, but only very very occasionally, and in small quantities. e.g. when serving mixed berries I like to whip up some double cream, grate some lemon zest into it, add a little lemon juice and a teaspoon of Splenda.

(I recently tried making meringues with Splenda. Don't bother. They come out like sawdust and have a very unpleasant chemical aftertaste.)

I drink a lot of sparkling water. What I'd like to see is a more "adult" version of fizzy pops. Even those with sweetener tend to be cloyingly sweet.

I'd also like something to eat with pates and spreads, such as a crispbread.

Low carb alternatives to alcohol for grownups!! Ame used to be a nice change but they've changed it and made it fruity. Yuk!! Something different in a wine glass!! Pops that are not loaded with aspartme sweetener. Fed up of having a good evening out spoiled cos I'm bloated and sick of childish sweet pops.

No aspartme in foods and drinks.

Ready made Low carb Desserts e.g. Cheese Cakes, Torte, Tiramisu, Carrot Cake.

at my local granary they stock something called "Scandinavian Bran Crispbread" and is apparently used by Slimming world. Anyway, they are roughly 3g of carbs per slice.

Scan Brans??? Yuk Yuk!!!

Low carb food that are suitable for vegetarians