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Two of the few free snack choices available at the time were sugar-free Jell-O and homemade sugar-free Popsicles made with diet soda or Crystal Light bev- erages. In fact, I provided the fast-food industry with one of the first compre- hensive plans for offering healthier, low-carb menu options. Now almost every fast-food chain in the country is jumping on the low-carb band- wagon. This is great, and due to the more than 59 million low-carb con- sumers, we now have hundreds of new low-carb products available in the marketplace. The low-carb revolution is definitely upon us, and it's here to stay. After almost eight years of having very few low-carb options to recommend to my patients, it's exciting to see many food manufacturers creating great- tasting, high-quality, low-carb products, ranging from tasty chocolate bars and ice cream to breads, cereals, and sodas. Unfortunately, not all low-carb products and their ingredients are created equal. This also holds true for non-low-carb processed foods. Despite the great news about increased product availability, it's still very important for low-carb consumers to scrutinize the labels of low-carb products for their ingredients, potential side effects, and overall health benefits. Even though I'm an advocate of quality low-carb products, I rec- ommend choosing natural whole foods in the form of quality low-fat pro- teins and carbohydrates in the form of fiber-rich fruits and vegetables whenever possible. Remember, low-carb products in the form of meal replacements and "zero net carb" snacks shouldn't be used to replace real foods. They should be used in moderation for when you're in a time crunch or need to curb that occasional sweet tooth. You may want to consider the following points when choosing low-carb products: • What sugar substitutes are used to sweeten the low-carb product? An in-depth description of sweeteners can be found in the "Sweeteners" sec- tion , but let's take a look at the potential side effects of a few. Many low-carb candies and products are sweetened with sugar alcohols. Sugar alcohols are considered nutritive or caloric sweeteners. Even though they have zero net effective carbs, they still contain calories. Due to the slow absorption of many sugar alcohols, such as maltitol, they may cause abdominal cramping, gas, and diarrhea when consumed in excessive amounts. Therefore, low-carb products containing sugar alcohols should not be consumed in excessive amounts. The sugar alcohol called erythritol, due to its faster rate of absorption, is far less likely to cause undesirable side effects. It also contains fewer calories than most sugar alcohols and there- fore is my favored choice of a sugar alcohol. The only noncaloric sweetener made from real sugar is called sucralose and goes by the trade name Splenda. It contains no calories, zero effective carbs, no aftertaste, and no known side effects. Therefore Splenda is my sweetener of choice.