Out of curiosity, what kind of reaction do you get to various sugar alcohols? I cannot do anything with like Maltitol as my blood sugars react the same as if it was sugar however Erythritol is no issue. I can also do Xylitol with little issue. I hate finding LC items with Sugar Alcohols then having to hunt down the actual ingredients to find out what sugar alcohol exactly. Just curious if more folks have this same weirdness…
Hi @Piscesyin,
I have noticed that with Xylitol and Erythritol my BGs go down, especially with the rest of a meal. I’m not sure if I’ve had Maltitol before though. I haven’t paid enough attention to that one.
The one nasty side affect of these sugar alcohols, while they react well with my BGs, is the gastrointestinal gymnastics that happen after consuming them. I don’t know about you or anyone else, but I get these worst cramping and loose stools at times. Sometimes its not worth the consumption to me in the first place. I have found though, it has to be in larger quantities for this to happen.
Thanks @busybee…I have not had an issue with gastric upset since I usually stick with Erythritol which does not cause that. Maltitol does and is usually found in sugar free candies like Hershey’s sugar free chocolate chips or Werther’s sugar free caramels. I have recently tried Xylitol in Jello sugar free pudding cups and while there is a blood sugar impact, it isn’t too bad. I have also tried Isomalt in sugar free meringues and have eaten quite a few. Some blood sugar impact but not too bad and no gastric upset. I hate the use of Maltitol which seems to be in most sugar free items or has been.
Xylitol pushes me up. Almost as if it were normal sugar. I haven’t found an explanation for it yet - I will try Erythritol and see what happens…
I do okay with erythritol but generally avoid products that just say “sugar alcohols” because maltitol does affect my BG.
Thanks all…glad to see I’m not the only one. The problem I have with the nutrition information listing “sugar alcohols” is not all have the same composition so some cause gastric issues, some affect BG and of course flavor. I assume Maltitol is used so much because of flavor? Anyway, annoying huh?
T2 on MDI here, but for what it’s worth, erythritol doesn’t seem to have much effect of any kind. Xylitol I can’t speak to because I haven’t yet found anything containing it that I like enough to eat.
If ya like pudding…try the Jello sugar free. Its yummy!
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i love Jello sugar free,.
If it has Tol in it i pretty much figure my blood sugar will soar. Sugar free Jello, rock the BS. It goes on and on. Maybe i need a tol study?
I think we’ve tried just about every sweetener out there. Never a problem with anything except stevia. My daughter & I both have allergies to ragweed. Stevia brings on horrible allergies…sniffles, sneezes & watery eyes for days. We’ve always bolused for half the carbs in sugar alcohols. I use erythritol & xylitol a lot in low carb baking.
Stevia is actually my favorite. Saccharine is my my go to sweetner. What can i say, I was raised on TAB before Nutrasweet. I and those of my generation, are a lot like lab rats for the sweetner industry. Remember in the 60’s we chose between TAB and Diet Rite. Just so you know Diet Rite was better.
This is SO individual. Each person’s physiology responds in potentially different ways. Stevia is almost the only sweetener I use. Never had any problems with it. I have my share of allergies, but that clearly isn’t one of them.
Yup!! Raised on Tab and Fresca. Still love them both. I still also only use SweetNLow in my coffee or tea. I don’t cook with it because I didn’t have good success in the past but lately I’ve been tempted. Tab is hard to find nowadays!!
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Ya it is…I found Stevia harder to get used to. Not a big fan of the taste or after taste of it.
I’ve found that Stevia is one of those foods that can vary drastically from one brand to another. I tried four or five before finding one that doesn’t have an annoying aftertaste or other bad qualities. They really do vary widely. Experience with one or two just isn’t conclusive.
$0.02
Never counted how many but have tried several. Maybe its locale also.
I hated TAB, Diet Pepsi and Coke came out soon enough for me after being DX’d. Still have SweetNLow in coffee, it is the only way I like my coffee now; weird as I do not like the saccharin in anything else (especially cooking with it).
AWWWW well I guess Tab is an acquired taste. These days I kinda like Coke Zero which to me kind of tastes like Tab. I don’t cook with SweetNLow because I haven’t been able to find the secret amount or addition so it doesn’t taste so fake. It has to be cooking it that changes it unlike just adding it to coffee, etc. Anything cooked with SweetNLow tasted like a sharp fake sugar-ey like flavor which to me was unpleasant.