Consider Me Amazed

I always like to taste products tailored to people on modified diets (i.e.: people living with diabetes, celiac disease, or lactose intolerance).

While I do not have a condition that requires me to avoid specific ingredients or keep my intake of a certain nutrient below a certain amount, I strongly believe that to get a firm grasp on the nutritional lifestyle of a given condition, I have to be familiar with what is available to that population.

Whenever I have tried sugar-free varieties of popular sweets (mainly meant for people who have diabetes and not anyone looking to lose weight since these products add more fat to balance out the absence of sugar, thereby being just as caloric as regular versions), I have been disappointed.

The presence of sugar alcohols usually imparts a strange aftertaste, and one too many bites of sugar-free chocolate often result in awful gastrointestinal effects.

I will never forget an incident where a "sugar-free" muffin (chock full of maltitol) had me bent over in pain for two hours from the absolutely horrible stomach pain.

Alas, my faith in diabetic-friendly desserts has been reawakened by So Delicious Sugar-Free ice cream bars.

These soy (yes, they are also lactose-free!) bars (available in fudge or vanilla bar varieties) are not only sugar-free, but also "artificial-sweetener free"!

Even better, they do not pump up the fat content to make up for the decrease in sugar.

A look at the ingredient list reveals: Organic soymilk, filtered water, vegetable glycerine, soybean/safflower oil, chicory root extract, cocoa (processed with alkali), gum acacia, erythritol (sugar alcohol from natural fermentation), vanilla extract, tricalcium phosphate (a natural source of calcium), guar gum, carrageenan, natural flavors.

Before having my first bite, I was skeptical. How on Earth, I thought, are they going to make ice cream taste good without any sweetness?

Well, the folks at So Delicious quickly won me over.

So much so that I recommend these 80-calorie bars to anyone looking for a low-calorie sweet treat to satisfy a chocolate craving.