Low carbohydrate foods: Glycerol?

If you've spent longer than a few months on a low-carbohydrate diet, you'll know how difficult it is to find low carbohydrate foods that can be eaten on the run. The problem with most portable meals and snacks (such as sandwiches) is they're often high in refined carbohydrate. Either that, or they're full of trans fatty acids and artificial sweeteners — ingredients which do little to take you closer to your goal of a healthier body.

If you don't have the time to spend cooking and preparing low carbohydrate foods and meals, it's easy to deviate from whatever diet you're following. People who cheat a little today usually cheat a little more tomorrow. Then, it’s only a matter of time before every "rule" has been broken, and you’re feeling depressed and discouraged, right back at square one.

Most people want a snack they can just throw into a briefcase or backpack in the morning and eat it on the run. That's one of the reasons protein bars and meal replacement supplements have become so popular.

However, the debate about glycerol — one of the ingredients commonly included in protein bars — has left many people confused about whether protein bars can be considered as low carbohydrate foods.

Glycerol (also known as "glycerin" or "glycerine") is a sweet-tasting, syrupy liquid. It's used to sweeten as well as add a chewy texture to some protein bars.

In June 2001 the US Food and Drug Administration wrote to the supplement company EAS (among others) to advise them that one of their products was misbranded because the label failed to count glycerol as a carbohydrate.

Glycerol is classed as a carbohydrate mainly by default. It isn't a protein, because there's no nitrogen in it. Nor does it contain any fatty acids, so it can't be called fat. That's why you'll now see glycerol included in the carbohydrate count shown on the nutrition label of many protein bars. It might appear as if your favorite protein bar is higher in carbohydrate than it was before. The only thing that's really changed is the label.

There's no real reason to be concerned about the glycerol in meal replacement bars. Compared to other nutrients, glycerol does not elevate insulin or blood sugar levels. It does, however...

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