Sugar alcohols are candy natural chemical compounds generally used as a sugar substitute. As a result of they don’t affect blood sugar in the identical approach common sugar does, they are often helpful to people who want to management their blood sugar ranges or consumption.

Merchandise that embody them are sometimes marketed as “low-carb” or “sugar-free.”

Right here’s what you must learn about sugar alcohols — and whether or not or not these sugar substitutes are best for you.

What Is Sugar Alcohol?

“Sugar alcohols are sugar substitutes used as sweeteners in a wide range of merchandise, resembling sweet and gum,” says Natalie Allen, MS, RD, an teacher of biomedical sciences at Missouri State College.

Technically, they’re a part of a bunch of short-chain carbohydrates often known as fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols — a.okay.a. FODMAPs. (Sugar alcohols are a part of the “P” — polyols.)

To identify them on a diet label, take a look at the top of every ingredient. In the event you see an “itol” on the finish of it, which means it’s a sugar alcohol — which is a little bit of a misnomer since they’re neither sugar nor alcohol. They’re, nevertheless, chemically processed synthetic sweeteners.

The low-calorie sweeteners could also be present in “sugar-free” variations of meals like sweet, chewing gum, cookies, pudding, food plan sodas, and different sweets.

Sugar alcohols may be utilized in meals merchandise for texture and moisture (and to stop browning throughout cooking).

Forms of Sugar Alcohols

Sugar alcohols embody:

• Erythritol (in sweeteners like Truvia)
• Isomalt
• Lactitol
• Maltitol
• Mannitol
• Sorbitol
• Xylitol

What Is the Distinction Between Sugar and Sugar Alcohols?

Sugar alcohols “present fewer energy than common sugar, and the metabolism is a bit of totally different,” Allen explains. Whereas sugar usually will get fully absorbed in your small gut, sugar alcohols are incompletely absorbed there.

As a result of the physique doesn’t take in sugar alcohols in the identical approach it metabolizes sugar, Allen says, they supply fewer energy than common sugar.

One sugar alcohol particularly, erythritol, incorporates no energy, as a result of it’s excreted into the urine and doesn’t affect blood glucose and insulin ranges.

For instance, a teaspoon of granulated sugar has 16 energy. The identical quantity of xylitol powder incorporates roughly half the quantity of energy, and a teaspoon of Truvia (erythritol) incorporates zero energy.

Are Sugar Alcohols Dangerous for You?

“It’s actually okay to eat sugar alcohols, however don’t overdo it,” Allen says.

They’ll generally trigger bloating, gasoline, and diarrhea as a result of they’re not fully digested within the intestine and never fully absorbed by your physique. That is what makes them decrease in energy than sugar, however it may well additionally trigger some uncomfortable side effects.

And for individuals with irritable bowel syndrome, FODMAPs on the whole have been related to long-term gastrointestinal signs.

Analysis means that the uncomfortable side effects are extra seemingly when larger quantities are consumed.

Can You Eat Sugar Alcohols on a Sugar-Free Weight-reduction plan?

It relies on the plan. Some sugar-free diets advocate eliminating them fully.

However people trying to eat much less sugar and preserve higher blood sugar management could profit from sugar alcohols.

The underside line that sugar alcohols aren’t sugar “freebies.” They need to nonetheless be consumed moderately, and it’s essential to contemplate the potential GI uncomfortable side effects.

In the event you’re attempting to kickstart a sugar-free way of life, it’s possible you’ll discover it’s finest to chop out meals sweetened with sugar alcohol.