Low-Carb Documentary To Feature ChocoPerfection Weight Loss Stories

Now here's something just too juicy to pass up if you are a fan of those outstanding and decadent sugar-free, low-carb chocolate bars I just happen to think are the best on the planet--CHOCOPERFECTION! Yes, they are one of my top sponsors, but I genuinely LOVE these bars (especially the dark chocolate!).

I heard from ChocoPerfection founder and president Mary Jo Kringas today about an upcoming documentary being shot about low-carb living called Today's Family. Mary Jo was recently contacted and interviewed THREE TIMES about the story behind her amazing chocolate bars and now they want to speak with REAL people who have implemented ChocoPerfection bars into their successful low-carb lifestyle.

Are you a fan of ChocoPerfection bars and have lost and/or maintained your weight while eating them? Then send your story to Mary Jo Kringas directly at mjkringas@lowcarbspecialties.com.

For those of you who know Mary Jo personally as I do, there's no doubting her passion and zeal for making livin' la vida low-carb as enjoyable and exciting as possible and that fact shines through brightly when you talk to her. Is that your experience using her ChocoPerfection bars as part of your healthy low-carb diet? If so, then make your voice heard and you might just be in a movie! COOL!

I hadn't heard about this film before now, but apparently the filmmaker wants to show how families can implement the principles of low-carb living to start eating more healthy than they ever have before. I don't know anything more about who is producing this documentary, but I'll be sure to share the full details with you if and when I come across them.

Today's Family is still in pre-production with filming to begin shortly.

Again, send an e-mail to Mary Jo Kringas with your positive ChocoPerfection stories at mjkringas@lowcarbspecialties.com. I may just have to send my testimony about these bars because I'm a BIG FAN of ChocoPerfection.

Haven't tried these bars yet? Try some ChocoPerfection for yourself and you'll become a full-fledged believer, too! :D

Send A Gift Box Of Creamy Low-Carb ChocoPerfection Bars For Christmas

ChocoPerfection makes the perfect gift for low-carbers and diabetics

It's been almost a year since I first experienced what REAL sugar-free, low-carb chocolate is supposed to taste like when I took my first bite of these incredibly amazing ChocoPerfection bars. Oh my goodness, from the very moment that creamy dark chocolate began to melt inside of my mouth the instant it touched my tongue, that's all it took for me to be hooked for life!

My subsequent glowing review of ChocoPerfection bars then helped spread the word to other low-carbers who also fell in love with them. That's exactly what ChocoPerfection founder Mary Jo Kringas evisioned when she started selling sugar-free chocolate bars for a living that people on low-carb diets and with diabetes could finally have their chocolate and eat it too!

Christmas is now a little less than three weeks away and what better way to honor that person who is livin' la vida low-carb or limiting their sugar intake because of their diabetes than with a thoughtful gift of a box of ChocoPerfection bars. In fact, Mary Jo has wisely created a special "Send A Gift" page on her web site to make gift-giving during the holidays that much simpler for you to send ChocoPerfection to loved ones.

Place an order for a dozen bars in either Milk or Dark Chocolate or you can get a special two-dozen Best of ChocoPerfection gift package featuring 12 Milk and 12 Dark Chocolate. The choice is yours and they come already wrapped in a beautiful red Christmas gift box ready to be placed underneath the tree upon delivery. You even have the opportunity to write a special personalized greeting to the recipient of your gift! They really did think of EVERYTHING!

These gift boxes are so adorable that you'll want to get several of them as gifts for anyone who could benefit from eating a little less sugar while still being able to endulge in decadent chocolate--that's what ChocoPerfection offers! I for one would be THRILLED if I got a gift box of ChocoPerfection bars at Christmas or for my birthday on the 27th. :)

As always, you get FREE SHIPPING on every ChocoPerfection order shipped in the United States and ChocoPerfection now has what I believe is the strongest guarantee in the industry (even Hershey's and Russell Stover won't promise you this!):

You must be completely satisfied with the taste, smoothness and packaging of ChocoPerfection. Anything less than absolute love for ChocoPerfection will result in an immediate refund if you are unsatisfied for any reason at all.

With a guarantee like that, what do you have to lose with getting ChocoPerfection bars, hmmm? If you or your loved one tastes them and think they're awful, then simply contact Mary Jo and tell her you want a full refund and it's done. But don't be surprised to find that you enjoy the entire box (not all at once please!) and then decide to order again. The ever-growing base of ChocoPerfection fans all agree these low-carb chocolate bars totally ROCK!

So, go ahead and "Send A Gift" TODAY! But when you place an order, make sure they send the bars to J-I-M-M-Y...LOL!

ADA Still Inescapably Fixated On Saturated Fat

The ADA--it's their way or no way at their trade shows!

The American Diabetes Association (ADA) has made great strides over the past year in their attitude towards supporting the low-carb nutritional approach as an effective means for managing and treating diabetes, especially since the release of this study at the annual ADA meeting in June. Carb-counting is becoming more and more commonplace with diabetes educational seminars taking place all across the country. The tide is indeed turning within the ADA.

However, their continued concerns over the subject of saturated fat remain intact despite new data confirming the healthy benefits of consuming it and even the American Heart Association (AHA) changing their guidelines earlier this year to allow up to 7 percent in their dietary recommendations. Nevertheless, the ADA won't budge from wanting less than 2g saturated fat which is a major reason why we are no closer to a cure for this disease and why we'll stay that way for the foreseeable future.

Confirmation of the undeniable fact that the ADA is still inescapably fixated on saturated fat happened just last week when our friends who make those ever-so-yummy ChocoPerfection bars, a well-made sugar-free/low-carb chocolate bar made with erythritol and oligofructose (see my interview with company founder Mary Jo Kringas from earlier this week), were not allowed to have a booth at the upcoming ADA trade show coming to Denver, Colorado in April 2007 because they contained too much saturated fat.

This event is very prestigious within diabetic circles and it attracts so many people interested in the subject of diabetes all in one place which makes the ChocoPerfection company a perfect fit. ChocoPerfection chocolate bars are very safe for diabetics without even an inkling of sugar in them whatsoever. Nobody is going to argue that point.

Unfortunately for ChocoPerfection, though, the saturated fat content in the bars (12g/bar) was much too high for the ADA's standards. They requested Kringas reduce the saturated fat content to LESS THAN 2g and she could talk to them again about having a booth. Incidentally, Kringas informed me that not one single chocolate bar sugar-free or othewise has ever been made with less than 2g saturated fat, so the request by the ADA was both unreasonable and arrogant at best.

Not one to take no for an answer, Kringas then started doing some research on her own and came across this article published by the ADA's very own Colorado State University in January 2004 which answers the specific question about the saturated fat in chocolate and how it comes from stearic acid which does not play a role in the risks for high cholesterol and heart disease like other types of saturated fat purport to do.

Quoting from the column, Kringas found evidence to present her case to the ADA:

"Consumers are warned mostly about saturated fat intake. This is primarily due to evidence showing that saturated fat increases cholesterol levels in your blood. Researchers are now stating within the saturated fat category are several types of saturated fatty acids, including lauric acid, myristic acid, palmitic acid, and stearic acid. Although these are all saturated fatty acids, they do not all raise blood cholesterol. Stearic acid, which is found in chocolate, is one type of saturated fat that has been shown NOT to raise cholesterol levels. Possible explanations for this include its carbon chain length, inefficient absorption, or conversion to oleic acid, which is a monounsaturated fatty acid."

Armed with this information regarding the saturated fat content of her ChocoPerfection bars, Kringas went back to the ADA again to see if the ADA had modified their guidelines based on this research. Sadly, they weren't buying into it.

"No, the saturated fat guidelines are not going to be modified for chocolate because of its stearic acid content," retorted ADA spokeswoman Stephanie Dunbar to Kringas' inquiry. "There is not enough research, nor clear labeling on products, to distinguish between the different types of fatty acids. Also, the second guideline is reduced in calories and chocolate doesn't meet that one either."

So even if Kringas had reduced the saturated fat in her ChocoPerfection bars to the ridiculously low 2g, then she still would have had a problem with the calories. What is the ADA so afraid of? Don't diabetics have a right to eat chocolate like all of us non-diabetics do? Hmmmm? The great thing about ChocoPerfection is that they are made from natural, high-quality ingredients instead of the cheapo sugar alcohols like maltitol and other ingredients.

Kringas wisely retorted the ADA rejection rhetorically with this question.

"Where's the research that shows chocolate causes diabetes?"

VERY GOOD QUESTION! All the latest studies confirm that chocolate is GOOD FOR YOU and so any chocolate that is devoid of sugar and made from all-natural ingredients like ChocoPerfection should be heralded by an organization like the ADA. When are they going to get their head out of their tail and start applying the most recent science to their recommendations for diabetics. They really are doing people with diabetes a grave disservice using archaic, outdated research.

Like I said in Episode 2 of my podcast show this week, you can read THE WHOLE TRUTH about the role of saturated fat in your diet and how it isn't the great evil it has been made out to be by groups like the ADA in Chapter 8 of this book. It's just too bad that we've got a bunch of close-minded people in leadership positions at the ADA.

You can let the ADA's Stephanie Dunbar know just how disappointed you are in her shortsightedness about the saturated fat issue by e-mailing her at sdunbar@diabetes.org.

Grab A Piece Of ChocoPerfection Almond Bark

After my delightful interview with Mary Jo Kringas of ChocoPerfection sugar-free/low-carb chocolate bar fame yesterday, she sent me a recipe about how to make a classic treat most of us enjoyed as kids using the healthy goodness of ChocoPerfection bars--with my favorite dark chocolate flavor no less!

This recipe is SUPER simple to make but may be just the cure you need when you are in the mood for chocolate and crunch at the same time! I truly hope you appreciate this almond bark recipe from Mary Jo and make up a big batch for your upcoming holiday parties. These are GUARANTEED to be a hit! But you'll want to try them for yourself first. ENJOY!

CHOCOPERFECTION ALMOND BARK

12 bars dark ChocoPerfection bars
2 cups raw almonds (or more if you REALLY love almonds)
2-3 tablespoons of olive oil

1) Preheat oven to 200 degrees.

2) Cover a cookie sheet with a thin layer of extra virgin olive oil.

3) Place the almonds on the cookie sheet and mix them around by hand in the olive oil. Spread them out to one layer and put in pre-heated oven for 15 minutes.

4) Remove the almonds from the oven.

5) Unwrap the ChocoPerfection bars and lay them on a large (non-coated) skillet. Put the skillet on an oven burner on very low heat. Using a heat-proof spatula, melt the bars as you continue to mix and scrape the skillet, creating melted ChocoPerfection (it is very tempting to eat big spoonfuls at this point, but resist the urge!).

6) When the ChocoPerfection is melted, remove the skillet from the heat, and mix in the roasted almonds.

7) Spread the mixture back on the cookie sheet that is covered with the foil and any remnants of the roasted almonds and oil.

8) Cool at room temperature for 1 hour and then put in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours.

9) When it has hardened, break the ChocoPerfection Almond Bark into pieces and serve to your hungry guests (and yourself!).

You can order ChocoPerfection bars from Low-Carb Specialities by visiting ChocoPerfection.com.

Kringas: Low-Carb 'Enjoyable' With Chocolate

I'd like to introduce you to someone who I have grown to love and respect for the products she is offering people who are diabetic and/or on the low-carb lifestyle. Her name is Mary Jo Kringas and she is the owner of Low-Carb Specialties, makers of the most amazing sugar-free, low-carb chocolate bars you'll ever taste--CHOCOPERFECTION!

As a big fan of her chocolates, I asked Mary Jo if I could invite her here for an interview and she remarked that she never does any interviews with anyone--but she'd be HAPPY to do one for me! Awww, that was soooo sweet! THANKS so much, Mary Jo! Check out what makes this woman so happy to wake up in the morning and how she eats 2-3 chocolate bars DAILY to help her keep her weight under control and her body healthy.

1. Joining me today at the "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb" blog is a woman who many would say has one of the best jobs in the entire world--SELLING CHOCOLATE! Mmmm! It's Mary Jo Kringas from LowCarbSpecialties.com, makers of those yummy ChocoPerfection bars you hear me raving about so much at my blog. Welcome, Mary Jo! Tell us a little bit about how you got into the sugar-free chocolate-making business.

Hi Jimmy and thank you for inviting me to be part of your low-carb blog. I truly respect you for telling others what is real about low-carb and sharing your story about losing weight the low-carb way.

I got into the sugar-free chocolate business because I felt I had no other choice. I LOVE CHOCOLATE, but my body did not like sugar or artificial sweeteners. I grew up working behind the counter of my grandfather’s candy store, starting at age five. By the time I was 16, I weighed 475 pounds. I lost weight by implementing more balanced eating and I tried about 20 different “diets” over the years. But even after all that and two stomach stapling surgeries, my weight still hovered around 275 pounds.

I continued to rely on chocolate as the only food in life that I cannot live without. The problem being that there was no “healthy chocolate” available anywhere. All the ones I saw were either made with sugar or with artificial sweeteners, both of which caused insulin surges and kept me from losing weight.

I eventually went total low-carb and discovered “oligofructose” (a very scary sounding word that describes a sweetener made from ground up chickory root), which many food scientists are now discovering is one of the healthiest foods on the planet (see Men’s Health, May/06, Weight Loss Research Update) and I started to develop a chocolate bar around this sweetener. I experimented with my chocolate for about 1 1/2 years, and I lost 75 pounds during this time. I have been in the ChocoPerfection business for 2 ½ years now and my weight is down a total of 100 pounds.

2. WOW, congratulations, Mary Jo! Your amazing weight loss success story can be attributed to your regular consumption of ChocoPerfection bars both during your weight loss and now well into maintenance. That's what I call "suffering" on your diet! LOL! Why is eating chocolate so important for people following a sugar-free, low-carb diet?

I don’t know about others, but I find that if I am suffering, I will not continue. I truly believe that there are three critical stages to going low-carb.

Stage 1: Admitting that this is what needs to be done and making a full commitment to avoiding sugar, pasta, breads, cake, and most fruit.

Stage 2: Actually doing the low-carb lifestyle and implementing low-carb eating in your life. The first 4 weeks are usually the hardest because I also believe the carb-craving is intensified by yeast infections and/or parasites in the colon. These yeasts and parasites thrive on carbs, and when one cancels the “carb program” the yeasts and parasites fight back with headaches, bad breath and depression.

This 2nd stage is not for light-weights--it took everything I had within me to persist. Weight loss is assured in this stage if one is truly low-carbing and avoiding all refined sugars and artificial sweeteners and dairy.

Stage 3: Weight loss has been achieved and/or is consistent. One starts to feel good about their appearance, and their weight loss success. They have forgotten the pain of Stage 2, and they have adapted the low-carb lifestyle as a workable solution for the foreseeable future.

ChocoPerfection is useful in Stage 2, but, in my opinion, it is critical in Stage 3 when one is maintaining their low-carb lifestyle as well. Many people ask me how I lost my weight. I tell them I went low-carb and they tell me “Oh, I tried that, but when I stopped, I gained all the weight back and then some.” I want to cry when I hear this.

Like you, I know the pain of being fat. To actually be free of the weight and then have it all come back is a complete nightmare. The diligence involved in maintenance is critical, and it requires a different kind of thinking. Maintenance requires a commitment to long-term low-carbing that, as a priority, needs to be enjoyable. A critical aspect of this strategy allows one to avoid Little Debbies and Ding Dongs because they have found alternatives that turn them on just as much, and are healthy.

3. I have been criticized by many low-carb purists for my preference to eat what they consider low-carb "junk" foods such as nut-based bars and even your ChocoPerfection bars. I don't personally care what other people think of my diet as long as I'm losing weight because I'm eating healthier than I have ever eaten in my entire life. How do you respond to those who label products like ChocoPerfection bars as "junk" food?

Like you, I am healthier than I have ever been in my entire life. I eat 2-3 ChocoPerfection bars a day and I have never felt or looked better than I do right now. I firmly believe that without ChocoPerfection bars I would weigh much more and that is why I started the ChocoPerfection business.

I would not agree with the description of ChocoPerfection as a “junk food” which is a term I reserve for stuff like diet sodas and other things that are utterly senseless to consume. ChocoPerfection has 14g of fiber in every bar, is packed with all the antioxidants and mood enhancement of chocolate, is highly satiating, and due to the oligofructose, actually helps clear the body of parasites and yeasts.

4. One of the reasons I consider ChocoPerfection bars to be the best chocolate bar for diabetics and low-carbers is the phenomenal European chocolate taste they have without all the cheap artificial sweeteners that are packed into so many of the so-called sugar-free, low-carb products these days. What makes ChocoPerfection sweeteners different and are there any health benefits to choosing them over the more inferior sweeteners?

The sweeteners in ChocoPerfection are oligofructose, which is made from ground-up chickory root, and erythritol, which comes from fermented natural foods such as grapes, melon, and mushrooms. Almost all other sugar-free products are made from maltitol, sucralose (Splenda), or aspartame (Nutrasweet). As you have blogged about many times, most people experience diarrhea and/or other laxative effects from maltitol.

Nutrasweet breaks down into formaldehyde in the body, which is toxic, and has been linked to brain tumors and retinal damage. Despite all this, the biggest problem for me, with all of the artificial sweeteners, is that they completely stopped my weight loss and, in my opinion, they really don’t taste that good.

It was not until I started using the sweeteners in ChocoPerfection that I was able to feel like I was really eating something that tasted like real chocolate and still lose weight. There are big health benefits to oligofructose, which was named as one of the healthiest foods on the planet due to its prebiotic properties to clean the colon and strengthen the immune system. Also, erythritol supports the minerals in the bones and teeth, stops sugar cravings, and converts to glutathione in the body which helps clean the liver.

Aside from these great benefits, oligofructose and erythritol are the only known sweeteners approved by the USDA that rank zero on the glycemic index. This is a very big deal to me. All the artificial sweeteners use the label “sugar-free” but fail to disclose that laboratory tests show the glycemic index of many of these "healthy" products to be 51 to 59, which is more than the glycemic index of macaroni.

Most low-carbers know that the key reason to avoid the carbs is their effect on insulin levels. The glycemic index of artificial sweeteners shows that they surge insulin levels, so even if they were not toxic, which they are, they would still keep you fat.

5. Erythritol is a sugar alcohol just as the stomach-exploding maltitol is. Why is it a better sweetener for people who are livin' la vida low-carb and does it have any known side effects that you are aware of as well?

The thing that baffles me everyday is how erythritol ever got its name. I mean, it is named like a sugar alcohol (which is a class of sweeteners that is almost uniformly artificial and uniformly toxic), yet erythritol is completely natural and shares more in common with the production methods of sugar than that of stuff in a test tube which is where nearly all the other sugar alcohols come from.

To the best of my knowledge, erythritol has no known side effects and is completely healthy. If I knew otherwise, I would not eat 2-3 of these ChocoPerfection bars a day.

6. You also use oligofructose in your ChocoPerfection bars, which is another up-and-coming sweetener among quality sugar-free, low-carb products. In fact, a recent study confirms that eating oligofructose can improve intestinal health and cut down on infections. Tell us a little more about this sweetener and why you decided to use it in your chocolate bars.

For me, the way to evaluate a sweetener is to find out how it tastes compared to sugar. Erythritol is a great sweetener and is completely healthy, but it has a sweetness intensity of only about 80% of sugar and it has a “coolness” to its taste on the tongue. I found that oligofructose balances the loss of sweetness from erythritol and also balances the coolness. Oligofructose is also the most intense source of dietary and healthy fiber in the ChocoPerfection bars.

7. There is a ton of fiber packed in every single ChocoPerfection bar--14 grams to be exact! How important is fiber in a healthy diet? Does the fiber impact the taste or texture of the chocolate?

As you know, it is pretty difficult to get the recommended amount of fiber in your diet. The USDA recommends about 22g daily and even most fruits and vegetables only have 2-3 g each of fiber at most. The source of fiber in ChocoPerfection is oligofructose, which is very fine and not gritty. So, even though the ChocoPerfection bars have a huge concentration of fiber, you'd never know it by the taste and texture of the bar which is just like fine European chocolate.

8. In addition to your fantastic ChocoPerfection bars, you also have a sweetener product you call SweetPerfection which is made from finely ground chicory root. When I tasted this for the first time, it reminded me of eating cotton candy. Where did you discover this sweet, low-glycemic sugar substitute and why should people begin using this product instead of any of the other artificial sweeteners on the market today?

I love oligofructose which we also sell in equivalent conversion to sugar as SweetPerfection. I bake with SweetPerfection, I use it in ice cream, as a sweetener in tea and coffee and in all my recipes that call for sugar. SweetPerfection tastes like sugar, measures like sugar, and performs in recipes like sugar, except it has a zero glycemic index, is high in healthy fiber, and has properties to support the immune system.

9. Whenever I try to tell people about sugar-free products these days, they turn their nose up at me as if the products cannot possibly taste good without the sugar. I'm sure you run into this often with many of your prospective customers. What do you do to assure people that eating a ChocoPerfection bar will be as delightful an experience as they will ever taste out of a "diet" food?

Jimmy, I feel there is no way to convince people of anything other than to let them see for themselves. What I do is offer a “100% Satisfaction/No Questions Asked Guarantee.” This means that if anyone ever buys any of our products and is not completely happy with it for any reason at all, they get a full refund. It is my hope that low-carbing, chocolate lovers will give themselves a chance to taste ChocoPerfection, and to support their healthy lifestyle with no risk for their purchase.



10. THANKS for sharing a little bit of time with me and my readers today at the "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb" blog, Mary Jo! I sincerely hope that people take advantage of the fantastic products you have to offer them as they seek a healthier lifestyle for themselves. Do you have any parting words of encouragement or advice you would like to share?

Thanks Jimmy, my chance to share with you about my life has been great. As you know, I promised you my only interview and this has been it. I have lived most of my life as a fat person. The emotional pain was tremendous. The persistent hope that I could eat foods I loved, be satisfied, and yet somehow be thin was a dream I never thought I would get. Now, I live my dream. I eat at least 3 desserts a day in addition to meals, without mood swings, sugar cravings or weight gain. Is this heaven or what?

Heaven indeed, Mary Jo! THANKS so much for sharing with my readers about the outstanding products you have available at Low-Carb Specialties. Now, pardon me for a moment, I think I need to go order me some more ChocoPerfection bars! CLICK HERE to order some for yourself! :D Mary Jo GUARANTEES you'll LOVE 'em or your money back. What do you have to lose...besides weight?!