This week, we tested the “Original” Klondike bar. Of course, this is not a low carb or sugar-free food, but I wanted to see how the two varieties of Klondike bar compared. Let me start by saying I would commit any number of crimes for a Klondike bar. It was a taste sensation like no other. There’s a noticeable difference between the No Sugar Added variety and the Original. The ice cream was creamier and the chocolate shell was thicker and more durable. That being said, I still liked the No Sugar Added bar.
I think the food companies have really perfected the taste of the Klondike bar. You hear and read stories about these food companies using flavor scientists to enhance the flavor of their foods, in hopes of selling more products. I have no doubt there was some food voodoo-ism going on with this bar. It really pushed all the right buttons in my brain. I’m sure my reaction to the bar had something to do with the strange list of ingredients found on the box.
For a very simple looking treat (ice cream in a hard chocolate shell), the list of ingredients is a who’s who of polysyllabic compounds. Do I really want propylene glycol monoesters in my ice cream? (This ingredient sounds like a gasoline additive). It’s also reassuring to know that one of the ingredients is “NOT IN REGULAR ICE CREAM.”
Getting back to the original point of food testing. You can see that the blood sugar rise for this ice cream bar was more dramatic than the no sugar added bar. The average blood sugar rose 46mg/dL. It appears that the rise in blood sugar may also have been slower to come down, thus adding to the area under the curve.
You can also see the drop in my ketone levels was much more dramatic. Just out of curiosity, I extended my ketone testing for an additional half hour and the number rebounded to 0.9. I think when you’re in nutritional ketosism it’s fairly easy to rebound after one nutritional “insult.” But if you are much lower on the scale, I’m sure the rebound would take much longer.
Next week, we’ll test the Atkins Chocolate Shake.
