South Beach Diet - Would you eat it?

The other day while shopping I found some cereal bars. In the list of ingredients sugar was listed and it was about the 3rd one in. So would you buy them and eat them?

:?::?::?::?::?::?::?::?:


Would you still eat them if they were South Beach Living Cereal Bars?
I bought them without looking at the ingredients. I figured, they're good because its South Beach. They wouldn't put Sugar in their product. Low and behold, I was reading one of the packages and it listed sugar?

FRANKENFOOD!!!!

WOW, thanks for the heads up. I JUST bought some of those and didnt look at the actual ingredients. I just look at protien, calories, and fiber. Now i will be sure to check the ingredients. If mine list sugar as 3rd ingredient the kids will have some extra snacks for the week...not me. Wow, i am appauled really.

Well that was my thing... this is supposed to be "south beach" approved.. if there's sugar added isn't it NOT then? Its pretty close to the top of the ingredient list. I think the fact that they actually add sugar to them is crazy.

I think it's kind of ridiculous that sugar is listed...but honestly....if they weren't SBD approved, kraft wouldn't be marketing them as such. Think of the lawsuits.

Anyway, they seem to be full of not so great, not so 'whole' foods. I would probably avoid them. One of the things I like most about this diet is the fact that they emphasize healthy eating of whole foods. They want you to avoid overly processed foods....which this cereal bar seems to be.


Here is the ingredient list for the peanut butter ones:
Ingredients: SOY NUGGETS (SOY PROTEIN ISOLATE, TAPIOCA STARCH, SALT), PEANUT BUTTER (ROASTED GROUND PEANUTS), MALTITOL SYRUP, SUGAR, ROASTED SOYBEANS, CORN SYRUP, SOY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, OLIGOFRUCTOSE (FOR FIBER), FRACTIONATED PALM KERNEL OIL, EVAPORATED CANE JUICE INVERT SYRUP, BROWN RICE SYRUP, PARTIALLY DEFATTED PEANUT FLOUR, MILLED AND FLAKED CORN, NONFAT MILK, CALCIUM CARBONATE, TRICALCIUM PHOSPHATE, SODIUM CASEINATE, NATURAL FLAVOR, SALT, SOY LECITHIN, BUTTER [CREAM, ANNATTO (COLOR), SALT], PEANUT OIL, WHEY, SUNFLOWER OIL, PALM OIL, PEANUTS, BARLEY MALT, MONO- AND DIGLYCERIDES, SUCRALOSE (SWEETENER), FERRIC PHOSPHATE (SOURCE OF IRON), NIACINAMIDE, ZINC OXIDE (SOURCE OF ZINC), MAGNESIUM CARBONATE, VITAMIN B6, VITAMIN A PALMITATE, RIBOFLAVIN (VITAMIN B2), THIAMIN MONONITRATE (VITAMIN B1), ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, VITAMIN B12. CONTAINS: SOY, PEANUT, MILK.

There sure are a TON of preservatives and artificial sweeteners in them. I'm surprised they had to use real sugar with all those fake sugar replacements.

edit: actually, I was looking at a lot of the ingredient lists and quite a few include sugar. The cranberry granola clusters include sugar sweetened dried cranberries.....the very thing that so many of us are trying to avoid. It also includes brown rice syrup. I know this isn't allowed on P1, but I haven't gotten a final answer on it being ok for P2. Most of them also contain Fractionated Palm Kernel Oil, which is even more saturated than palm oil and contains little monounsaturated fat....and is even MORE processed by removing the liquid portion (fractionating). The purpose of it, I would assume, is to stop the things from melting so easily.

Man! There are so many non approved ingredients! Sweetened condensed milk, brown rice syrup, straight up sugar, molasses, corn syrup, sweetened dried cranberries....and this is just in one product!

That was what I thought. As I had noticed they even used corn syrup!! This just confused me. I know that the SBD Sticklers would not choose a cereal bar that has sugar added to it.. but would they choose a SB Living cereal bar based on the same idea? It doesn't need the sugar. I thought it was cool, high protein, great for on the run....
I'd rather make some good healthy breakfast cookies and have those on the run instead of this... I just thought it'd be good to post it so people are aware that just because its "south beach approved" that it may not be the best choice available..

also, high maltose corn syrup. Not quite as bad as high fructose, but about a fraction of a step in the right direction.

Thanks for bringing this to the table. I'm wondering if these products being sold under the South Beach label is making consumers more lax about checking the ingredients....therefor hurting their diet.

I will definitely not be buying any of these products for myself or my family.

Also, TDI, remember that corn syrup is MUCH different than HFCS, or HMCS. It is the high concentration of the maltose and fructose that make the corn syrup so bad.......with that being said, corn syrup is still not SBD approved (from what I know).

FRANKENFOOD!!!!

what she said....

would NOT touch them!

yeah.. I started googling some cereal bar and breakfast cookie recipes that can be made to fit SBD.. I'll be trying some shortly. We eat on the run sometimes, so I need to have an on-the-run-but-healthy-food!! I'll post the recipe if it tastes any good :)
Oh and when using Agave Nectar to replace honey and syrups is it 1c for 1c or is it a little different?

Corn syrup??????? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? That is insane? WOW. i have a good mind to write them and complain. That is terrible.

check out my breakfast bar recipe in the phase 2 breakfast area.

Nessa, I was meaning to tell you. I made that the other day. It was great. DH ate half the batch!

GetnHealthy - Again, corn syrup isn't wonderful...but the big buzz words in health food these days is High Fructose Corn Syrup and High Maltose Corn Syrup. HFCS and HMCS are entirely different substances than regular corn syrup, chemically speaking, and should be treated as such. Corn syrup is used in quite a few baking recipes, including pecan pie (mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm). All forms of chemically altered syrups should be avoided for optimal health, including brown rice syrup.

TDI - I wouldn't replace agave nectar for honey at a 1:1 ratio without tasting it first. I find agave nectar pretty sweet, so I usually use a little less. Just add to taste. :) Good luck finding a great recipe. Nessa's breakfast bar recipe is top notch.

Also, malitol is just a hydrogenated (refined) version of maltose. Avoid.

I like Nessa's recipe. I will make those next time :D This time I made a different recipe. I posted it under Phase 2 breakfast ideas. It involves no baking and very versatile..
So from now on, we'll be staying away from the South Beach Living bars and probably the other stuff. The frozen meals and such. It just confused me and I wanted everyone to be aware that its really not a good choice...

TDI - I took a look at your recipe. It looks yummy! I'll have to make it soon.

Anyway, I looked at the ingredients on the frozen foods. They have probably the best ingredient list of all the South Beach Kraft foods. I wouldn't eat them all the time, but in a pinch, they should be fine. The pizzas are actually really good, the vegetable and chicken one anyway....I haven't tried the others.

Yeah we do the frozen when were in a pinch also.. Not an every night thing or anything... maybe once a week or so.. the santa fe chicekn and rice is yummy!!!

So, sugar is the fourth ingredient, and it's the top three that are most important, still, malitol has been shown to affect blood sugar in several individuals (it certainly affects me) and it's the third ingredient. These are very tasty, but I honestly don't think of them as an SBD food. I know that friends of mine who are NOT on SBD have found these bars to be among the healthiest in the granola bar genre, but if I were to really go for something "snacky-y" I think I'd head for something more natural, like ThinkOrganic bars, REAL kind bars, Dr. Weil's organic bars, or something like that. Something where all the ingredients are things I recognize, like fruit, nuts, etc. :shrug:

I used to eat these bars off and on because of the high protein, but I found they made me crave more, so now I avoid them. I've been trying out other kinds of bars to see how they do. I tried this one (https://www.wegmans.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10052&productId=388475&catalogId=10002&krypto=QJrbAudPd0vzXUGByeatog%3D%3D&ddkey=http:ProductDisplay)the other day and was pleasantly surprised to find that it didn't seem to give me any cravings!

I do often eat the SBD cereal bars with plain LF yogurt for breakfast, as I am extremely busy all the time (like all of us), and I hate eggs. I have justified it on the basis that on P2 you are allowed to have a serving of breakfast cereal that is "low sugar," and the 7 grams of sugar in these bars is "low sugar" compared to other cereals. I have not found them to negatively affect my weight loss; however, I am interested in trying these homemade ones!!

The homemade ones are quick and easy. Everyone is entitled to choose what they eat. I eat the Kashi Go Lean cereal while others won't. I posted it because many people aren't aware of the sugar content. I think we pick up the South Beach Living products and think they're perfectly healthy for us. For some, they may not be, there may be something better. Everyone finds their own balance of what they think is fine to eat. :)

Beachgal: I think I'll try the cliff bars too.. maybe for a treat. They sound yummy and perfect for getting some extra fruit servings in there!! At times I wish we had a Trader Joe's near by, but Wegman's is a pretty good store too!! :D

TDI - I really enjoy the Bella Bars.....made for pregnant women. I fell in love with them when I was pregnant. They were the only thing I could eat and not puke up 10 minutes later for quite some time :) I eat them every once in awhile now, I really try not to make a habit out of them. They are very tasty though and high in vitamins!

I'll have to look for them :) I enjoyed the homemade ones DH loves 'em too. We'll stick to these on a regular basis and maybe for a treat throw in a bella or the cliff ones.. I've seen the Cliff ones, but not the Bella. I'll take a closer look next time at wegman's... :)

When I was pregnant, I couldn't find the Bellas anywhere....but I found them at Target the other day.

I'll definitely check next time I'm at Target

At first I thought the only cereal you could really eat was the ones listed on the approved food list but using the other rules regarding how many grams of sugar in one serving, I have found several other types of cereals that you can eat that have 3 grams of sugar or less per serving and have a better taste than Uncle Sam's ,et al.

Shredded wheat, one of my all time favorites, now has unsugared mini squares not just the biscuits. Yippee!! With the weather getting warmer, I have added a bowl of cereal to my breakfasts or evening snacks.

I bought the SBD breakfast bars when there was a "Buy one get one free" at Publix when I first started this food plan. My DH had one and I had the rest of two boxes. What does that tell you?

I am still eating the eggs and turkey bacon 4 1/2 months later.....I have it down to making breakfast in 5 minutes. I cook up a week's worth of bacon, put it in the refrigerator, spray the pan with canola oil spray, make my eggs, have the toast in the toaster while the eggs are cooking, pour out my skim milk , dole out my supplements etc. and viola breakfast is served.

I still find that the eggs/bacon breakfast keeps me satiated longer than any bar....;)

P.S. the SBD mini pizzas are blah---try Amy's organic ones. Those taste like you just made them. My favorite is the spinach one.

Pamatga - I agree that eggs keep me satiated longer than carbs. I still make the egg cups even though I'm on P2. I really enjoy them with only vegetables.

The Amy's organic pizzas are better than SBD pizzas....but not all the crusts are made from ww flour. I believe the spinach one is on a rice flour crust? I checked the ingredients and it simply says rice flour...which I'm almost certain is white rice flour. The only one that I've seen in stores that has a ww crust is a cheese and pesto full size pizza. To stay on plan, the SBD pizzas are better.

Darned, I wish this thread was 2 weeks ago!! Last week I bought 2 boxes of SBD bars when on sale, I've already asked a coworker if she'd like them.

Twynn, if you already have them don't waste them! I'm sure they wouldn't be horrible for a just once in awhile snack. :)

yeah, I wouldn't throw 'em out. This kinda a "for next time" thing... We are all learning how to make better choices over time. :D