posted May 10, 2000 05:04 PM            

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What's up with low carb products and foods that have sugar alcohol in them. I am in ketosis know and was wondering if they will have an effect on my blood sugar levels. Anyone know?
Thanks

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posted May 11, 2000 02:51 AM         

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Sweeteners are potent sugar substitutes that are used in such small amounts that they do not really add calories to a food product. They are bulking agents that act as fillers and provide the functional properties of sugar. Here is a list of some common sweeteners and their sweetness equivalence compared to sucrose.

1.) Aspartame (nutrasweet/Equal) has 4 calories per gram. It is unstable at high temperatures and in neutral and alkaline solutions. The basic composition of it is Aspartic acid and Phenylalanine.
****It is 180 times sweeter than sucrose.

2.) Acesulfame-K (Sunnette/Sweet One) has no calories. Its composition is patassium(K) and cyclic sulfanomide. Its stable.
****It is 200 times sweeter than sucrose.

3.) Saccharin (-) Has no calories. Its composition is Benzoic sulfamide. Its stable. ****Its 300 times sweeter than sucrose.

4.) Sucralose (Splenda) Has no calories/
nutritive value. Its stable. Its basic composition is chlorinated sucrose.
****It is 400-800 times sweeter than sucrose.

5.) Alitame (-) Is 2000 times sweeter than sucrose. has 1.4 calories/gram.

6.) Cyclamate (-) Is 30 times sweeter than sucrose. Has no calories/nutritive value.

7.) Sweetener 2000 is 10,000 times (yep thats right) sweeter than sucrose.

8.) Actually, there is an L-sugar form of sucrose that is to my knowledge not available yet (some others I mentioned too), and it has no calories because it cannot be metabolized by the body.

9.) Stevia-?--If anyone has the sweetness rating please let me know.

****As far as these alcohols booting you out and or preventing you into ketosis, it really depends from individual to individual. I have used Aspartame, Stevia, etc. and I have had no problems establishing/staying in ketosis. All I can say is to check your ketostix every couple of hours and see if any changes occur. Some people have reported that these sweeteners have booted/prevented them from ketosis so obviously the sweetness is a factor on our insulin levels, even though the nutritive value is zero/very low. Everyones insulin levels react different with food, so all I can say is experiment with it, but don't go overboard. Hope this helps everyone, if not, then sorry for the long post.

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posted May 11, 2000 04:12 AM         

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Woops!!! Sorry, I thought ya were talking about the sweeteners. The sugar alcohols are basically used for the same reason as the sweeteners. They are also put in foods to give better mouth texture. Sugar alcohols (Known as polyols) include sorbitol, mannitol, maltitol, xylitol, and hydrogenated starch hydrolysates (HSH). The caloric contribution of these alcohols is unclear. As a carbohydrate they would yield 4 cal./gram, but the European Community Nutritional Labeling Directive has given them a value of 2.4 cal./gram. So who knows (I don't, but maybe I'll do some research on this). I do know the sweetness rating of these sugar alcohols:

****Sucrose has a relative sweetness rating of 100.

Xylitol---same as sucrose = 100

Maltitol---85% as sweet as sucrose = 85

HSH----70% as sweet as sucrose = 70

Sorbitol---60% as sweet as sucrose = 60

Mannitol---50% (1/2) as sweet as sucrose = 50

Isomalt---40% as sweet as sucrose = 40

Lactitol---35% as sweet as sucrose = 35

****Okay, let me reanswer your question again. As far as these alcohols effecting ketosis, yes they will. But remember this, some people can get away with between 30-50 grams of carbs/day and it will not effect ketosis. Looking at these values of sweetness, we can assume that they are not as bad as sucrose (Except for maybe Xylitol) and we should be able to figure them into our diet like other carbs. The problem here though is that the nutritive values are unclear so you may be getting more than you think. Also, I am unclear as to how fast these alcohols are digested during the gastric emptying phase. I do know this though, I have heard and read from people that have been booted out of ketosis by the ingestion of sorbitol (Even D. Duchaine has mentioned this). I would have to predict that the sweeter alcohols will be worse, and the ones less sweet may not be as bad. As to how much? I don't know. I guess you would have to check your ketostix. Hope this has helped.

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