Review: Flax Z Snax Elite Low-Carb Brownie Mix

I heard so much about these brownies, I HAD to try them for myself!

I'm constantly on the look out for any brand new low-carb products to come out that will help you as you are livin' la vida low-carb. With a lot of garbage products out there purporting to be "low-carb," it's nice to know there are a few companies who are dedicated to serving the low-carb community with high-quality products you'll feel good about sinking your teeth into. LITERALLY!

One of those companies is Flax Z Snax and they have one of the most talked about new low-carb products to hit the marketplace in a very long time: Elite Low-Carb Brownie Mix. Yes, I said LOW-CARB BROWNIES and these morsels of chocolaty goodness are indeed the real deal.


Whip up a batch of these gorgeous brownies in less than 30 minutes

The Flax Z Snax Elite Low-Carb Brownie Mix is made of flaxmeal and real cocoa and sweetened with erythritol (not the highly-inferior sugar alcohol maltitol, thank God!) for the authentic taste and texture of high-carb brownies.

But the good thing about these brownies is the fact that they are high-fiber (5g per brownie!) and have just 5g net carbs. If you pay attention to the glycemic index, then you'll be pleased to know these are very low-glycemic and even give you 3g protein as well.

Best of all, making these brownies is as easy as ONE, TWO, THREE:

ONE: Add to the mix a stick of butter, 2 eggs, and 1/4 cup of water.
TWO: Bake at 325 degrees for 20-25 minutes.
THREE: Cool and get ready for your tastebuds to do the tango!

I was surprised by how very simple these brownies were to make. But even more surprising was how incredibly moist and delectable the Flax Z Snax Elite Low-Carb Brownie Mix is despite not having any sugar or white flour in it at all. WOW! It astouds me how they can make a comfort food like brownies taste THIS good!

These brownies go great with some low-carb ice cream or with a touch of heavy whipping cream poured on top of this warm and inviting low-carb dessert. I've tried a lot of low-carb baking mixes, but this is arguably the best one I think I've ever tasted. It's well worth trying it for yourself to see what all the hype is about.

Trust me, the Flax Z Snax Elite Low-Carb Brownie Mix is awesome!

Coconut Flour: The High-Fiber, Low-Carb Replacement For Traditional White Flour

Bake up your favorite recipes with coconut flour to make 'em low-carb

One of the main carbohydrates that you learn to live without when you start livin' la vida low-carb is that nemesis ingredient known as white flour. Your body just doesn't need all those useless carbs that come from eating traditional flour. It's just not worth blowing your new lifestyle change on an ingredient like this and watching all that hard work you put into your low-carb way of life go down the drain.

But since you've got tons of cookbooks with recipes that call for white flour, I guess now those have been deemed permanetly obsolete because of your low-carb plan, right? Well, not anymore!

Introducing a brand new kind of flour that is packed with lots of fiber and is low-carb, too! It's called Simply Coconut Organic Coconut Flour and comes in a convenient 2.2-pound bag.

This coconut flour is made from fresh organic coconut meat that is dried and ground up into a fine powder for use in your baking recipes. In essence, it is "low-carb flour" and should be used as such in any recipe that calls for white flour. Unlike those disgusting and unhealthy soy-based low-carb flour products, this product contains ZERO soy and has the lowest amount of net carbs per serving--1 gram for each 2-tablespoon serving size!

You also get a whopping 9 grams of dietary fiber and 2 grams of protein in each serving as well. For those of you who have allergies to wheat (i.e. Celiac Disease), you'll be happy to know that Simply Coconut Organic Coconut Flour is gluten-free and hypoallergenic as well. Very nice!

The high-fiber content of this product helps fill you up and will keep you regular when you are losing weight on your low-carb lifestyle. So you can bake up all of your favorite cakes, pies, breads and so much more by replacing the white flour in your recipes with a smaller percentage of coconut flour instead.

My favorite part of Simply Coconut Organic Coconut Flour is that it contains just ONE ingredient: Organic Coconut Flour. No fillers, no chemicals, no artificial flavors or sweeteners...just good old-fashioned, all-natural coconut! The only trouble you'll have is deciding which recipes to bake first. :)

If you like to bake as much as I do, then you will want to grab yourself a bag or two of Simply Coconut Organic Coconut Flour and start filling up your kitchen with the sweet smells of fresh baked goods once again. Except this time, they'll be low-carb!

Sugar 'Taste Test' Comparison To Splenda Turns Blind Eye To Impact On Health

I couldn't resist sharing with you this press release bragging about how consumers "overwhelmingly prefer pure cane sugar to Splenda in taste tests." Ooooookay, let's see what this is all about.

Not surprisingly, the suspicious "taste tests" were commissioned by the C&H Sugar Company and was conducted on June 9 and 10 in Redwood City, California and Buffalo Grove, Illinois by an independent market research company. This "independent survey" found that people who cook fresh baked desserts such as brownies were much more pleased with the taste, texture, and appearance of pure sugar cane (which C&H sells) than either Splenda or Splenda Blend (which is C&H's primary competition). I wonder how objective a study paid for by a company against it's #1 competitor is REALLY gonna be? But I digress.

They go on in the press release to show statistics that allegedly prove that people prefer pure cane sugar over Splenda and even found a pastry chef from a restaurant in San Francisco to slam Splenda on their behalf.

"Sucralose (Splenda) tends to block flavors provided by other ingredients, especially chocolate," this pastry chef said. "Brownies baked with Splenda and Splenda Blend don't offer the rich cocoa flavor or taste of those made with pure cane sugar. They are dry and dense."

He goes on to sing the praises of the product made by C&H Sugar Company to help them solidify their point even further.

"Pure cane sugar adds more than sweetness to recipes; it also provides bulk, moisture and browning. Artificial sweeteners do not," he explained. "Why would you want to sacrifice the taste of something you love just to save a few calories?"

This is where I have to step in to steer this debate back in the right direction.

Is this "world renowned pastry chef" really telling people to ignore the nutritional content of sugar and to just eat, drink, and be merry gorging yourself on sugar?!

I have been using Splenda almost exclusively since I started livin' la vida low-carb and losing over 180 pounds since January 2004. It is 600 times sweeter than sugar and can provide people who are wary of the impact sugar can have on their weight with an alternative way to give the foods they eat sweetness.

Despite the advancements in sugar substitutes and artificial sweeteners in recent years, I am still seeing people scrunch up their nose at me when I tell them I don't eat sugar but rather sugar-free products. That's what one television reporter who interviewed me the other day about my weight loss did. I assured her and others who react like she did that the taste is absolutely fabulous.

When I was addicted to sugar at the beginning of my low-carb lifestyle, there was a transitional period where my body had to wean itself off of the negative effects of sugar and literally detoxify itself from the years of damage that had been done to both my weight and my overall health. I discuss these issues in a special chapter on sugar of my book "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb" because this is much too important an issue to turn a blind eye to.

Even "The Biggest Loser" personal trainer Bob Harper said in an exclusive interview with the "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb" blog recently that "sugar is a very powerful and strong drug that people are extremely addicted to" and "has most everything to do with our problem with obesity." Why aren't we listening to voices like this one and pushing harder to provide the public with the truth about sugar? There are fundamental facts that should not be overlooked about how sugar is impacting the health of the American people.

Nobody will argue with you that consuming a lot of sugar can and will harm your body. It's an understood fact, although millions of people still consume it like there's nothing wrong with eating gobs and gobs of sugar.

But I saw what it can do firsthand to a person's body (MINE!) and it's not a pretty sight. The cravings and headaches that come when I didn't get my "hit" of sugar would slam me in the face like a cast iron skillet until I stuffed my face with even more sugar. Over and over again, that ruthless cycle continued until I "got clean" last year. Thankfully, that rollercoaster ride is one that I don't ever plan on getting on again. It's just not worth it!

Thanks to products like Splenda, I can enjoy the great sweetness of sugar without suffering the consequences it will have on various aspects of my health. Quite simply, Splenda is a miracle product for people who are livin' la vida low-carb. Sure, there are some like my friends Connie Bennett and Regina Wilshire who do not promote ANY sugar or sugar substitutes as part of a healthy lifestyle, but a lot of people are like me and need to have some sweetness in the foods we eat.

This little "taste test" released by a sugar company really means nothing regarding comparisons to Splenda because they only show the front-end qualities of their product. On the back end over the long-term, sugar will do more to pack on the pounds and destroy people's health than Splenda ever will. That's why I said goodbye to sugar once and for all nearly two years ago. And so should you!

I guess I've just invited Qorvis Communications back to my blog again today with this post! :-O