Next Big Diet Trend In Beverages Is Protein And Fiber Fortification

Want proof that livin' la vida low-carb is still having an impact on our culture in the year 2007? Well, look no further than this Natural Products Insider column to see what research & development marketing guru Dr. Karen Grenus says is the next big diet trend in beverages.

Although it has been mocked and scorned by the so-called health "experts" and their willing accomplices in the media, protein is the first of two new "it" ingredients that every beverage manufacturer is clamoring to put into new products to show consumers they care about helping them get healthy and lose weight.

Many credit low-carb diets like Atkins, Protein Power, and South Beach for launching this new trend which will begin to manifest itself in the very near future. All I can say is that it's about time (although we've already had lots of protein in the delicious Atkins Nutritionals shakes for years)!

Low-carb researcher Dr. Donald Layman from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign shared in my interview with him last year that a higher-protein diet combined with moderate exercise results in greater weight loss and effective fat-burning while preserving lean muscle mass.

Protein is indeed power food for weight loss as all the latest studies are showing because of the magical effect of satiety. In fact, there is a specific study that shows consuming protein-packed eggs actually causes you to eat LESS calories than if you ate a bagel with cream cheese for breakfast!

Additionally, we have proof from still more studies that confirm high-protein diets are good for bone health and eating this way gives you a metabolic advantage--something you want when you are attempting weight loss.

The evidence is very strong and the marketing machines at the largest beverage companies in the world are already salivating at the sales potential they will muster up from this new trend. We've already seen signs of it with the release of new diet beverages this year such as Diet Coke Plus, Diet Pepsi MAX, Enviga, and even FUZE.

Look for these efforts to be stepped up even more.

Dr. Grenus says the allure of using a beverage as a meal replacement is about convenience and controlling the nutrients that go inside your body with precision.

"Today, consumers know about macronutrients and are more likely to purchase products after looking at carbohydrates, net carbohydrates, protein, fat and fiber," she wrote.

She added that consumers demand the product "must taste good enough for consumption and be palatable; cause fullness during consumption, or satiation; cause a continued sense of fullness until the next meal, or satiety; and remain palatable over the course of the diet."

This is where protein comes into play. Manufacturers are realizing that adding enough protein to their product can help their beverage meet all these requests by the customer. People realize protein satisfies, so they're looking for it to squelch their hunger.

Interestingly, Dr. Grenus explained that protein also adds "viscosity, emulsification, opacity and flavor." Hmmm, I did not know that. Additionally, there are several different blends of proteins used to find the perfect match for the beverage that ends up on store shelves.

Here is a listing of the various proteins used in beverages:

1. Casein

This milk protein is generally combined with calcium, sodium, or both. Sodium Caseinate is best used in shakes and drinks that contain fat while calcium caseinate works better in water-based drinks for protein potency.

2. Whey

Another milk protein which packs a punch with concentrated amino acids that help protect lean muscle mass, suppresses appetite, and nutrient-dense.

3. Soy

A plant-based protein that is low-fat and low-cholesterol. In fact, soy protein isolates contain nearly ZERO carbs while adding dietary fiber to the mix.

Speaking of fiber, that is the other "it" beverage additive that manufacturers are looking to add to their products. Although not everyone agrees that fiber is necessary in a healthy diet, I believe it can play a vital role in your weight management plan. So does Dr. Grenus.

"Soluble and insoluble fiber have been linked to the reduction of blood cholesterol and certain cancers, respectively," she explained. "There is no question that soluble and insoluble fibers should be a part of every healthy diet. In the event that fiber-rich grains, fruits and vegetables are replaced by weight-loss drinks, it’s essential that fiber be incorporated into the beverage."

In fact, fiber is becoming so popular now that there are even diet books being written with fiber as the central ingredient. Beverage makers are keenly aware of this, too, and are working on ways to put it in their products.

Just like proteins, there are several kinds of fibers, too:

1. Soy fiber

Made from soybeans, this is a commonly used product in weight loss drinks because it has the health benefits of soluble fiber while working well in the digestive tract in the way insoluble fiber performs.


2. Polydextrose

A fiber-based bulking agent added to artificial sweeteners to serve as a prebiotic which allows good bacteria to grow in the gut. This fiber is extremely low-calorie, low-glycemic, and studies have shown it to increase satiety.


3. Inulin

A soluble fiber with prebiotic properties which can pass right through the body without ever being metabolized. It is fermented by bacteria in the colon.

4. Fructooligosaccharides (FOS)

In addition to providing soluble fiber, this also is used as a sweetening and bulking agent that does not raise blood sugars. Sweeter than inulin, this fiber allows for a "creamy mouthfeel" (if you've ever tried the delicious low-carb ChocoPerfection chocolate bars made with an FOS called oligofructose, then you know what I'm talking about). Additionally, this can actually be used as a replacement for fat and sugar.

The most important thing to the consumer is to make sure the beverages they are drinking to help them lose weight taste good while maintaining nutritional integrity. That's the biggest trick, according to Dr. Grenus.

"Products formulated for health instead of taste need the magic of flavor houses to make drinking them a memorable experience," she remarked. "Flavors can mask undesired characteristics from added ingredients, enhance existing flavors and create the signature taste of weight-loss beverages."

If a product tastes funky, then it should come as no surprise that people won't keep buying it. That's exactly what happened when the "low-carb craze" hit. Too many of those products tasted DISGUSTING and thus did not sell. That doesn't mean low-carb itself failed (as has been the MO of those who oppose livin' la vida low-carb), but these manufacturers hurriedly pushing out products to supposedly meet the demand rather than taking their time to do it right.

To me, the worst-tasting products that are out there right now have to be the ones that contain soy in them. I don't know if my taste buds are so acutely tuned in to it or not, but everything I eat with some measure of soy in it just tastes gross to me. It's got a nasty wang time and time again. I hate that, but it is what it is.

The key to remember with these new protein and fiber fortified beverages is to READ THE LABELS and make sure they contain low enough sugar (ZERO or next to none is preferable) if you are livin' la vida low-carb. It does absolutely no good to drink a protein-based product for weight loss if you are simply gonna sabotage it with carbohydrates your body DOESN'T need!

If this topic is interesting to you, then I encourage you to read the full report which appeared in Food Product Design. Dr. Grenus discusses the various sweeteners on the market (although she makes a faux pas when she states Pepsi One is sweetened with ACE-K and ASPARTAME--nope, it's ACE-K and Splenda!) and she even brings up stevia (which The Coca-Cola Company is trying to get FDA-approval for a new version of Diet Coke) as an up-and-coming sweetening agent in beverages. WELL WORTH THE READ!

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?!

Study: Oligofructose Cuts Down On Infections Of Day-Care Aged Kids

This Nutraingredients story about a new study on a major benefit of taking the prebiotic supplement oligofructose should have mothers of young children stocking up on it to insure good health.

Lead researcher Anne-Judith Waligora-Dupriet from the Paris, France-based Université René Descartes wanted to look at the role of oligofructose as it relates to the intestinal health of young children in day-care.

“Our study is the first one to evaluate the effects of oligofructose supplementation on modulation of microflora with tolerance and well-being in young children attending day-care centers,” she explained.

While already confirmed to be healthy for bones and colorectal cancer, researchers are now wanting to see the effect of oligofructose on other parts of health including the immune system, weight control, and intestinal health.

The study looked at 35 healthy day-care children between the ages of 7-19 months and observed them over an eight-day period before beginning the research. At that time, the children were randomly given either oligofructose supplement or a placebo for three weeks in a row.

Dr. Waligora-Dupriet and her team of researchers took daily fecal samples to check for intestinal issues and monitored the health of each study participant.

At the end of the study, the researchers found the children who were given the oligofructose supplement saw increases in the good bacteria called bifidobacteria from 9.1 to 9.5 log10 CFU/g of feces. Meanwhile, the control group saw their good bacteria decrease from 9.2 to 9.0 log10 CFU/g of feces.

The researchers explain why higher levels of bifidobacteria is desirable.

“Bifidobacteria are thought to lower the intestinal pH through their fermentation end-products, i.e. acetic and lactic acids, leading to the inhibition of the growth of potentially pathogenic bacteria,” they stated.

Interestingly, the study showed that oligofructose led to a significant decrease in the development of clostridia, a potential pathogen that can cause gas-producing bacteria, but not staphylococci infections. As soon as the oligofructose supplementation ceased, the improvements that had been made in the intestinal health were halted.

But as long as the infants were taking oligofructose, their intestinal health was fantastic compared to the control group.

“The number of infectious diseases requiring antibiotic treatment, the number of episodes of flatulence, diarrhea, vomiting and fever were significantly lower in the oligofructose group as compared to the control group as well as the number of children who start to vomit,” the researchers revealed.

The overwhelming conclusion of the study was all positive for oligofructose.

“Our results confirm that oligofructose exerts beneficial effects to health and well-being,” Dr. Waligora-Dupriet wrote in the study. “The results of this study indicate good tolerance and clinical benefits of oligofructose supplementation."

This study was published in the International Journal of Food Microbiology.

As is true with most studies of this nature that were conducted on a smaller scale, the researchers suggested that "further studies on a larger number of children are needed." But the evidence in favor of oligofructose is there in this study. It will be interesting to see what larger studies find in the future.

Wanna know an excellent dietary source for oligofructose? It's GoLower bars! These healthy and deliciously crunchy nut bars from the UK are held together by oligofructose syrup and are a delicious way to get this healthy prebiotic into your body.

After reading the results of this study, it makes me want to go celebrate with a Raspberry GoLower bar right now. You know what that means...it's time to go get me some oligofructose in my body for good intestinal health. Cheerio!