DaVinci Sugar-Free Syrups-USE AT YOUR OWN RISK!!

[Queenie]

****EDITING THIS MESSAGE 11-8-06*****

I told Roger that I was going to delete this entire post, but I think that I will just modify it to say that even though these APPEAR to be LDL friendly - they MAY NOT BE!  If you decide to use them at all, I would DEFINITELY advise it to be only an occasional treat.

And the only reason I decided to edit rather than delete is that eventually someone is going to come along and ask about these again.

**********************************


Hi Everyone,

I know that someone mentioned DaVinci Sugar Free Syrups at one time and Roger said that he was afraid that the second ingredient, "natural flavorings" might contain things that were not LDL friendly. 

I didn't think any more of this until a few weeks ago.  John and I were shopping and came to the dairy section.  As he was picking up some fat free half and half, I noticed that the "holiday" collection of coffee creamers were being added to the display case.  I'm really not a flavored coffee person, but in years gone by, I would buy Gingerbread or Egg Nog flavorings for an occasional treat.  Not this year!  They are LOADED with sugar.  But it got me to thinking about those sugar-free syrups again.

I went to the DaVinci site and lo and behold, they had tons of new flavors in the sugar-free section.  The site clearly states that they use Splenda for sweetening.  I did order four bottles.  After they arrived, however, I decided to write to the company.   This is a portion of my email:

...I do have one question for you - I know that you use Splenda for these sugar free syrups, but was wondering if there are any other (possibly hidden) sugars in them - malodextrin, cane syrup, etc.  The only reason I ask is that the second ingredient is "natural flavors".  I am trying to regulate my blood sugars and need to know this information.   (I just love that "explanation" that I borrowed from my fellow LDL'er!!)

Anyway, this was her response:

Good morning, Carolyn!

I am so happy that you are enjoying your syrups. The Sugar free Syrups contain no cane syrup, or maltodextrin. So, they are safe for you to use. Please feel free to contact me with any further inquiries.

Best regards,

Michelle Reed
Customer Service / Consumer Care Specialist
DaVinci Gourmet
800-640-6779 Phone
800-446-4985 Fax


I don't know if anyone else even cares about this, but I thought I would run it up the flag pole and see who salutes... (can you tell I was an Army brat?!!)

I don't plan to use these syrups on a regular basis, but I will probably experiment with them just a bit.  Today I took some soy milk (the Silk unsweetened in the teal container) and put a couple of teaspoons of the Egg Nog flavoring in, and to my amazement, it tasted JUST LIKE egg nog!  The other night I made a quasi version of Mary's Hot and Sweet Banana Treat - only I didn't use the raisins - just some bananas, maybe a tablespoon of OJ and heated it in the microwave.  When I took it out, I put a teaspoon of the Sugar Free Chocolate Syrup over the top and it was FANTASTIC!

The four flavors I ordered were Chocolate, Egg Nog, Gingerbread and Peppermint Paddy (smells EXACTLY like a Peppermint Patty).

Now - before I go any further - in no way would I want to trigger any cravings for anyone.  I don't "crave" sweets any more, but sometimes when I eat my fruits, I like to have some variations.  The few times I've tried these syrups in the last couple of days, I seem to be ok, but I realize that everyone is different.

Here is the link to the sugar free syrups, if anyone chooses to check it out.  They feature pictures of a few, but if you scroll down, you'll see the entire list of flavors.  You can buy a couple of these flavors in the coffee section of Walmart, and a wider variety of them at certain TJ Maxx stores.  I would caution about getting them at TJ Maxx, as I spoke with a woman when I was at Walmart the other day and she said that she bought a bottle and it was bad - had expired... just a Caveat Emptor.  I prefer to buy them directly from DaVinci as I KNOW they will be "fresh".  Anyway, here is the link.

http://www.davincigourmet.com/products/sugar_free_flavored_syrups/

Sorry this is so long!

Carolyn

[HarleyGrandma]

Thanks for the link to the website!!  Are these calorie free as well?? 

[HarleyGrandma]

Never mind Carolyn!!  I went and read the website.. no calories.. I ordered the cinnimon and carmel syrups..  figured it would taste great on apples!
Thanks!!

[DEBBIEWEBE]

Carolyn,
These syrups sound really good.  I can just imagine how great they would be for making flavored coffees and teas and adding to smoothies.  I can almost taste a banana chocolate smoothie now.  I bet that would be a really good alternative on those PMS weeks Im always ranting about and much healthier than what I usually do to cope.  I used to buy this diet chocolate fudge flavored Diet Rite soda many years ago but I havent seen that for years now.  I wonder if RC Cola still bottles that.  Anyway thanks again for posting that site and for all the investigating you did to make sure that it was allowable before posting.  Youre a sweetheart.  God Bless.
Youre friend Forever.
Love
Debbie

[nyKath]

Hey Deb....chocolate Diet Rite? Never got to see that here in NY. We used to be able to get Canfield's chocolate soda in regular and diet. I don't think that's made any more, either. I think there's another brand of SF syrups out there, too - maybe Torino is the name? Barnes and Noble used to carry those by the big bottles, too, but they're not available in my branches. Not sure exactly what they use to sweeten those specialty coffees in the stores, so I don't partake of them. They did used to be on sale to the general public, though....just wondering.... bye! NYKath

[Queenie]

No problem, NJ - Here are the ingredients:

Chocolate Sugar Free Syrup
Water
Natural and Artifical Flavor
Caramel Color
Cellulose Gum
Sucralose (Splenda® Brand)
Sodium Benzoate (Preservative)
Citric Acid

Eggnog Sugar Free Syrup
Water
Natural and Artifical Flavor
Cellulose Gum
Sucralose (Splenda® Brand)
Sodium Benzoate (Preservative)
Citric Acid
Yellow 5

Gingerbread Sugar Free Syrup
Water
Natural and Artifical Flavor
Cellulose Gum
Sucralose (Splenda® Brand)
Sodium Benzoate (Preservative)
Caramel Color
Citric Acid

It was the Natural and Artificial Flavor that I was concerned about, hence the email that I wrote to the company.  I wanted to make SURE that those "flavors" didn't include hidden sugars. 

And this morning I took coffee with me when I left to go to work - with Peppermint Paddy flavor in it - it was AWESOME!!  (no cravings afterwards, either!  Yippee!!)

Debbie - I haven't seen the Chocolate Diet Rite for years!  I forgot about it!  And I think a chocolate banana smoothie would be super!  I did look into it, but I will still wait for Roger's OK ---- again, I would never want to trigger any cravings, so this would be a very personal decision.  LDL-wise, I think they're ok... but if Roger doesn't agree, I will remove this entire post.  He's been such a blessing to all of us, and I don't want anyone to think that I am trying to re-invent this program. 

Roger says, "Why eat it if you don't crave it?" and I totally agree.  I truly DON'T crave chocolate, but when I put a tiny bit of the chocolate sugar free syrup over my bananas the other evening, I couldn't believe how good it was.

And Kathy - I remember those - but I thought it was Borders that used them - I don't know - I used to frequent both Barnes and Noble AND Borders ALL the time... And I agree with you about coffees flavored by shops - nope - I never, ever get those... you just can't be sure.

Carolyn

[Queenie]

Thank you Roger - I'll delete this post...

Carolyn

[DEBBIEWEBE]

Carolyn, I think Kath was right....it was Canfields not Diet Rite.  I think Diet Rite had a Rasberry one that was really good though.  Ahhhh So many years ago before I learned how to eat. 
God Bless
Debbie

[Queenie]

****EDITING THIS MESSAGE 11-8-06*****

I told Roger that I was going to delete this entire post, but I think that I will just modify it to say that even though these syrups APPEAR to be LDL friendly - they MAY NOT BE!  If you decide to use them at all, I would DEFINITELY advise it to be only an occasional treat.

And the only reason I decided to edit rather than delete is that eventually someone is going to come along and ask about these again.

**********************************

Decided to put this down here because people may see the "new" button, but not go to the first post to see that I've edited this.

Carolyn

[greenheron]

I realize this is a very old thread, but I wanted to add a "for what it's worth" statement, especially since there are going to be people newly joining the board and reading the old threads for hints, ideas, inspiration. 

I've been a follower of several Low Carb boards in the past, (no, LCF wasn't one of them ), and saw posts from all types of LC dieters...like any program, different people have different reactions to the things they eat...it's ALWAYS a YMMV (your mileage may vary) type thing.

I would say DaVinci syrups won't cause cravings, and here's why:  People following a standard LC diet, getting most/all of their carbs from vegetables, have eliminated all refined sugars, and starches like grains, white bread, potatoes etc.  Those who had a tendency for sugar cravings (and that's many on LC plans) get past it as they use up the glycogen stored in the bloodstream and start burning the fat they don't want.  Those who had a tendency toward cravings could easily "fall off the wagon" if they had a sugary cheat;  "just one cupcake" can lead to days or weeks before getting back on plan.  (I wasn't one of those...cravings aren't my issue, but for many they are nearly addiction-like.) 

That being said, every single one of the board-friends I knew who were "cravers" were regularly using DaVinci or Torani syrups every day....in their coffee, in Beachgirl's cheesecake, in their morning "mock danish"...all without causing cravings that surely would have sidetracked their plan.  Real sugar would have driven them to eat everything in sight, but SF syrups had no such effect.  Cravings were a SERIOUS issue for them, but Cookie dough syrup didn't bring them on. 

I would say there are fewer opportunities or needs to use the variety of syrups on LDL because of all the real fruit and SF preserves you CAN eat, and because of the things you can't, like whipped cream and cheesecake.  That being said, it's my opinion that SF syrups would be perfectly acceptable for most LDL followers.  (As with anything, moderation of course....no chugging a bottle of DaVinci rum flavored syrup   ) 

Please Note:  I'm not advocating Low Carb, Low Fat, Low Protein, Low Potting soil, Low Salamander, Low Krispy Kreme.  Simple Google searches turn up pros and cons of every conceiveable diet to argue your point.  I'm just putting in MY 2 cents, in case you'd like to try some eggnog syrup in your soy milk.

[Gwennaford]

Not greenheron, RT, but if you want, you can scroll down to reply #5 and the original topic, both from our Queenie.  She went into it in detail.

[greenheron]

Hi greenheron. What are the ingredients in the sugar-free syrups you are talking about?

God bless,

RT

Hi, Roger Troy,

The syrups I was referring to were the Da Vinci.  All the ingredients for any flavor can be seen on the Netrition site here: http://www6.netrition.com/cgi/product_c ... gories=SYR    There are other companies that make SF syrups, like Torani, Nature's Flavor etc etc, and their ingredients will vary from Da Vinci's.  But the Da Vinci are the same as Carolyn posted above.  I see you were questioning the Natural and Artificial flavors, and whether they might, in and of themselves, be fattening.  Carolyn posted her response from Da Vinci stating that there was no cane syrup or maltodextrin.  Most flavorings in a clear syrup would likely be highly concentrated, a tiny percentage of the whole.   The guar gum is actually fiber to give the syrup a little body so you don't have flavored sweet water.  The preservatives, obviously, protect your $8 investment.    

As I stated, I've seen plenty of people use these on LC to no negative effect.   This WOE is quite different, but the concerns are the same, right?  Cravings, unwanted side effects.  Used in moderation, they might just "fill the bill" for someone wanting that chocolate drizzle on their hot banana treat, or the comfort of eggnog on a cold day.  Sure there are success stories from people who conquered their sugar cravings with tons of fruit.  They succeed, they post, they inspire.  What of the ones who got a GREAT start, loved the frozen grapes, and posted less than a dozen times and disappeared from the board?  They didn't stick around to explain why they left.  That's why there should be a multitude of "here's what worked for me" options as well as the "this did NOT work for me."   Anybody here using SF syrups want to chime in?  Carolyn, do you still use them?

An example that comes to mind is one that really bothered me from reading the book:  FOUR slices of bread a day, WITH JAM?  I just don't see that as reasonable.  It proved that if you eat twenty-eight slices of bread a week, with jam, then you stop losing weight.  But what if you want one slice of bread a week, on a Saturday morning, with your two fried eggs of the week and your fruit salad?   If the idea is that all LDL-acceptable foods can all be eating in any quantity you want, then I guess it makes sense.  But isn't moderation in many things just common sense?  

I'm still learning, as you can see.  It's very interesting to read older posts and see how things have evolved, and continue to.  I've got some questions about the book that aren't addressed in the upcoming changes, but I'll make a separate post about them.  And I'm trying out a few things before I actually stock up on LDL-type foods and jump in.  I'm getting there.  I just finished a delightful treat...would you believe...frozen grapes?  Actually, I find the whole grapes too hard on my teeth, so I threw them in the food processor attachment that came with my hand blender, threw in a few frozen unsweetened red cherries, and just enough Diet Sierra Mist Ruby Splash to make it a sippable slush.  And, My MY, is it tasty.  I could certainly be consuming variations on THIS every day.  Berries, juices, pineapple, banana.  I'm looking forward to trying them all.   I love soups.  I love salads.  I love oven-roasted vegetables.  I love popcorn.  I'll get there.  I'm just gearing up.  

A Blessed Easter to all of you today.