Xylitol ... 2big, please post what you know about this stuff

[LilBit]

I was engaged in a discussion with a friend who is also doing a "somewhat form" of Atkins, and he asked what type of sweetner I was using. When I told him I used Splenda, he freaked, and said "get rid of that ****."

I asked him why, this is his response: "a client of mine met with the creator of splenda and some of the other chemists....and the
chemists told him the crap is unstable and in the lab turned to formaldihyde while undergoing specific tests."

I rarely use any sweetner at all, actually, so I'm not all that concerned, but if anyone is familiar with Xylitol, I'd appreciate hearing about it. It's a natural product made from birch trees, so from that aspect, I do see how it could be beneficial just from the fact that it's natural.

Let me know please, I'm hoping that 2Big in particular will speak about her knowledge of this.



http://www.caloriecontrol.org/xylitol.html <<-- xylitol

Xylitol occurs naturally in many fruits and vegetables and is even produced by the human body during normal metabolism.


Good Taste with No Unpleasant Aftertaste
Helps Reduce the Development of Dental Caries
Reduces Plaque Formation
Increases Salivary Flow to Aid in the Repair of Damaged Tooth Enamel
Provides One-Third Fewer Calories than Sugar – about 2.4 Calories per Gram
May Be Useful as an Alternative to Sugar for People with Diabetes on the Advice of their Health Care Providers

[2big4mysize]

If you ever had birtch candy that is it. they boiled down the inner bark of the tree and make a syrup that they let harden as the candy in the pioneer days around here.
it is used in toothpastes and mouth washes and has to cooling sensation in your mouth. it is about 2 times the sweetness of sorbital when cooking but that cooness is hard to hid when baking or cooking with it.

BUT just cause it occurs naturaly doesn't mean the stuff you are buying was extrated from tree birch. It is created in the lab just as Splenda was created in the lab.It is a sugar alcohol and like all sugar alcohols has the digestive difficulties so less of the compound gets broken down by your gut bacteria then is in the entire compound you ate with the intestinal gas and problems that go with SAs.


I don't do Splemda cause I'm a cephalic responder but SPlenda has had more testing then any of the artificial sweetners out there! it did not gain GRAS status as the SAs did becdause it is not a natural chemical and was tested and reviewed by the FDA for many yrs before it was approved as a sugar sub. It passes throught he human body virtually unreacted because we don't have any reation sites for clorinated sugar molecules.

Folk used the formaldahyde info as a scare tactic with aspartame and I think your friend and his cliet have confused the two sweetners and are not very knowledgibly about how humans work. we create formaldahyde every day inside our bodies as a naturaly part of breaking down and digestign most fruits and veggies. We then process this small amount of formaldahyde molecules even further and break it down. You are talking about a very very small amount of the stuff not the massive amounts used to fixate a sample in the bio labs.

[LilBit]

Thanks 2big, I knew you'd know something about this and be able to explain it to me.

I suppose you've figured it out by now, but I failed to put in my first post that Xylitol is what his family uses now, in fact, they even buy the toothpaste made with Xylitol.

As always, I appreciate your knowledge, thanks again. :hug

[2big4mysize]

most of the sugar alcohols were developed for dental applications andresearched in that manner so it is only natural they would be in the thoothpaste. ifyou want ot se a cooking discussion of this stuff Nurslady posted it in the cooking and chat section and Scott posted to her about its use in cooking.