No Carb Gummy Bears

• Yield:1 serving
• Difficulty:Easy
• Time:20 minutes

My former neighbor, a ginormous German bodybuilder named Thomas, used to tell me that gummy bears were pretty much a “health food” and that he eats them on a regular basis. This was sage advice, but if you cannot afford the extra sugar because you are cutting, on a ketogenic diet, or you are diabetic, then gummy bears are not an option for you—until now. Simply Dez to the rescue! (That’s my Instagram if you’d like to follow me: @simplydez.efx). You can buy gelatin tablets for cheap, but gummy bears are cheap to make and even more fun to eat! Gelatin contains a high amount of the non-essential amino acid called glycine, and the benefits of consuming foods containing glycine are so many I’ll have to go over these in bullet point fashion:

• Like many other amino acids, the glycine in gelatin promotes protein synthesis and therefore aids in muscle growth as well as preventing muscle loss which is great for those that train hard.
• Collagen is partially composed of glycine (1/3rd), and is extremely important for keeping your joint flexibility as well as protecting them from shock and injury.
• Glycine helps promote better sleep so you can recover more efficiently from hard training. It has a calming effect on nerves by regulation of nerve impulses.
• Glycine also has been found to help regulate body temperature and decreases wakefulness while sleeping which has been well documented in both human and animal studies (1).
• Glycine Helps maintain the integrity of the gut lining because it is comprised of collagen and elastin. This is integral to digestion.
• Slows the aging process. Yay!!! That’s my favorite part! Eating my yummy gummy bears makes you young, beautiful, flexible, and muscular so eat up my friends! The best of all worlds!

When it comes to flavors, the sky is the absolute limit! Everyone’s taste buds are wired a little bit differently, but you can have your favorite flavors, no matter how obscure! You can begin in the baking aisle of your local supermarket with the baking extracts. You can usually find flavors like lemon, maple, peppermint, strawberry, banana, raspberry, vanilla, coconut, etc., but you can find so much more online! Google is a veritable candy store of amazing flavors like cotton candy, caramel, butterscotch, apple, bubblegum, cheesecake, wine, horehound (yes, that’s really a thing), and even tutti-frutti . You can find plain unflavored gelatin in the baking section of your supermarket near the other gelatin. It may be tempting to buy the sugar-free pre flavored gelatin desserts, but I can go on and on about how horrific the artificial sweetener aspartame is for you. For the life of me I can NOT believe gelatin companies are still using it. Until they stop, stay away. Stay far away. You can make it so much better yourself! Pictured are butterscotch (yellow), maple syrup (brown), peppermint (green), and cinnamon (red).

Ingredients:

• 1 packet of gelatin per flavor
• 1 packet of stevia
• 1-2 tsp. monk fruit sweetener (can be found in the baking aisle among the sweeteners; orange package)
• ½ tsp. flavoring extract of choice (some flavors are not as strong as others, such as peppermint which is very strong and only needs a few drops
• ¼ cup water
• 1 drop of food coloring (optional, I used it for the pics to make them look pretty, otherwise they will be clear or clear-ish. The maple extract is naturally dark)

Directions:

If you want the candy to be shaped like gummy bears (or something else) you will need a silicone mold and a thick dropper. If you don’t have a mold you can still make gummy blocks if you double or triple the recipe; use a small Tupperware and cut the mixture up with a sharp knife once it solidifies. Use a medium-sized bowl for each flavor you want to make, and put the packet of gelatin in it. Take the ¼ cup of water and put the flavor and sweetener in it. Stir, then taste to make sure it’s good. Pour into the bowl of gelatin powder and whisk with a fork like you are beating an egg. Microwave for 45 seconds until it froths and rises. Use the dropper to suck the mixture in and put it into the molds. Freeze for ten minutes (if you are not using a mold let it freeze for 15 or more minutes) then keep refrigerated until you want to eat them (they will survive outside of the fridge if need be). Bring these to the gym, and you will be an instant hit!

Nutrition: