Editor’s Note: when checking for availability in June, 2015, I was not able to find an online source of the Sinful bars; leading me to suspect that they have been discontinued.
When Paul asked me to review a diet/fitness related product that caught my eye at the grocery store, I thought it would be a fun project. In his words, “crackers or cookies or suppositories or whatever… easily accessible popular stuff marketed with some sort of a weight loss “slant.”
Although I’ve not yet found the suppositories, lol, I started to pay more attention to the health/supplement vitamin aisle of my grocery store (I typically don’t, because I buy my supplements online).
And let me tell you, there’s a heck of a lot of stuff packed in those aisles with the promise of a whole host of things; from ripped abs, to fat burning pills, to natural libido, testosterone, and energy boosters. I recently got done reviewing the Slim Fast shake, so I decided to stay along the theme of a product that could “satisfy hunger for hours.”
Enter the Slimful “sinfully delicious” bar, a 90 calorie “chew” that promises to do just that, and helps you find it “easier to resist big dinners, desserts, between meal snacks, second helpings, treats, and over serving.”
Slimful contains konjac flour or glucommanan, which, as Paul covers here is a source of fiber that may help with weight loss by stabilizing blood sugar and satiety. If like me, you have ever played with konjac flour, you know that when you mix it with water it expands into a big gooey gelatinous ball, which is perfect for grossing out your house guests.
Not surprisingly, you follow up a Slimful bar with a big glass of water.
According to the Slimful website, “the special dietary fiber in Slimful™ absorbs the water and expands, comfortably filling your stomach and satisfying your hunger for hours making it a perfect addition to your weight loss program.”
Mind you the “special dietary fiber” is nothing but low-tech glucomannan, which you can get at the fraction of the price of Slimful. If you do go that route, you can probably just open up the capsules and sprinkle the stuff on your meals.
A box of 5 Slimful bars sold at a little over $5 at my local store, but you can get bigger boxes (with 12 bars) online from about $20. Not terribly expensive, but certainly more costly than the actual glucomannan capsules.
Having said all that, the bars actually tasted good. They come in several flavors, and the one I tried, Orange Tangerine, tasted a little bit like a Starburst. If you’re the type of person who likes to round out your lunch or dinner with a little bit of sweetness, this might be a good choice for you.
And it actually did work to control my appetite (and that’s saying a lot given my appetite).
I ate as I normally would (i.e., I did not use it to replace a meal), but had a bar before meeting with some friends for socializing (where I knew there’d be some fried appetizers not worth the calories), and before several toddler birthday parties where pizza and cake (mmmmmm…cake) are typically served.
And on both occasions I had no desire to try the nachos, or fried egg rolls, or cupcakes. I’m pretty sure it had something to do with the Slimful bar. I might have otherwise mindlessly eaten up the chips and salsa or whatever, but it didn’t even occur to me. I was of course, hungry enough when lunch or dinner rolled around, and it didn’t lessen my intake at meal time.
So here’s where my warning begins: I would never personally take this product to REPLACE a meal. The Slimful bar contains a measly 90 calories, and is essentially nutritionally devoid. And unlike the benefits of glucomannan covered in Paul’s article (i.e., it helps with weight loss by boosting your fiber intake), the Slimful bar only contains 2 grams of fiber.
That’s not very much.
You could have an apple, which contains about 3 grams of fiber and about the same number of calories, if fiber intake was your goal.
The Slimful bar also contains corn syrup and sugar (the 2 first ingredients on the label), so if you’re opposed to eating sugars and “artificial foods” and only eat clean, you’re better off sticking with glucommanan powder. However, it’s worth a try for the convenience of having the bar, which you could toss in your bag, and the taste (it tasted good; straight up glucomannan isn’t exactly delightful).
Sumi Singh is a personal trainer and group fitness instructor in Austin, TX, an online diet coach, and the author of Stay at Home Strong.
Her training website is www.shailafitness.com and she can be contacted for personalized diet coaching directly from here.
You can purchase her book on post-pregnancy and female fat loss at…
