I have a confession; I miss gummies. Peach rings used to be my favourite candy snack. So, when I saw a bag on the shelf of my local grocery store for peach gummies with only 3 grams of sugar in the bag, I grabbed them immediately. When I got them home, I tore into the bag and grabbed one. I couldn’t wait to pop it into my mouth. I should have looked at the bag first and asked the question, “Are Smart Sweets keto friendly?”
Is the Company Smart Sweets Keto?
When I did some research (after the fact) I found that the founder Tara Bosch has great intentions with her company. She talks on the website about becoming addicted to sugary candy and how that negatively affected her body. The more she tried to give up sugar, the more cravings she had. Her quest is to “kick sugar, keep candy.” Then I read the part I should have read before buying the bag – she doesn’t use sugar alcohols.
I fell victim to the packaging of this product. It said one bag only contained three grams of sugar and I grabbed it. Unfortunately, the other ingredients have a lot of carbs in them. In one bag, there are only 130 calories. There is no fat and no protein. There are 40 grams of carbs in one bag. 17 grams of these are fiber, so that leaves 23 grams of carbs in a 50 gram bag of the peach ring Smart Sweets.
Are the ingredients in Smart Sweets Keto Friendly?
I will give them credit – the ingredients, while high in carbs, are natural. There are no artificial flavours. There are no sugar alcohols. They use real ingredients that are found naturally. Tara Bosch has information on the website that indicates she feels sugar alcohols are just as bad for you as sugar. Agree to disagree. I think that too much sugar alcohol can be detrimental to your healthy diet, but I don’t think that many of them are as horrible for you as refined sugar. If you want more information on sugar alcohols, Bill did a blog about that.
How Do They Taste?
After reviewing the label, I knew I had made a big mistake. These were not keto friendly. In a world where I eat a maximum of 20 grams of carbs a day, one bag of these had 23 grams of carbs. Should I eat them or should I throw them out? Well, I was all in now, so I figured I could eat a couple of them and still be okay for the day. I just hoped they didn’t taste too good so I could have the willpower to stop after the couple.
Finally, I popped one in my mouth. I was excited, and expecting the sugary sweetness mixed with the sour tang of a peach ring. There were two colours – yellow and pink. I tried a yellow one first, thinking it would be a bit more tangy. It was not tangy, nor was it sweet. Have you ever eaten a bit of a birthday cake candle? That’s what it tasted like to me. The texture and the taste was waxy.
Okay, so I had make a commitment by this time to review this item so I tentatively held up one of the pink rings. I popped it in my mouth and closed my eyes. Again, it was the waxy texture. The taste was a little sweeter, which helped a bit, but it was not – in any way – the peach ring I remember.
Final Thoughts on if Smart Sweets are Keto Friendly
They are not. I appreciate the concept of Smart Sweets and the focus on natural ingredients. I also appreciate the fact that they are providing an alternative to sugary candy. Unfortunately, the ingredients are high in carbs and have no balancing factors of fats or proteins. Truly, this is on me, because I didn’t do the research or take the time to read the label before I picked them up and put them in my cart. It was a rookie mistake that meant a waste of money.
That being said, to me, it would have been a waste of money anyway. Even if they were the most keto-friendly snack in the world, I would not eat them. I found them fairly tasteless and the waxy texture was a complete turn off to me. They definitely were not worth the several carbs I took in by trying them.
Wendy
