The Food Doctor have a range of nutritional bars that fit in perfectly with a low carb, or Atkins, lifestyle. On a low carb diet, the aim is to keep your carb intake below 20g per day (on phase one) and you do this by reducing intake of high carb foods, such as pasta, bread, rice and sweets. By reducing carbs, this changes your body’s metabolism so you start to burn fat – including bodyfat – for fuel, rather than carbs. This results in weight loss but also other positive changes such as better mental clarity (no brain fog), increased energy, optimal cholesterol levels and less chance of developing cardiovascular disease.

It’s relatively easy to cut carbs and eat more foods that are higher in protein and fat, such as chicken, beef, eggs, lots of vegetables as well as nuts & seeds. However, it’s not as easy to find between-meal snacks or what about if you get a craving for something sweet & tasty? This is where The Food Doctor range of tasty bars come in.

A typical confectionary bar contains around 30g carbs, with the majority of the carbs coming from sugar. The trouble with high sugar intake is that your body will burn the glycogen – from carbs – for fuel so you’ll never tap into fat stores. Plus eating a high carb diet leads to cravings for more carbs, due to the insulin spike they create, so you’re stuck on the blood sugar rollercoaster. Eating more sugar means you crave more sugar and it gets harder to control, until your health is negatively impacted.

The Food Doctor’s range of bars contain much fewer carbs and sugar and are high in protein. The Caramel & Fudge bar contains 58% fewer carbs than a typical confectionary bar. Each bar has just 2.8g net carbs. The bars contain polyols, which are sugar alcohols. These aren’t’ connected to sugar; despite the name. Yet they create the sweet taste and delicious mouth-feel but don’t cause the same insulin spike as sugar and are indigestible. This bar has a whopping 15.1g of protein per bar too which is great for keeping you feeling full but also makes it a great choice for post-exercise, to aid with recovery. Another benefit is that protein is a slow digesting macronutrient so keeps you fuller for longer.

The Food Doctor do a range of ‘indulgent snacks’ which are slightly lower in protein yet still low in sugar and carbs. Due to their lower protein content, they’re more of a ‘treat’ bar but they taste amazing and the Choc Crisp bar only has 1.6g net carbs per bar.

Other flavours include Chocolate Brownie and Coconut & Chocolate and they all taste great and are very filling. You’ll find the bars in Tesco, Ocado and now on Amazon too. The Food Doctor bars are a convenient way of having a healthy snack, especially if you – like most of us – have a busy lifestyle.

Linda O’Byrne, Nutritionist, Bolton UK