Low Calorie Recipes: Store Bought Salad Dressings Part III

In the past months I’ve been having a blast buying and trying some low to zero calorie products from The Low Carb Grocery in Burnaby BC.

It is that time of year for me to get down to single digit body fat levels and reveal the muscle I’ve worked so hard for in the past year. Today I want to chime in with some more products I decided to order over The Low Carb Grocery website because their service and shipping is so good. You can see my previous posts on these products here, here, here, and here.

Nutrient Density and Empty Calories?

Before you drill me for advocating more nutrition-less products containing artificial sweeteners and other “chemicals” I wan’t to make it very clear where I am coming from.

First off from a soley scientific based approach, these ingredients and foods have all been proven to be completely safe when consumed under the recommended acceptable daily intake (ADI). And I am talking about randomized tightly controlled clinical trials using BOTH human and animal testing.

If you or anyone you know has tried products like these and has gotten a negative reaction then I recommend taking a critical look at other parts of your diet FIRST before judging them and IF you’re sure its an ingredient in one of these products then don’t eat it, plain and simple. These products are NOT poison but if you get a negative reaction from it then don’t consume it. But stop telling everyone else it is poison and that they should avoid consuming it, even in moderation.

Going to extreme levels of body fat like sub 10% if a male (and closer to 4-6%) is damn hard for a lot of people. These products can not only make your food taste better but can allow you to stay on track during difficult times when eating around family at events and what not (Family BBQ’s anyone?)

Nutrition extremists like to claim that because a food is so called “NOT nutrient dense” this means it is not optimal or not healthy. Well to be perfectly clear here there is NO definite definition on what classifies a food to be nutrient dense or not. [1] There is however a new Nutrient Rich Foods Index (NRFI) which attempts to do such thing, but it too is not perfect. [2]

If you’re consuming the needed nutrients from all the vegetables and whole foods you should be eating then having nutrition-less “condiments” is NOT going to kill you and may actually allow you to eat MORE of these “healthy” and life extending foods. Moderation might be cliche but like with other things in life, it is a fine balance between polar opposites.

I am NOT claiming that these products taste perfect or are exactly like their originals but they do “help” flavouring your favourite Low Calorie Recipes and they especially taste pretty good when MIXED with foods.

On To The Products:

What I ordered:

1. Alfredo Sauce
2. Caesar Dressing
3. Honey BBQ Sauce
4. Thick & Spicy BBQ Sauce

*All of these products are made by a company called Walden Farms

Taste Testing

*These reviews are VERY subjective so be forewarned, what I consider good may not at all be what YOU consider good.

Alfredo Sauce

Smell: smells really good like cheesy/creamy alfredo

Taste: tasted really creamy even though it contained no fat and was cheesy, very much like alfredo sauce but less rich

– It had slight sweetness but not at all over powering IMO

– I would love to try this with pasta

Texture: creamy surprisingly and looks as if it would mix very well with pasta

– I highly recommend this to anyone on a low calorie/fat diet who is going for ripped abs and if Alfredo pasta dishes are being craved

Caesar Dressing

Smell: almost smelled like parmesan and herb

Taste: not bad at all, was a lot less “vinegar like” than other Walden Farms dressings and would go great with romaine lettuce

– It had a slight parmesan flavour which is very fitting

Texture: it was thicker than I expected, much like traditional caesar dressings

– I would highly recommend trying this one as an alternative to traditional caesar dressing

Honey BBQ Sauce

Smell: had a distinct honey smell infused in the BBQ sauce aroma

Taste: it was sweet tasting and much more mildly spicy than the Thick & Spicy BBQ Sauce

– Had a very slight bitter after taste but very mild and did not linger

Texture: had the same thickness as the other BBQ sauces

– My favourite BBQ sauce so far, next to the hickory smoke as I am not a spicy food fan

Thick & Spicy BBQ Sauce

Smell: had a spicy smoked bbq sauce smell

Taste: was spicy and sweet with that walden farms vinegar flavour

Texture: liquidy but not as much as the hickory smoke BBQ sauce

– Probably too spicy for me to fully enjoy the flavours in larger amounts but I am sure many would enjoy this

My Favourites

Overall I surprisingly liked almost all of them. The Honey BBQ Sauce, the Alfredo Sauce and the Caesar Dressing were all products I would love to mix in with my Low Calorie Recipes.

The only reason the Thick & Spicy BBQ Sauce wasn’t my forte was because of the spice. Anyone who loves spicy foods would find this product a good substitue for BBQ Sauce in the summer.

For the dessert sauces and dips click here and here.

Disclaimer: I am NOT at all affilated with The Low Carb Grocery or Walden Farms products, I just found their website and tried their service and products and was very pleased and I think many clients and people like you could benefit.

References:

1.  Miller GD, et al. It is time for a positive approach to dietary guidance using nutrient density as a basic principle. J Nutr. 2009 Jun;139(6):1198-202.

2. Fulgoni VL 3rd, et al. Development and validation of the nutrient-rich foods index: a tool to measure nutritional quality of foods. J Nutr. 2009 Aug;139(8):1549-54.