Before we start, we must tell you we love the products this company makes. We’ve been “pushing” them here for some time, and when we found out they had an affiliate program, we applied. We were turned down. Rather than get petty and remove this page, we’re going to keep it up, and we’ll had alternatives we’ve found or even recipes we’ve created at the bottom of this page. And besides, you can buy their bread thru our Amazon affiliate link.
The Keto diet is a fad. Yes, you can lose weight, but it’s not a healthy diet and it teaches you nothing about healthy eating. We’ve written about it, explained what it is, pros and cons, and we’ve posted recipes. However, the truth about this diet is hard to swallow. When we post a recipe that we label “keto,” what we are really giving you are “low carb alternatives.” And sometimes, what we call low carb alternatives aren’t really low carb. Take the sweetener BochaSweet. One teaspoon contains almost as many carbs as a teaspoon of sugar. The difference is: It won’t raise your blood sugar are cause the release of insulin. Stevia, on the other hand, has no carbs, won’t raise your blood sugar, but does release insulin. These are things you must keep in mind when working in your kitchen or preparing meals and snacks.
If you want to know the history of the low carb diet, try this article: William Banting and the First Low Carb Diet.
Your author was diagnosed last year with diabetes. It was a shocker, and I’ve written about it: What I Don’t Know About Diabetes Could Fill an Encyclopedia. The real shocker is my doctor thinks I might have long haul COVID, but the problem is that there has not yet been established diagnostic standards for this condition. What they have discovered, however, is that diabetes seems to be one of its manifestations.
And that is why I’ve been experimenting with low carb recipes, or, as in the case of our Einkorn Flour Baguettes, breads that don’t spike your blood sugar.
Years ago I wrote about the first low carb (net zero carb) bread from the Julian Bakery. The bread was not tasty and difficult to work with. It fell apart, the company had problems, people complained, I could go on. They no longer make this product.
I think what really changed the “low carb” industry is resistant starch. The Hero company uses as its main ingredient resistant wheat starch (also referred to as modified wheat starch). I’ve found three companies that make this product, but it will be a while before you can purchase it retail. Nobody carries it, and if you want some, you’ll have to order a pallet.
I’ve been ordering low carb pasta, breads, tortillas from Amazon, and since Facebook knows my purchase history, it’s placed ads on my timeline about supplements that lower blood glucose levels and lots (and lots) of ads for low carb foods.
That’s where I found Hero. I ordered some bread and tortillas, and let me tell you, they are the first low carb bread people to make products that don’t taste like cardboard. Here are their products.
I happen to read instructions, and so when my order arrived, I put all of it, except one pack of tortillas, in the freezer.
Now to skip ahead: I think I went through two or three packs of tortillas, and when I pulled out another one, I noticed mold. Mold doesn’t grow in a freezer, so it had to have arrived with the mold. Things go wrong all the time. I know I make mistakes, or as my mother used to say, “I try to make at least one mistake each day to maintain my human status.”
So I contacted them and they responded right away. And instead of replacing that pack, they re-sent me my complete order of tortillas. This is the kind of company I can stand behind.
The bread is quite soft, so when it’s thawed, don’t put anything on top of it. I store it all alone in the fridge. And I heat it before using it (note above they tell you to wait till it’s room temp before consuming). I don’t know why, but I read instructions. And it’s great to toast.
The bread tastes like bread. All the recipes I’ve created that are low carb don’t make it to this site. Some turn out blah. But Hero bread tastes like bread. And it’s about as soft as Wonder Bread, the bread that one has to wonder if there is any nutrition inside. But you can see above, that this bread has nutrition, and that nutrition is fiber. Many readers know my complaints about breakfast cereals in this country. Most are just sugar. I’ve often said that the only thing we get from breakfast cereal is fiber, and most have very little.
The soft, white Hero bread has 11 grams of fiber. That is amazing. And remember, when maintaining a low carb diet, you still need fiber. Fiber slows digestion so that your blood sugar doesn’t spike. And our digestive tracts need fiber. Because of my battle with diabetes, I also take fiber supplements. And if you get Hero’s tortillas, go make a nice bean burrito.
Beans contain fiber. One cup contains 23 grams of fiber. That same cup has 36 grams of carbohydrates. So your net carbs are just 13 grams.
About Tortillas
Most tortillas contain trans fats. Why? Trans fats last forever, and so your tortillas have a very long shelf life.
I don’t buy tortillas with trans fats. And I keep them refrigerated. However, when you open the pack, oftentimes the tortillas are stuck together. Pulling them apart always tears one (or both) and while driving and listening to Minnesota Public Radio, I learned that there’s a company that makes “patches” to repair a torn tortilla.
Hero tortillas are made from resistant starch. And they are resistant to tearing. If stuck together, slowly separate them by going around the edge and separating them slowly. I have not torn one Hero tortilla. They’re tough. Their resistance is not just in your digestive tract (much of it makes its way to your colon where it feeds your good bacteria), but is resistant to tearing.
I just hate it when rolling up a fajita or burrito and the tortilla breaks open.
Hero tortillas don’t break open.
Update Nov 2024
After getting four batches of tortillas that were just plain bad (one batch was immediately replaced by the company), we’ve decided to stop ordering their tortillas. Two packages came with one side of the tortilla being hard and dry while the other wet and soggy, and one batch just hard and stuck together.
We’ve switched to Mission, Carb Balance. They even have a large “burrito size” tortilla and we’ve never been disappointed. We get them from Amazon and here is our affiliate link: Mission Carb Balance. You’ll find a variety of their tortillas at that link. Read each carefully . . . different sizes, different flours, and packaged discounts. This company has never disappointed us.
More Low Carb Products
Shopping on Amazon, we discovered Mission Carb Balance Tortillas. By chance I looked locally for this product and found them at a supermarket just a few miles away. Locally, they cost $6.00, which means compared to Hero (at Amazon) a pack of four is more than $10.00 cheaper. They’re also cheaper if you order from Amazon. And having Prime really helps because shipping is free.
The Mission Carb Balance Tortilla contain 4 net carbs. They also make one with Zero net carbs, but the tortillas are 4.5 inches in diameter. That size, we found out, is called “Street Taco.” Mr Tortilla makes a very low carb tortilla, but you have to search to find out that they’re 5.5 inches in diameter. I ordered some and now I make tostadas with them.
There aren’t too many low carb breads, but the number is growing. The downside is cost. Costs of these types of foods are rising. I did find one called Natures Own, Keto Soft White Bread with the lowest cost (68 cents per ounce) and free shipping on Amazon even if you don’t have Prime.
As far as snacks and chips go, let me tell you that it is really difficult to find something that doesn’t taste like cardboard. It’s probably best to just make Quesadillas using any of the tortilla’s above. Snacks are expensive, they come in tiny bags (less than 5 ounces), and taste awful. If anyone out there knows of a low carb snack that is edible, please inform us.
Low Carb Recipes We’ve Tried (and succeeded!)
Pasta: We have tried so many low carb pastas an have been disappointed. You’ll never be able to make most of them al dante, They’re just hard; hard and chewy. So we invented our own using Pasta recipe. Then, sometime later, we discovered Lupin Pasta, and it’s wonderful. Low carb and easy to make. Here is our affiliate link: Lupin Pasta.
Baguettes: These things were a problem. No one makes low carb baguettes, yet. And to make things low carb you have to use special wheats that are high in fiber and every result we got could be used as a weapon, or a baseball bat. That is until we found Low Carb Baguettes.
Pizza Crust: just forget all the difficult things you’ve done to make a cauliflower crust because again Pizza
Other Low Carb Breads
Or you can go check them all out at Amazon with this link: Low Carb Breads.
