Sugar Alcohols and Net-Effective Carbs

[MFAMFA]

Hello,
When food products use sugar alcohols, can you deduct the total sugar alcohol from total carbs - Has anyone experimented with these type of sweetners? I don't want to savatage my progress.
thanks,
Maria
:)

[Gaelen]

Maria, depending on your system's response to them, sugar alcohols can sabotage your progress.

In my case, I have to count the full amount, since for me they are exactly the same as eating carbs. Others count half, or a third. Mileage varies, and you won't know until you've eaten some and already slowed or halted your progress.

At minimum I'd start by counting at least half of the sugar alcohol carbs consumed just as if they were regular carbs. Better safe than sorry.

[deirdra]

I count half, but rarely eat them as they cause me cravings for more sweets.

[Belfrybat]

Dr. Mary Dan Eades had a blog about sugar alcohols. My connection is slow this morning, but go to her blog and search. As I remember she recommends counting between 1/3 and 1/2 depending on the type.

[maxlharris]

Some count none.
I think this is a bad idea.
Some count a third.
I think this is a better idea. It is somewhere between what the marketers (who say don't count) and the scientists (who have a table with the count for each individual SA) suggest.

Some count half.
This is a very conservative number.
I like it a lot.

Some count 100%.
This is probably the wisest of all options.

If you really want this to stick, long term, it means not just subbing this sweet tasting product for that actually sugary product. It means rewiring your taste buds (which takes time) to get their sweet thrill on smaller doses of sweet stuff. I could figure out how to count SA on average, but I'm not entirely sure that this isn't a slippery slope.

BTW: I count half. I have some cognitive dissonance (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_dissonance). Or I am a cognitive dissident. Either way.

[razgarcia]

I agree that polyols affect glucose levels and insulin secretion, but less so than sugar and starches. But there is an exception to this--erythritol.

Erythritol has practically no calories, no metabolic effect, and is eliminated virually 100% in the urine. And because it is entirely absorbed in the lower intestine, it does not have the laxitive-like effect of diarreah or flatulence associated with other polyols, which are mostly, but only partially, absorbed in the colon.

It is about 70% as sweet as sugar (but with a slight metallic after taste, which I've adapted to) and is considered safe, even in large amounts (see http://www.iupac.org/publications/pa.../7407x1281.pdf (http://www.iupac.org/publications/pac/2002/pdf/7407x1281.pdf) or simply Google "safety of erythritol" for more information).

[mcsblues]

Erythritol has practically no calories, no metabolic effect, and is eliminated virually 100% in the urine. And because it is entirely absorbed in the lower intestine, it does not have the laxitive-like effect of diarreah or flatulence associated with other polyols, which are mostly, but only partially, absorbed in the colon.

I rarely consume any artificial sweeteners at all these days, but I agree erythritol is one of the better ones ... but I think you are getting your intestines mixed up (which might be painful!:eek: ;)). Erythritol's advantage is that is is almost entirely absorbed in the upper/small intestine. Other sugar alcohols and fibre tends to be fermented and partially absorbed in the lower intestine (the cecum and the colon make up the lower/large intestine) - and it is this process that can cause the gastro intestinal 'distress' associated with sugar alcohols generally.

There are a few people (as I recall Gaelen is one), for whom erythritol still causes issues, so it might pay to use caution while you test your own response.

[razgarcia]

Just a typo. I actually meant to say "small" intestine (which is the way I learned it in school). Anyway, from what I read erythritol is absorbed practically 100% there, then into the blood, then straight to the kidneys, and out to the sewer.

I have read that some folks have issues with it, but it appears to be a small portion of the population.