Low-Carb LC-NY Style Cinnamon Raisin Bagels by LC Foods (3 Pack) Review

Low-Carb LC-NY Style Cinnamon Raisin Bagels by LC Foods

We are reviewing all of LC-Foods classic bagels – Plain, Cinnamon Raisin and Everything and will add links as we publish them.

A Healthier Bagel for A Low-Carb Dieter

The main ingredient of a “regular” high carb bagel is Enriched Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamin Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid) and sugar. These are the ingredients we give up on a low carb diet. The way LC Foods makes their bagels safe for low carb dieters and diabetics is by using resistant wheat starch instead of enriched wheat flour as a main ingredient.

The Science of Resistant Starches

There are three types of starches–rapidly digested starch (which breaks down quickly into simple sugars), slowly digested starch (like whole barley) and resistant starch (which reaches the large intestine without being broken down into sugars at all). Most of LC Foods’ products use resistant starches as part of their main ingredients.

From Wikipedia:

When isolated resistant starch is used to substitute for flour in foods, the glycemic response of that food is reduced. There is preliminary evidence that resistant starch, used as a substitute for refined carbohydrate, may increase insulin sensitivity and may reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes.

Ok that’s a lot of science, but what that really means is that resistant starches pass through the digestive system mostly untouched and not absorbed or processed until they reach the large intestine where it is consumed or fermented by colonic bacteria.

For most people, resistant starches will not cause gas or a laxative effect but each person’s body is different and some people will not be affected but some will. When you use a product the includes resistant starch, you will need to understand how much your body can tolerate.

What is a Barberry and Why Is It In My Bagel?

The 2 most common forms of the barberry are the Berberis vulgaris (European barberry) and Berberis canadensis (American barberry). They come from a garden shrub with features like ornamental leaves, yellow flowers, and red or blue-black berries. These berries are more sour than sweet so when used in recipes, they are usually mixed with a sweetener. These berries are some of the lowest carb berries available.

When the barberry is mixed with a sweetener like organic stevia or natural lo han guo monk fruit they look and taste similar to a standard raisin which makes them perfect for a low-carb bagel. LC Foods figured this out and substitutes the barberry in their LC-NY Style Cinnamon Raisin Bagels.

The LC-NY Style Cinnamon Raisin Bagel Taste Test

I’ve eaten a lot of bagels in my life especially cinnamon raisin bagels. 2 or 3 on a Sunday morning was nothing new for me in the 1980s. I grew up thinking bagels were a healthy part of my diet but I now believe all those high carb bagels really contributed to my excessive weight gain in my 20s and 30s.

I’ve never been impressed with the variety of Low Carb bagels sold since 2000. Some of them were even marketed as Zero Carb bagels and crammed with oat fiber and other ingredients making up the net carbs–they added up to zero net carbs but they never sounded legit. I’ve even seen some of these low-carb bagels having filtered water as the first ingredient! How do you get a solid bagel if the first ingredient is water! So when LC Foods sent me a package of 3 LC-NY Style Cinnamon Raisin Bagels I was a little skeptical.

I was expecting a mushy and chewy bagel but these were fresh and looked like real bagels. The first few ingredients are wheat protein isolates (which helps maintain the gluten-like characteristics of flours that lack gluten), resistant wheat starch, flaxseed meal, olive oil, and vital wheat gluten. These lower carb ingredients give the bagels their look, smell, taste, and feel. The sweeteners used are a combination of organic stevia rebaudiana and natural lo han guo monk fruit which helps them taste like real bagels. The added cinnamon and barberries make them look, taste and smell like a regular cinnamon raisin bagel.

I toasted the bagel and smeared it with full-fat cream cheese. It is exactly what I was expecting. They were not too dense like the bagels you find at shops like Brueggers or Einstein Bros. Bagels.

LC-NY Style Cinnamon Raisin Bagels Nutrition Facts

Total carb count per bagel is 7.3 grams minus the 5.5 grams of fiber for a delicious bagel with 1.8 grams of net carbs. Combined with 8.4 grams of protein and only 87 calories, these bagels make a great occasional low-carb breakfast treat. Total fat equals only 2.7 grams so if you are trying to add extra fat into your low carb lifestyle, top them with cream cheese, almond butter, full-fat butter or even an egg or two.

• Serving Size 1 bagel (115g)
• Servings per Container 3
• Calories 87
• Calories from Fat 24
• Total Fat 2.7g
• Saturated Fat 0.3g
• Trans Fat 0g
• Cholesterol 0mg
• Sodium 251mg
• Total Carbohydrate 7.3g*
• Dietary Fiber 5.5g*
• Sugars 0g
• Sugar Alcohols 0g
• Protein 8.4g

Ingredients: Wheat protein isolates, resistant wheat starch, flaxseed meal, olive oil, vital wheat gluten, instant dry yeast, barberries (substituted for raisins), inulin (chicory root) fiber, salt, calcium propionate (as a preservative), vinegar, cinnamon spice, natural cinnamon flavoring, organic stevia, natural lo han guo monk fruit.

Net Carbs as listed by the manufacturer on the package = 1.8g per serving.

Allergen Warning: Processed in a facility that uses wheat gluten & nuts.

Keep these bagels in your refrigerator and they will stay fresh for weeks. Toast them like normal and enjoy your low-carb breakfast!

This post is sponsored by LC Foods; the opinions expressed are honest and my own. There are links in this post that may lead to revenue for CarbSmart if you click through and purchase the product on external web sites.