Skinny Cow= low fat but LOTS of scary sugars!

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Onesnap
Onesnap Posts: 2,819 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I've been talking with my friends the past few days about sugar. There was an article in the New York Times recently about the evils of sugar. This past weekend I had a single serve Skinny Cow ice cream. I convinced myself this was better than the real stuff that contained only 5 ingredients! Wrong. If I had a small serving of the real stuff I would not have been disgusted by how super sweet the Skinny Cow caramel flavor was! Mind you, I love the regular ice cream sandwiches by Skinny Cow--the more simple the better and those are under 200 calories!

Anyway, below is the ingredient list. It was so sweet that my husband would not even eat it! Ice cream is supposed to be milk, sugar, cream. In moderation it's really not bad for you. I've heard sugar is stored as fat in the body! There was a trainer a few weeks ago at my gym talking to a member about how bad diet foods are for you. How you're better off with a small amt of the real thing versus a bowl of man-made chemicals.

What do you think?

skim milk, sugar, caramel swirl [corn syrup, sugar, water, sweetened condensed skim milk (condensed skim milk, sugar), modified corn starch, salt, soy lecithin, xanthan gum, caramel color], corn syrup, polydextrose, whey protein, cream, calcium carbonate, Inulin (Dietary Fiber), Propylene Glycol Monostearate, microcrystalline cellulose, caramel color, Sodium Carboxymethylcellulose, guar gum, monoglycerides, sorbitol, carob bean gum, citric acid, vitamin A palmitate, carrageenan, natural and artificial flavor, salt
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Replies

  • PhatmanVA
    PhatmanVA Posts: 6 Member
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    Can't have everything...
  • nab22
    nab22 Posts: 168
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    I agree with you on this. I'd rather eat 2 or 3 ingredients and have a little good fat/sugar/what have you instead of a "diet" food with 50 ingredients I can't pronounce. I think your body will thank you!
  • LillysGranny
    LillysGranny Posts: 431
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    I have a couple of the Skinny Cow chocolate truffle bars per week...not the best choice, I know, but they taste good and satisfy the chocolate monster inside me!
  • mcbrooking
    mcbrooking Posts: 2
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    I choose to eat small amounts of the "real" thing. I had to see a dietichian (sp) about 9 yrs ago for gestational diabetes and she explained to us that the more natural the food the better for our bodies. It made sense to me. We also talk about that in my First Place meetings. If a food has more than 5 ingredients or several ingredients you can't pronounce then it might be best to pick something else.
  • meggonkgonk
    meggonkgonk Posts: 2,066 Member
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    I think I like ice cream and if I'm looking at this or a pint of Ben and Jerry's, this is an option that lets me get a treat without getting out of control.

    It's not meant to be a health food, but a sugar fix- a controlled splurge. It doesn't purport to be good for you, just better than the alternative.
  • ml1234
    ml1234 Posts: 1 Member
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    Most of those ingredients are pretty normal. A few are soy derived and there is some question about how healthy that is but anything in moderation is fine.

    If you want to lose weight, counting calories is what matters, not fat or sugar, and skinny cow helps with that IF you are satisfied by it and not hungry for more unhealthy things.
  • fatboypup
    fatboypup Posts: 1,873 Member
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    I had a skinny cow sandwich for breakfast ;)
  • meggonkgonk
    meggonkgonk Posts: 2,066 Member
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    PS- the truffles are WICKED tasty.
  • mcbrooking
    mcbrooking Posts: 2
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    I use a piece of dark chocolate for the chocolate monster. It helps! Try Hershey's Double Chocolate Nuggets if you don't care for dark chocolate. Only 47.5 cal a piece. But I can go for a week or better without eating one. Just don't get the craving all that often.
  • Kirsty_UK
    Kirsty_UK Posts: 964 Member
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    I think any low fat or diet food makes up for the lack of fat etc in other ways - either with diabetes inducing sugar proportions, or in additives that in many cases, are not good for you.

    My view is it's better to eat a little of non-diet treats than to think you're being good eating lots of diet or low fat foods as a daily replacement.
  • immacookie
    immacookie Posts: 7,424 Member
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    I agree with you on this. I'd rather eat 2 or 3 ingredients and have a little good fat/sugar/what have you instead of a "diet" food with 50 ingredients I can't pronounce. I think your body will thank you!

    Agreed... I'm in love with the Hagen Daz 5 mint flavor..... it's sooo expensive so I only buy a tiny thing once a month as a special treat! :bigsmile:
  • SiltyPigeon
    SiltyPigeon Posts: 920 Member
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    I love the skinny cow chocolate truffle bars!
    Most of those unpronounceable ingredients are byproducts of corn. They could call it Chocolate Corn Cream! :laugh:
    Anyways, I don't really see what the big deal is. 90% or more of our food contains corn products, including the meat we eat that was fed on corn and our fruit which is coated in corn wax.
    No, it isn't what nature naturally intended for us, but nature never intended for us use penicillin, aspirin, vaccinations, and many other things that have saved millions of lives. Come to think of it.... I'm not sure nature intended us to drink milk, either. Pretty sure she gave it to the cows for the cows to use. But you know us people....
  • schnarfo
    schnarfo Posts: 764 Member
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    i love the skinny cow ice creams :D
  • Improvised
    Improvised Posts: 925 Member
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    I love the ice cream sandwich bars, not gonna lie...
  • Onesnap
    Onesnap Posts: 2,819 Member
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    Thanks everyone! I love the Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches. I was just shocked at how over-sweet the single serve was. It did not really satisfy a sweet craving just made me keep to my calorie count (a good thing) but in the end it was just gross. Not as good as the sandwiches for sure!!!
  • rc630
    rc630 Posts: 310 Member
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    A of of those ingredients are actually plant-derived emulsifiers (notice how the texture isn't like the 5 ingredient ice cream or how it doesn't melt the same?)
    From what I've gathered, things like that aren't harmful to you. A lot of those plants are similar to seaweed; it's just algae products and tree exudates.
  • NeuroticVirgo
    NeuroticVirgo Posts: 3,671 Member
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    I know a lot of people area against all the "fake" stuff, but I think especially when people are first starting out they can really help people make baby steps.

    I know I wouldn't have made it through my first month with out things like skinny cow, sugar free pudding etc.

    When your trying to wing yourself off the nightly Ben and Jerry pint (that's about 1000+ calories), replacing it with a skinny cow fudge bar or two is still a better option, and can help a lot of people stay on track. After they get through all the sugar, carb, fat, salt cravings, and can consistently exercise and stay at their calorie goal...well I think that's when even more tweaking can happen.
  • Jade_Butterfly
    Jade_Butterfly Posts: 2,963 Member
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    I love the skinny cow chocolate truffle bars!
    Most of those unpronounceable ingredients are byproducts of corn. They could call it Chocolate Corn Cream! :laugh:
    Anyways, I don't really see what the big deal is. 90% or more of our food contains corn products, including the meat we eat that was fed on corn and our fruit which is coated in corn wax.
    No, it isn't what nature naturally intended for us, but nature never intended for us use penicillin, aspirin, vaccinations, and many other things that have saved millions of lives. Come to think of it.... I'm not sure nature intended us to drink milk, either. Pretty sure she gave it to the cows for the cows to use. But you know us people....

    Amen to the milk issue! lol. Cow milk is made to raise cow young. Not humans!!! lol. Then people wonder why they gain weight drinking it. As well as it is full of sugar. Gross!
  • perrytyra
    perrytyra Posts: 357 Member
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    Thanks for this. I knew it when I bought them, but I was just trying to stay under calorie. I have stopped buying them. They are too expensive, and my 6 year old kept stealing them. LOL.

    I will stick to Breyer's natural, and only buy it once a month. It is the cheapest name brand icecream at my store too. Bonus.
  • Onesnap
    Onesnap Posts: 2,819 Member
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    As for milk. And anti-milk people, think of those of us that have osteoporosis in our families. Taking calcium pills each day is not going to cut it. We need dairy with vitamin D to help get the calcium to where we need it. And sunshine, plenty of sunshine.

    I buy milk from local New England dairies and I'm proud to support family farms.

    Also, anyone that can digest cow's milk after age 4 is actually a mutant! It's a mutation that allows this! Kind of like how my Dad and brother can't do milk products but I can without issue.

    Anyway, before being anti-milk think of those of us that don't have a choice regarding osteoporosis prevention.

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