A Bit More on Sugar Alcohol

Sunday, June 1, 2008

The more I read on Sugar Alcohol, the more I need to look up, here is my basic summaries on what I have discovered so far.





Sugar Alcohol 101

Sugar Alcohols are natural occurring chemicals found in foods, most commonly starches and sugars. Their chemical make up closely resembles that of both sugar and alcohol, but the substance does not contain either one. It is technically a group of carbohydrates called Polyols.

The production of these "Polyols" depend on what form of Sugar Alcohol you want. Some are extracted and some are refined from different assortment of plants and berries. Their common uses include that of bulking agent, flavoring and sweeteners.

Sugar Alcohols, once ingested are incompletely absorbed from the small intestine into the blood. This is why they are considered low carbohydrate and advertised to have weight loss and blood sugar benefits. This slow and incomplete digestion may also lead to diarrhea, bloating, cramps, and gas. This is often effected by the amount eaten and the severity greatly varies from person to person, and by types of Polyos used.

Sugar Alcohols have been determined to not decay teeth, they are considered unfermentable carbohydrates. Simply put, they do not produce the sugar acids that eat away your teeth.

For the most part, Sugar Alcohols seem to be "safe for consumption" due to the fact they are natural substances we eat in common fresh produce and grains. The dangerous part comes when people start to ingest abnormal amounts of them. The more low carbohydrate and sugar free products we eat, the more we add chemicals to our bodies in unnatural amounts.

I still have a whole lot more on this subject, and it would seem that Sugar Alcohols need to be broken down and identified by their subgroups and individually to determine the effects, benefits, and hazards of use. As it seems not all Sugar Alcohols are equal and some are much more hazardous then others.

I hope to have the dieting and blood sugar article done this week, but I will be out of the house and heavily medicated a few days. That may postpone the heavy writing until the week after.

References Link