Jolly Ranchers are a memory of childhood for me, but are sugar free Jolly Ranchers keto friendly? Read on to find out whether these gorgeous delights are suitable for a keto diet, and if not, what can you eat as an alternative keto friendly sweet treat.
A Brief Refresh on the Principles of Keto
If you have been eating keto for any time you will know the whole focus of a keto diet is to keep your macros to 70% Fat, 25% Protein, and 5% Carbohydrates (Carbs).
This 5% of carbs should not exceed 20 grams for a traditional keto diet. Depending on whether you are doing lazy, dirty, or strict (aka clean) keto, will depend on how and whether you track these macros.
In order to keep your carb content under 20 grams, you need to be conscious of what you are eating and stick to low carbs foods. Whether you are eating lazy, dirty, or strict keto will depend on whether you are concerned with the quality of the foods that you are eating.
These low-carb foods also need to be low on the glycemic index (GI). If they are not low on the GI they may spike your blood sugar and knock you out of ketosis.
If keto is new to you, why not check out our Keto Starters Guide which should take you through everything you need to know.
Also, if you’re new to the keto community, why not check out our keto terms and keto abbreviations guides, they will make your life easier.
Now, let’s get into the detail and answer the question, Are Sugar Free Jolly Ranchers Keto?
What is the Nutritional Value of Sugar Free Jolly Ranchers?
The nutrition value of 100 grams of sugar free Jolly Ranchers are:
- Carbs: 100 grams.
- Protein: 0 gram.
- Fat: 0 grams.
- Fibre: 0 grams.
- Sugar Alcohols: 94 grams.
- Calories: 219 cal
Don’t forget that with keto we deduct the amount of fiber from the total carb count, however, due to the type of sugar alcohols in the sweets, we also deduct these.
This means that for 100 grams of sugar free Jolly Ranchers there are 6 grams of net carbs, (100 grams of Carbs – 94 grams of Sugar Alcohol = 6 grams of Net Carbs)
The average serving would be 4 sweets, totaling around 16 grams, which would make these sugar free jolly ranchers less than 1 gram of net carbs per serving. This would make sugar free jolly ranchers keto friendly.
What are the Ingredients used in Sugar Free Jolly Ranchers?
According to the official website sugar free Jolly Ranchers contain the following ingredients;
- Isomalt ✔️
- Polyglycitol Syrup ❌
- Malic Acid
- Natural Flavour
- Artificial Flavor
- Acesulfame Potassium ✔️
- Artificial Color
- Mineral Oil
- Lecithin
Isomalt and Acesulfame Potassium are keto friendly as they have a score of 2 and ‘0’ (out of 100) on the glycemic index, respectively. This means that they will not spike your blood sugar levels, which could lead to you being knocked out of ketosis.
Polyglycitol Syrup is an artificial sweetener and is definitely not keto friendly; this is a blend of other non-keto friendly sweeteners. Polyglycitol Syrup scores 39 on the glycemic index. Regular table sugar (granulated sugar) has a GI of 60. So although not as sweet as regular sugar, this will definitely raise your insulin levels.
It is a mix of maltitol and sorbitol, both of these are non-keto sweeteners. Maltitol scores 35 and sorbitol scores 9, making them both too high for a keto diet.
These ingredients make sugar free Jolly Ranchers as bad as regular candy.
Find out more about maltitol and why it is not keto-friendly
So, Are Sugar Free Jolly Ranchers Keto?
From all we have read before, and to answer the question, no, sugar free jolly ranchers are not keto. Trust me, this disappoints me as much as it does you!
Although they have less than 1 gram of carbs per serving, they contain non-keto-friendly sugars which may raise your blood glucose levels, resulting in knocking you out of ketosis and starting your sugar cravings all over again.
Aside from the sugars, these also contain color additives which should be avoided on a keto diet.
Sweeteners Allowed on Keto
There are a whole host of sweeteners allowed on the keto diet. Here is a list of keto-friendly sweeteners for you.
| Sweeteners Allowed on Keto | |
| Sweetener | Keto Friendly |
| Xylitol | ✔️ |
| Glycerol | ✔️ |
| Sorbitol | ✔️ |
| Lactitol | ✔️ |
| Isomalt | ✔️ |
| Mannitol | ✔️ |
| Erythritol | ✔️ |
| Yacon Syrup | ✔️ |
| Oligofructose | ✔️ |
| Inulin | ✔️ |
| Brazzein | ✔️ |
| Curculin | ✔️ |
| Glycyrrhizin | ✔️ |
| Luo Han Guo | ✔️ |
| Miraculin | ✔️ |
| Monellin | ✔️ |
| Pentadin | ✔️ |
| Stevia | ✔️ |
| Thaumatin | ✔️ |
| Acesulfame K | ✔️ |
| Alitame | ✔️ |
| Aspartame | ✔️ |
| Cyclamate | ✔️ |
| Neotame | ✔️ |
| Saccharin | ✔️ |
| Sucralose | ✔️ |
Sweeteners to Avoid on Keto
There are a number of sweeteners to avoid on keto.
Here we have created a lite of the most common sweeteners to avoid on keto.
| Sweeteners to Avoid on Keto | |
| Sweetener | Keto Friendly |
| Agave Syrup | ❌ |
| Barley Malt Syrup | ❌ |
| Blackstrap Molasses | ❌ |
| Brown Rice Syrup | ❌ |
| Cane Juice | ❌ |
| Caramel | ❌ |
| Coconut Palm Sugar | ❌ |
| Dextrose | ❌ |
| Fructose | ❌ |
| Galactose | ❌ |
| Glucose | ❌ |
| Golden Syrup | ❌ |
| HFCS-42 | ❌ |
| HFCS-55 | ❌ |
| HFCS-90 | ❌ |
| Honey | ❌ |
| HSH | ❌ |
| Inverted Sugar | ❌ |
| Lactose | ❌ |
| Maltitol | ❌ |
| Maltodextrin | ❌ |
| Maltose | ❌ |
| Maple Syrup | ❌ |
| Refiners Syrup | ❌ |
| Sorghum Syrup | ❌ |
| Sucrose | ❌ |
| Trehalose | ❌ |
We would recommend printing off our list of sweeteners allowed on the keto diet and sweeteners to avoid on keto or bookmark this page for reference in the future.
Sugar Free Keto Candies
If you are looking for a hard candy tasty treat that is keto friendly, you are going to have to look hard and really check the ingredient list of each. A lot of candies advertising themselves as being ‘sugar-free’ or ‘keto friendly’ will actually contain sugar substitutes that are not keto friendly.
The best sugar free candies that only use keto-friendly sugars are Dr Johns Health Sweets, Sugar-Free Fruit Hard Candies. It’s a mouthful to say, but they truly are the best hard candies available.
If you’re wanting that sweet kick, why not check out some of these alternatives below?
Dark Chocolate
If you’re looking for a keto-friendly treat, why not have some dark chocolate? Milk chocolate and white chocolate are likely out of the question due to the amount of sugar that they contain.
However, chocolate which is over 80% cacao is normally keto-friendly, containing around 4 grams of carbs per serving.
Lily’s chocolate is also a great option as it is made with erythritol, making it keto approved.
Keto Desserts
There are 100’s of amazing keto dessert recipes available on the internet. Just be careful as some of the recipes claiming to be keto, don’t always contain keto friendly ingredients.
Check out our Keto Desserts.
Final Thoughts: Are Sugar Free Jolly Ranchers Keto?
Unfortunately, no, sugar free Jolly Ranchers are not keto-friendly, they contain sugars that are likely to knock you out of ketosis. Never fear though, there are other keto friendly options available to you. Sweet treats do not have to be a thing of the past just because you are eating a keto diet.
