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Tic Tacs are a confusing food for keto diet beginners. Let’s dig into the details and find out if Tic Tacs are keto friendly or not.
To fully understand the nature of Tic Tacs, we’re going to answer a number of questions.
How Many Calories Do Tic Tacs Have?
Answering this question isn’t as straightforward as you’d think. Let’s start by looking at the nutritional label on a standard pack of Tic Tacs.
Notice two things:
#1 – Calories are listed as “0”
#2 – The first ingredient is “Sugar” and the second is “Maltodextrin” which is another kind of sweetener.
So how can something be zero calorie but contain sugar? It can’t!
The FDA allows foods to be listed as zero-calorie if it contains no more than 5 calories per Recommended Amount Customarily Consumed (RACC). Tic Tacs are so small that they easily fit this guideline.
While the nutritional label on Tic Tacs lists zero calories, Tic Tacs do have 1.96 Calories Per Piece according to the USDA Database.
What Are Tic Tacs Made From?
Refer back to the nutrition label above and you’ll see a list of ingredients in Tic Tacs.
Keep in mind that those ingredients are listed from highest amount to least amount.
Ingredients Of Tic Tac Candies
- Sugar
- Maltodextrin
- Rice Starch
- Gum Arabic
- Natural And Artificial Flavors
- Magnesium Sterate
- Carnauba Wax
Tic Tacs are primarily made of sugar, and well over 90% of the calories (1.96 Calories) in a Tic Tac comes from sugar.
How Many Carbs Are In Tic Tacs?
Once again, this is going to be harder to figure out than you’d think.
Tic Tacs are so small that they don’t have to list the carbs just like they don’t have to list the calories, so this is going to take some math.
Let’s start with a known: according to the USDA Database, 1 TBSP of Sugar has 15 calories and 4 carbs.
That means that 1 calorie of sugar has 0.267 Carbs.
Now we know that at Tic Tac has 1.96 calories, so we can do the math.
One Tic Tac has 0.52 grams of carbohydrates.
Are Tic Tacs Keto Friendly?
We’re going to consider all of the answers above to decide if Tic Tacs are keto friendly.
First, Tic Tacs are very low calorie and very low carb if you eat the suggested serving of just one piece.
However, if you take a handful (say 6 pieces) you’re quickly up to 3 carbs.
And if you get in the habit of eating them all day, then your carb intake is going to creep up.
If you ate a small pack of Tic Tacs (60 pieces) in a day, then you’ve consumed 117 calories and 31 carbs!
Next let’s remember that they are made primarily of sugar and maltodextrin.
For some keto beginners, eating even a small amount of sugar will trigger sugar cravings that make sticking low carb much harder.
So, are Tic Tacs Keto Friendly?
Tic Tacs are keto friendly if consumed in moderation. A single serving (1 Piece) is just 0.52 carbs. However, they are easy to over consume and might cause sugar cravings. Keto beginners should avoid Tic Tacs until their sugar cravings are gone.
So there you go. We finally got to the answer.
~Angela
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