Your Complete Guide to Polyols And Health

[Julieanne]

Joe Leech
December 6, 2018

Polyols are popular as a sugar replacement.
However, some people worry that replacing sugar with sweeteners like polyols may negatively affect digestive health, metabolism and weight management.
Is this true? Keep reading to find out what polyols are and how they can affect your health.

What are Polyols?

Polyols are also called sugar alcohols or bulk sweeteners.
They are a type of carbohydrate found naturally in certain fruits and vegetables. They can also be manufactured to be used as food additives.

Read more: https://www.care2.com/greenliving/yo...nd-health.html

[Mr. Wizard]

Polyols are becoming more prevalent in pre-packaged food stuffs to reduce calories. But, these sugars ferment in the gut and cause lots of problems. One of these sugars, maltitol, even raises blood sugar levels, but most others don't. The problems outweigh the benefits as far as I can tell.

[Islander]

I avoid processed foods in general, and those advertised as "sugar-free in particular, because whatever is replacing sugar may not be an improvement, as this article points out. When I feel a need to sweeten something, I rely on stevia, which is completely natural (you can grow it yourself, but you'd have to buy a live plant from a greenhouse specializing in herbs, since it's not a native of N. America). The live stevia leaf has a licorice-like aftertaste which disappears during processing into powdered packets or flavored liquids in eye-dropper bottles.

[Mr. Wizard]

People have fallen for the advertising hype about how sugar makes you fat. Of course, if one over consumes anything it can cause weight gain. According to nutrition.data.self.com, one (1) teaspoon of regular old cane sugar contains 15 calories. That doesn't seem like a lot of calories to me??? I don't use much sugar, but when I do, I use organic sugar cane. Like, Islander, I avoid most processed foods.

[Islander]

I'm sure that if one could limit oneself to a teaspoon of sugar a day, there would be no harm in it. Unfortunately, sugar is addictive and few can stop at a single teaspoon. One can of Coke, for instance, contains 10 teaspoons of sugar. Would anyone be satisfied to drink 10% of their Coke and discard the rest? I think not!

[Mr. Wizard]

People still drink Coke? Yuck. The 10 teaspoons of sugar in a can of Coke is what made Diet Coke a big hit (I believe it uses artificial sweeteners). I'm satisfied with a tall glass of unsweetened ice tea with lots of fresh squeezed lemon.

[Islander]

Oh my, Mr. Wizard. Any workplace will boast at least one soft drink machine. Some coworkers I knew consumed several cans of Coke in a typical eight-hour day. Although I raised my children without soft drinks, my younger daughter became addicted to Coke in college… Gave it up during pregnancy… Resumed after the child was born. But when my granddaughter was old enough to notice what mom was drinking, mom finally gave it up for good in favor of a teapot. That made me so happy!