LOW CARB CHOCOLATE! Rave.

Maine Cottage Foods Low Carb CHOCOLATE!

I am a chocolate enuthsiast, we know this.  I eat chocolate nearly every single day.  But with my gastric bypassed anatomy, I am really not supposed to indulge in the sugar-sweetened type.  To avoid this, I eat the darkest possible chocolate I can, and sometimes it's bitter.  I deal.  I will do anything to keep my chocolate available, EXCEPT eating grocery-store variety 'sugar-free' candy.  I WON'T GO THERE.  I have gone there, that's why I say I WON'T.  Most sugar-free candies and chocolates are sweetened with sugar alcohols in such high quantities that it cause serious, um, distress.

Maine Cottage Foods, purveyor of the greatest variety and the highest quality sugar free, low carb, low glycemic and gluten free chocolate, cupcakes and brownies anywhere.  (Okay.  I believe you, let's try it.)

But, Beth, what is erythritol?

While its name may seem terribly scientific, erythritol is found in nature at low levels in grapes, melons and pears and can be found at higher levels in fermented products like wine.  Each day, it is estimated that we consume somewhere between 30 and 100 mg of naturally occurring erythritol in our regular diets.

Since the late 1980’s, erythritol has been used as an ingredient in foods and beverages in Japan, and was more recently approved for use in the U.S. and Canada. These approvals were based on extensive scientific studies reviewed by an expert panel of independent doctors and scientists.

Erythritol does not cause undesired gastrointestinal effects under its intended conditions of use. Based on clinical studies in which erythritol was administered with foods and beverages at daily doses up to 75-80 grams, there are no discernible issues. That means you can have multiple servings of per day and not feel an effect. Compared to the other sweeteners classified as sugar alcohols, erythritol has the highest digestive tolerance, which is 2 to 3 times better compared to xylitol, lactitol, maltitol and isomalt, and 3 to 4 times better compared to sorbitol and mannitol.

Please note that we use oligofructose, a probiotic fiber, as a sweetener since it also happens to naturally taste sweet. Therefore, one of our chocolate bars has an amount of fiber comparable to a bran muffin, so you can skip the All Bran cereal if you want. All our milk chocolate is high in calcium, with the milk crunch bars being the highest. All our desserts and trail mixes contain trace amounts of sucralose. We have found that this very minimum amount makes the sweet taste more pleasant. 

Prebiotic fiber is good for your gut.  Sure, chocolate has calories.  Low carb usually doesn't mean low calorie.  This is something to be savored.  But, do note the high fiber content in the chocolates, from Oligiofructose.  High fiber AND low carb is super.

More about Maine Cottage Foods sweeteners can be found here.

But, how does it taste?  It can't be as good as my REGULAR chocolate?

Actually, quite tasty and satisfying.  Creamy, not waxy.

Really.  This is not an ad.  It's yummy.  I tried the Mint Dark Chocolate Bark first, because, that's my preferred flavor.  It's a nice deep chocolate flavor, and a creamy consistency that melts slow in your mouth.  If you choose bark, you can add in your choice of nuts and fruit.  My bark has chopped almonds in it.  (My husband took a hunk off of this Mint Dark piece and deemed it, "Really good, I can eat this."  That's your man-review.) 

The chocolate is available in countless varieties, milk or dark, with or without nuts, fruit, and in specialty sizes as well.  You can get "Teenies" which are individual foil wrapped pieces of chocolate, in varied flavors.  My bag of Teenies had a single piece of cinnamon flavored chocolate that I would totally like to see again.  The Teenies were especially good, having just a small piece at a time is great for portion control and throwing in my bag, instead of what I HAVE been carrying around.

In addition to the chocolates, Maine Cottage Foods also has low-carb baked goods, like small and larger brownies!  These are made with ground almonds instead of flour, with no preservatives  Click here for the nutrition stats.

^{Photo:  MCF}

So, yes, I liked the chocolate.  I could definitely indulge in these low-carb treats in moderation.

• Product - Maine Cottage Foods Chocolates
• Via - http://store.mainecottagefoods.com/index.html
• Price - Varied.
• Pros - A million varieties, choose your own, creamy, tasty, low carb, fiber, no sugar!
• Cons - Not cheap.  Although it's not waxy sugar-free grocery store crap either.
• Rating - Pouchworthy, MM. 
• Click here to read more reviews.