Z Trim
 

I just saw an article on Z Trim and wondered.....does this have trans fats or is it really a healthy alternative? Sounds almost too good to be true.

Z Trim is a calorie-free fat replacer, so it doesn't have trans fats. From what I understand, it can be used to replace other ingredients in foods, so it reduces the calories in the end product.

It sounds promising!

Thanks for the reply. It does sound promising. The article was about a school district somewhere that was using it in place of regular fats in salad dressings and such. It was "causing" the kids to eat more salads because the dressing was so much better than they could get at home. I found a website where you can buy a few products, but I think I'll look for it locally first.

First use: while making fish tacos last night, I discovered I had only 2 T of sour cream left. Not wanting to run to the store, I decided to mix 2 T of Z Trim in the sour cream. None of us could tell the difference. It did not affect the taste or the texture.

It looks a bit disgusting though--kind of resembles vaseline.

Next, I'll be making a dip for Super Bowl Sunday that I will substitute 4 oz cream cheese and 4 oz Z Trim for the recipe's 8 oz cream cheese. And after that, I'm going to try it in a Bechamel sauce as a base for macaroni and cheese (I need to find some ww elbow macaroni first!)

Where did you get it? I saw that you mentioned it in one of my other posts and asked there as well.

Can it be mixed with melted butter or ICINB and stuff like that?

How does it taste by itself?

What size containers does it come in?

Do I have to take the pink slip to my car in to buy it?

This sounds VERY promising.

I hope that helps!

Sure does. Thanks. I emailed them and asked if I can get it locally.

If not, then I guess I have to order it online.

Does it present the same "difficulties" as some of the other fat substitutes like Olestra for example?

No, supposedly there are no side effects like Olestra gave us. No bloating, diarrhea or anything.

What are the ingredients?

Water and the bran of corn, oats and soybeans (I think).

This looks great - would it cost any WW points?

I can't imagine that it would be any points. It seems to be mostly water.

My second use of it last night was Ranch dip. 1/2 cup sour cream, 1/2 cup Z Trim and 1/2 a packed of Hidden Valley Ranch Dip mix. Served with carrots and celery. No one could tell the difference.

Wow, I just got an email from the folks at Z Trim. It is loaded with more recipes--these geared toward Super Bowl Sunday! Things like Appetizer Pizza, cole slaw, chili, brownies, dips like veggie dip and nacho cheese dip. Each recipe also tells how many calories and mg's of cholesterol you save--anywhere from 200 calories to over 800 calories (for the whole recipe).

I just checked their order page and see that they not only sell the fat replacement product used in baking, but they also sell an appetite control capsule. It costs $29.95 for one bottle of 120 capsules. They recommend one or two capsules per 100lb of your body weight, though they don't say if it's a once per day dosage or if you take it before meals. There is only one ingredient - bran. Each capsule only contains 0.2 grams of fiber. You can buy fiber supplements at any store (target, walgreens, etc) for a fraction of the cost. Also, a serving of bran cereal usually has at least 8 grams of fiber.

I don't know if that's worth it, but at least the baking product looks promising!

No way would I buy the capsules! It's that "sounds too good to be true" type thing there. I'll stick with my Benefiber!!! LOL

I also did not buy the dry Z Trim--just the gel. Some of the recipes in the book call for the dry stuff, but most use the gel. I don't know what the dry stuff is--perhaps the bran without the water?

We're getting Z Trim, too! I'm anxious to try it. Please let us know what your experiences are with the product :)

I'll be making a couple things this weekend for Super Bowl and I'll post the results next week.

I'm skeptical. Not about the taste or the suitability for use in baking, but how useful it would be in the battle against obesity. All those fat-free baked goods that have been out for years didn't seem to change the obesity trend - except for the worse.

The way I look at it, if you can't stand the taste of fat free foods (I can't stand salad dressings or sour cream that is low fat or fat free) and you want to be able to enjoy them, why not reduce the amount of fat with the product? Their suggestion on salad dressing is to pour out the whole bottle, mix equal amount of Z Trim with it, pour back into the bottle and the rest in another container. You automatically halve the fat and calories.

I agree that the trend toward obesity with respect to all the fat-free processed foods is terrible. The problem with those processed products is that the buyer assumed that since they were fat free, that they were also calorie free when they were not (I know I fell for that trap). In some cases, the calories were just as high as the regular fat variety. I stay away from processed foods as much as humanly possible. But if I really want some cookies, now I can bake some from scratch and reduce the fat and calories and remain healthier.

That makes perfect sense!
I was just underwhelmed by their pretty, elaborate, web site with the wholesome looking logo, and the seemingly kind and helpful words about working to change the obesity problem.... I don't think it is going to work in general (pardon my skepticism) because most people will say "These cookies are made with Z-thin so I'll have 12 of them." I think the Z-trim folks are in it for bucks (notice they have their investor link on the page) But, I hope that it works well for you and anyone here trying it as you have described.
As for myself, I am going in the opposite direction (less high-tech, more primitive.) I think reading Michael Pollan is getting to me :smug:

Spinymouse--skepticism is good! And everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Besides, what works for one person may not work for another.

Okay, I made my dip yesterday:

original recipe:
8 oz cream cheese
1 pkg Jimmy Dean sage sausage, cooked and drained
10 oz RoTel tomaotes with chilies

Mix, heat and serve warm with chips.

New recipe:
4 oz cream cheese
4 oz Z Trim
8-10 oz Morning Star Farms sausage crumbles
10 oz RoTel tomatoes with chilies

Mix, heat, serve warm with chips.

For the entire recipe, I reduced the calories by over 1000 and reduced the fat by about 75 grams (or was it more?). The only difference that I could tell was with the TVP (Morning Star Farms crumbles). They were smaller pieces than if I had used sausage and therefore the new dip wasn't as chewy. But everyone enjoyed it.

I also made a ranch dip with Hidden Valley Ranch dip mix and used half sour cream and half Z Trim. No one could tell the difference!

This is my first post, I found this site while looking for info on ZTrim.

I spoke to someone at the company last week and she told me you can make the gel that comes in the bottle from the powder they sell in the jar. It's a 1 to 1 ratio (add water) and you can keep the gel refrigerated for at least a week and then add it to anything you use. She said it's much more economical that way since you're not paying shipping for the liquid and you would get more. Now that I'm looking at the prices for the gel, I'm hoping she was right that this 8 oz of powder makes more than the equivalent of 6-7 bottles.

I also ordered the capsules. You can make the capsules from the powder but I'm in the 'need to start now' mode of getting back on plan and I wanted the convenience of the capsules being already made.

I think the fiber and full feeling is different than using something like Benefiber. I think the Ztrim has less fiber per serving than Benefiber. I also don't think Benefiber can do the same thing as the Ztrim for substituting calories in food.

My shipment just arrived today so I'm anxious to try it. Has anyone else been fooling around with it? I'm anxious to hear any recipes or substitutions that have worked or any tricks.


EDIT: I just called ZTrim and spoke to the woman again. She advised me that 6 TBL of the powder would be added to 1 cup of water. She said to use a blender for about 3 minutes to make it thick and creamy. I only have an immersion blender and asked if I could use that and she said it was fine.

One 1LB container of powder makes about 12 lbs of the gel, so it is more economical to use the powder and make your own gel.

1-2 tablets before each meal or a snack. She advised to start with 1 5-10 minutes before a meal, there's no exact science to it - you don't have to drink 8 oz of water or take it X exact minutes before eating to see the benefit.

I bought 3 bottles of the gel but will probably go for the powder next time. With all the paperwork they send to you, I found that there are 3 or 4 ways to add the water (different ratios) to get different results.

I don't get the capsules. I don't think they are necessary.

Tell us how you like the ZTrim!!

I've mixed the gel in a few things and you really can't tell it's there. I mixed it in salad dressing and I mixed it in deli counter scallion (chive) cream cheese.

The only thing I noticed with the cream cheese is, it makes it much thinnner in consistency when you first mix it in, but if you put it back in the refrigerator, it firms up to the same state as when I bought it.

I mixed a tub of the gel up and used the 6 tbl of Ztrim to 1 cup of water ratio and since it gets so thick and creamy it really expands and it seems like it triples in volume. I've been keeping it in the refrigerator in a rubbermaid container and I just use it when I need it. I heard it lasts for months in that state. The woman at the company who told me to use the 6 tbl to 1 cup of water told me the ideal thing is to blend it for 3 minutes in a blender. I don't have a blender so I just used one of those immersion blender sticks and it came out fine.

I've mixed the powder into Orange Juice and just used the immersion blender. It cuts the acidity of the juice and makes it more 'shake like'. It made it a bit fuller in consistency but not thick like the gel you make from the powder and water. Last night I used it in 4 oz of OJ and drank it before dinner to fill me up a bit. I'm going to experiment with some lower calorie juices and adding some frozen strawberries in.

Anyone else fool around with it and have any other suggestions?

I plan on buying the powder stuff and mixing it as I need it. I originally bought 3 bottles of the premixed stuff and I love it! As soon as I bring home a tub of sour cream, I mix in an equal amount of Z Trim and put it in a container for later use (that way I don't have to think about mixing it when I need it). I've done the same with salad dressing and I've used it in several recipes that called for butter (used half Z Trim). You REALLY can't tell the difference. I'm totally sold on this stuff!

valentina~I like your idea of mixing the powder with juice and fruit. I wouldn't have thought of that! When you got your Z Trim, you got a recipe book, right? Then at superbowl time, they sent out and email with tons more recipes. Did you get that?

Last night I mixed 2 tbl with 4 oz of orange juice. Since I'm using the Calcium enriched orange juice, I wonder if that's changing how it's thickening? hmmm

I did get the recipe booklet and a dvd I haven't used yet.

I didn't get the email with recipes since I just bought this. Was there anything interesting in the email recipes?

I wish there were more things I could think of to use it in, but I don't really eat a lot of the types of recipes in the cookbook. Yesterday I was walking around the supermarket thinking of what I could add it to:)

This sounded so great I decided to check out the website and try a bottle. I'm in the Netherlands, so I thought, yes, I'd have to pay more for shipping... imagine my surprise when I see they only ship with DHL overseas! I would have to pay a MINIMUM of $68 to get 1 $5 bottle shipped to me! No thank you!!

Don't understand why they can't put it in a box and just ship it with the post office!

Oh, the recipes were for a lot of superbowl type foods--dips, chili, brownies. If you want, I can email it to you. Just PM me with your email address and I'll send it. I think it was a pdf file that they sent.

Even shipping via DHL here in the US cost more than the product!

This is very interesting. I would like to try it. Has anyone found it locally?

Has anyone tried mixing it with peanut butter, or seen any instructions for doing that? That is probably the thing I would most like to use it for.

I've never seen it in a store. I wish I could--it would save on the shipping cost.

The rep from the company told me it's not available in stores, but they're working on it.

I hadn't even thought of mixing it with peanut butter. I have a little fresh from Whole Foods, I'll try mixing some this week.

alinnell - I am going to PM you for the recipes as I'm interested in the chili proportions and when to add it, etc.

Since you can add it to chili I'm wondering if you could add it to pasta sauces, thick soups or pestos.
TIA:)

Any more ideas??

Thanks, Valentina, I would love to know how it works with peanut butter. If I could eat twice as much natural peanut butter for half the calories (and have it taste and feel the same) I would be interested in trying it for that reason alone. ;)

Too bad it has soy (I rather agree with the Weston A Price folks on soy). I really try to minimize my consumption of that. Does it give a breakdown of how much soy is in it, grams or anything?

There's no soy. From the website:

"As produced and marketed today, Z Trim is an insoluble fiber made from corn and oat. "

there's nothing else in it.

I think the confusion is because Dr Oz said in You on a Diet that z-trim was made from ingredients such as oats, soy, rice, and barley. Perhaps they were working with outdated info?

I was going by that when I made my soy comment. It'll check it out if it is indeed soy-free. :)

They use UPS now. Remember, I was the one that had to get nasty with DHL because they had it sitting in their warehouse in my town! I complained to the Z Trim people and they sent me an email stating that they now use UPS because of so many complaints.

Peanut butter! Never thought of that!

Did someone say they mixed it with butter? I like to saute certain foods and Smart Balance doesn't cut it. I don't want to use olive oil all the time either. Would I just cream some of it with the butter?

Do you necessarily have to mix the powder with water or other liquids? I was thinking of trying it instead of a touch of Wondra when I want to have a light sauce.