I don't usually eat "diet foods" (or drinks). But, work today was crazy and stressful. Several emergencies came up, and I ended up having to stay several hours longer than planned, without time to go grab a bite to eat. Our break room often has food leftover from meetings. So, I wandered over in hope of finding some fruit or yogurt (I really would have settled for cookies or chips at this point). Instead I found a few of these South Beach Living Tide Me Over packets. This sounded like exactly what I was looking for- something to tide me over until I could get home and eat a real dinner. But, after trying it I understand why someone ditched their stash in the break room. Here's what I thought.
The Product
South Beach Living- Tide Me Over
Ingredients
Inulin (for fiber), whey protein isolate, citric acid, aspartame, contains less than 2% of natural flavor, soy lecithin, calcium carbonate, sodium and potassium bicarbonate, magnesium oxide, silicon dioxide, dimethylpolysiloxane, yellow 5, red 40.
Ummm...these don't sounds like foods to me...
What Is It?
This is a powdered drink mix (similar to crystal light). You empty one packet into a large water bottle, shake to mix, and drink it. One packet contains only 30 calories, 3 grams of protein, and 5 grams of fiber. I think the idea here is that the protein and fiber will fill you up, with few calories.
The Verdict
I am not a fan. These are terrible.
For starters, the drink mix doesn't dissolve well in cold water- it took a lot of shaking to get it mixed in. The texture was grainy and a bit thick, and it tastes sickly sweet. Yuck! I generally try to avoid artificially sweetened products (since I find they make me crave more sweets), so the aspartame in this would keep me from purchasing it.
Did it take the edge off my hunger? Maybe a tiny bit, but not enough to be worth even the 30 calories. I would have been better off just getting some crackers or a rice crispy treat from the vending machine. They're empty calories, but at least they would have filled me up a bit.
My usual go to drink for times when I'm starving but don't have time to eat is hot tea. I think I would have found tea just as filling as one of these, and actually enjoyed the taste.
Have you tried these? What did you think? Do you have any quick snacks you keep in your purse or your desk for times like this?
Protein and Granolla bars are good, they don't have too many calories and they fill you up! I don't like these mix drinks either! I have tried one and it was almost like this one, didn't taste good and didn't feel me up!
ReplyDeleteIt would be nice to know what the best tasting, most filling, good for you, handy snack on the market is? If I would have been in your situation I'm fairly confident I would have cleaned out half of that vending machine. It sounds like you have a lot of will power working for you, and that's awesome!
ReplyDeleteSpecial K had a drink like that but it was premixed. I thought that was good...definitely took off the edge. This doesn't sound very good though. I wonder what the ingredients were in that.
ReplyDeleteI've never tried these, but now I definitely don't think I will. My go to snacks are usually whatever I have leftover in my fridge/cabinets, but I've been a big fan of leaving some triscuits and laughing cow wedges in the department office fridge. MMm could go for some of that now actually...
ReplyDeleteI really like those laughing cow cheeses too! Those would be a great thing to leave at the office. Thanks for the suggestion!
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