The Bottom Line
Pros
- Taste good
- Truly low glycemic for most people
- No sugar alcohols in many of the bars (check lables)
- Locally available in many places
- Come in many flavors and types
Cons
- Very sweet
- Very much a "processed food" with many ingredients
Description
- Bars have 2-5 grams net carbs, depending upon the bar.
- Bars have 70-230 calories, depending upon the bar.
- All bars have both soy and milk protein.
- Caramel Double Chocolate Crunch contains wheat, and several contain oats.
- Atkins Orginal bars come in four flavors: Almond Brownie, Chocolate Coconut, S'mores, and Chocolate Peanut Butter.
- Atkins Caramel bars come in four flavors: Fudge Brownie, Double Chocolate Crunch, Cookie Dough, and Chocolate Peanut Nougat.
- Atkins Granola bars come in three flavors: Peanut Butter, Chocolate Chip, and Peanut Fudge.
- Atkins Morning bars come in seven flavors: Cinnamon Bun, Oatmeal Raisin, Apple Crisp, Chocolate Chip Crisp, and three more.
Guide Review - Product Review: Atkins Advantage Bars
Types of Bars: Atkins has four categories of bars: Original, Caramel, Granola, and Morning. Each type has several flavors. I have only tried one kind of Morning bar ("Cinnamon Bun"), and found it to be almost unbearably sweet. In fact, this is my main objection with all the Atkins Advantage bars, although the ones that are more like candy bars don't bother me quite as much. I'm guessing that the people who are in the biggest danger of finding the sweetness level objectionable are those who have been off sugar for awhile.
Flavor: I found all the bars I tried to be quite good in flavor. My favorites are the Chocolate Chip Granola and Cookie Dough Caramel.
Sweeteners: Glycerine, polydextrose, sucralose, acesulfame potassium, and inulin are the main sweet ingredients used. (For more information about them, see this article about "Net Carbs".) Unlike other manufacturers of low carb products, the Atkins company does test its products for blood glucose rise in actual people. However, those people are not diabetic and the company has been quoted as saying, "Results are likely to vary in a diabetic population where blood sugar control is abnormal."
Other Ingredients: The "crunch" in the granola bars comes from soy nuggets. In fact, all the bars have soy as their main protein sources, along with hydrolyzed collagen, whey protein, and sodium caseinate. They also have quite a few other polysyllabic ingredients, although most of these appear to be vitamins.
Net Carbs: Bars generally contain 2 or 3 "Atkins Net Count" carbs per bar. A few of the Morning bars have more.
Nutritional and Ingredient Information on Atkins Advantage Bars
Mendosa, David. "Net Carbs." 13 May 2005. Mendosa,com. 22 Jul 2007.
