Sugar Alcohols

[punkin50]

I have a question about sugar alcohols. Somewhere I've read about the various sugar alcohols but I did't find anything about counting them as carbohydrates. I wanted to have some of the Atkins pancakes with Log Cabin sugar free syrup which says it has 12 total carbs with all coming from sugar alcohol. Would you count all of these as regular carbs? If so, guess I can't have them. :wave

[jade]

Re: Sugar Alcohols

Hello "punkin50"
Sugar alcohols don't count because they don't raise your blood sugar level. So when looking at a product that contains sugar alcohols, you simply subtract them from the total amount of carbs in the product.

Enjoy!
Be well-
jade

I have a question about sugar alcohols. Somewhere I've read about the various sugar alcohols but I did't find anything about counting them as carbohydrates. I wanted to have some of the Atkins pancakes with Log Cabin sugar free syrup which says it has 12 total carbs with all coming from sugar alcohol. Would you count all of these as regular carbs? If so, guess I can't have them. :wave[/quote]

[Effie]

Some people do it differently and only count net carbs as total carbs minus fiber. Even though sugar alcohols might not raise blood sugar level in some people, it definitely affects other people. It is known to cause stalls and trigger cravings. To be on the safe side, I would avoid sugar alcohols. If you do choose to eat them, do it sparingly and keep it in check so you know it's not going to be your downfall.

I had an episode with sugar free syrup in 2003 - my first time on Atkins. I made "pork rind" pancakes and then doused them with sugar free syrup. It wasn't the satisfaction I was looking for, so I then proceeded to make 10-12 regular flour & sugar pancakes smothered with REAL syrup. Needless to say, it was a total disaster.

This time on Atkins, I am staying away from all frankenfoods and food "replacements' like the pork rind pancakes. I'd much rather eat eggs & bacon that actually taste like eggs & bacon!

[not2late]

Here are the FAQs about sugar alcohols.

http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.com/viewtopic.php?t=68131

http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.com/viewtopic.php?t=68071

[jade]

Hey Megs,
Something that is kind of confusing with regards to sugar alcohols is that the Atkins company does not count sugar alcohols in their products. I bought some shakes/bars for my bike tour and it says right on the package how the Atkins person should determine the amount of carbs they are consuming.
Yet, whether they raise your blood sugar or not they will still count in calories if not in carbs.

Interesting...thanks for sharing the sites. I appreciated them the first time I had to tackle sugar alcohols. For me since your body consumes them they count. But Atkins says you don't have to count them. I guess the decision is up to the individual.

Be well-
jade :wave

[sassafras]

Re: Sugar Alcohols

Hi,

I'm new to this board, but have found the suggestions and recipes to be very helpful. I'm on my 17th day of induction and was also confused on whether to eat foods containing sugar alcohols, especially the Atkins bars and the Russel Stover sugar free candy.

I hope that you'll find the information on Janet Ruhl's website Marketing Tricks: Net Carbs, Sugar Alcohols, Tricky Portion Sizes as useful as I did in deciding to not include foods that contain sugar alcohol, unless I was willing to count the carbs (minus fiber). Her discussion of sugar alcohol used research findings, rather than speculations from the low carb food companies.

The site says: "Despite wrapper claims, these sugar alcohols are metabolized. Each gram of a sugar alcohol turns into anywhere from less than 1 to as much as 3 calories. Erythritol comes in lowest, delivering less than one calorie per gram. Maltitol--the sugar alcohol found in most "low carb" foods is the highest, delivering 3 calories per gram. That is only a bit less than 4 calories you find in regular sugar and starch."

I also found the discussion on the possibility of being mislead, if you are counting "net carbs", very interesting. Foods that are imported from England or other countries, that aren't regulated by the US FDA, will have already deducted the grams of fiber from the total grams of carbs. So in the US, if you are used to deducting the grams of fibers from the total carbs to determine the net carbs, you can mistakenly think that you are eating less carbs by deducting the fiber twice.

I really liked the link Low Carb Diet Tools - Hidden-Carbs Calculator that was suggested on the to determine the amount of "hidden carbs" that are in the foods. For instance, I typed in the calories, fat, protein, carbs and fiber listed on the Russell Stover sugarfree Toffee Squares label to see what the actual carb count is. The candy label says for one portion (which is 3 squares), there the Total Carbs is 24 grams, with 23 grams of sugar alcohol (malitol) and 1 gram of fibler. The net carb then should be zero, or very low (if you extrapolate from Atkins' bars that say there's only 3 net carbs). Anyway, for the toffee squares, the numbers I used on the hidden carb calculator are 200 calories, 16 g of fat, 2 g of protein, and 24 g of carbs. I also selected the "Sweets" category. The results indicated that the actual carb count is 14.4 grams! I haven't tried it on the Atkins or other low carb bars and shakes but I can understand how the weight loss can possibly slow down for many people. I had already eaten most of the bag of these toffee squares during my moments of "I'm so sick of these veggies and eggs" before discovering this hidden carbs calculator.

I'd like to hear other peoples' thoughts. Also, I've only lost 2 lbs :-( in the 17 days but my clothes are loose. I can honestly say I've followed the plan strickly and eat my allowed veggies and meat. Other than having eaten 5 of the Stover's toffee bars over the past 17 days, and 1 atkins bar, I haven't eaten or drank anything that was not on the list. Could someone please explain why you can lose inches, but no weight, esp. if you aren't exercising and putting on muscle weight? In other words, why doesn't losing inches equate with some form of weight? It's really discouraging.

Hidden Carb calculator: http://www.lowcarb.ca/low-carb-tools/hidden_carbs.html

Thanks!
Sassafras
ps- I am not affiliated with either one of these sites.

[Georgiana]

Re: Sugar Alcohols

I believe everything that was to be said about sugar alcohols has already been said. Some count them, some don't; some metabolize them, some don't.

I had already eaten most of the bag of these toffee squares during my moments of "I'm so sick of these veggies and eggs" before discovering this hidden carbs calculator.

I know you are exaggerating with "veggies and eggs", but if you are varying the recipes, even the list of foods acceptable for Induction is quite long, imo.

Also, I've only lost 2 lbs :-( in the 17 days but my clothes are loose. I can honestly say I've followed the plan strickly and eat my allowed veggies and meat. Other than having eaten 5 of the Stover's toffee bars over the past 17 days, and 1 atkins bar, I haven't eaten or drank anything that was not on the list. Could someone please explain why you can lose inches, but no weight, esp. if you aren't exercising and putting on muscle weight? In other words, why doesn't losing inches equate with some form of weight? It's really discouraging.

After the 2-week induction, one can expect to lose between 5 and 10% of the weight. Since you only have 18 lbs to lose, 2 lbs lost put you above the average.

You did lost weight. You lost 2 lbs. How much that translates in inches depends on each person's height, body shape, etc.

In general, the reason why one can lose inches without losing weight or gaining muscle is because fat cells don't just shrink like teared balloons. Viewing things in a simplified way, one can say that cells have the tendency to keep their potential constant. This means that, as they are eliminating part of the fat, they take in a smaller volume of water and other fluids (because the mass must stay constant and water weights more than fat). So while the volume of the fat cells decreases, their weight remains the same, hence a reduction in inches without a weight loss. However, the fat cells can't hold on to too much fluid, so when a certain threshold is reached they release a chemical that helps eliminating it (the fluid). This is what people around here sometimes call a "whoosh".

So there is no Whooshie Fairy, kids. Sorry!

[not2late]

Re: Sugar Alcohols

So there is no Whooshie Fairy, kids. Sorry!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!





Also, the scale doesn't distinguish between water weight and fat weight and muscle weight. Let's say you weigh 100 pounds. If you lose a pound of fat, but retain a pound of water, the scale will still say 100 pounds. Likewise, if you lose a pound of fat, but gain a pound of muscle, the scale will say 100 pounds. More scary, let's say you lose a pound of muscle, the scale will say you weigh 90 pounds.

So the scale is okay, but not always accurate.