I was at a sports nutrition store the other day, wading through their collection of meal replacement bars, and I ran on to something that I’ve never seen before. On the front of one particular brand of bar, it said - “only 5g impact carbs”. Intrigued, I turned the bar over to read the nutritional info only to find it listed 22g of carbs. I’m no rocket scientist, but 22 is a far cry from 5.
The clerk told me that you only count the impact carbs, that the rest didn’t count. I find this a little hard to believe. Does anyone know anything about these “impact carbs”? Or has anyone seen this before?
The impact carb is the amount that will actually affect your’ insulin level in that case 5 grams of carbs. The rest are probably gycerol wich is used in alot of low carb protein bars. In the past alot of these companies just said there was only 5 g of carbs but now it seems to be a rule that all carbs impact or not must be listed.
While glycerine isn’t truly a carb, it isn’t a fat or protein so it is listed as a carb because it has to be accounted for.
Keep in mind that it does not effect everyone’s insulin the same way. Some have a release that is noticeable, some do not.
I have many low carb friends that have had their weight loss efforts stalled by the addition of these bars. I also have a friend that is dropping pounds like mad and eating them. It is truly a your mileage may vary situation.
My advice is always eat REAL food, but in a pinch, when nothing else is available these are better than nothing.
I agree with iron maiden. Glycerin is supposedly a carb that doesn’t trigger a traditional insulin response, but that isn’t the case in everyone.
For me I could eat some of those bars with glycerin and still be in ketosis, but then some family members couldn’t. And then some other bars with glycerin would kick me out, so it’s like a shell game.
I really just try to avoid those bars if I can, and stick with real food. Another problem is many of those bars have soy based proteins or other soy content, and that doesn’t work well with me either.
i dont normally like then but find they are good as a treat while on srtict diets.
chuck them in the freezer and cut them up in to a dozen pieces, eat like candy. one bar last me about a week.