Guest guest Posted July 30, 2006 Report Share Posted July 30, 2006 Hi, What is the difference between sugar and sugar alcohol? Like in sugarless gum, there is 0 g of sugar but 3 g of sugar alcohol. Does that work the same in bringing up your numbers as sugar does? Do sugarless things affect your blood sugar? Like I drink krystal light iced tea....that's ok to drink (it has 0 carbs) right? It won't make my blood sugar to go up, will it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 30, 2006 Report Share Posted July 30, 2006 > > What is the difference between sugar and sugar alcohol? Like in > sugarless > gum, there is 0 g of sugar but 3 g of sugar alcohol. Does that work the > same > in bringing up your numbers as sugar does? Do sugarless things affect > your > blood sugar? Like I drink krystal light iced tea....that's ok to drink > (it > has 0 carbs) right? It won't make my blood sugar to go up, will it? Anything that is 0 carbs won't make your blood sugar go up. Sugar alcohols are carbs, but the way they are digested causes them to have a lower impact on your blood sugar. They are digested slower (which is why exess consumption of them can have a laxitive effect). Usually sugar alcohols are counted as carbs by dividing the amount in 1/2... example: If the food you are eating as 20 grams of carbs, and 10 of them are from sugar alcohols, you can subtract 5 grams from the total carbs. So your food is counted as 15 grams of carbs. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 30, 2006 Report Share Posted July 30, 2006 Sugarless things do not affect your blood acohol, so drink all the crystal light you want. But, sugar alcohols do count against you. We had the same question for our son's nutritionist (who works in the diabetes clinic we go to) because so many products talk about impact carbs and so on. She said that we should always count what's listed on the total carb line, unless a product had more than 5 grams of fiber per serving, in which case we could subtract the fiber grams from the amount of carb grams. So, for example, if you're looking at an energy bar that has 26g total carbs, 13g sugars, and 1g fiber, you have to count it as 26g carbs. If you're looking at a cereal that has 25 carbs, but has 6g fiber, you can count it as 19g carbs. But, under 5g fiber in a serving and you should not count the fiber against the carbs. - Walter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 30, 2006 Report Share Posted July 30, 2006 I've been told to subtract the fiber grams. PERIOD.. any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 30, 2006 Report Share Posted July 30, 2006 > > that we should always count what's listed on the total carb line, unless a > product had more than 5 grams of fiber per serving, in which case we could > subtract the fiber grams from the amount of carb grams. This is where you may get conflicting advice from your dietitian. My said that you could take total carbs, minus 1/2 of the sugar alcohols, minus the fiber if it's 5 grams or more. But just to make sure we are talking the same thing.... We are talking about SUGAR ALCOHOLS, not SUGAR (the original poster questioned sugar alcohols, such as maltitol, sorbitol and other things that end in " tol " ) A label would like like: Total Carbohydrates: XX Dietary Fiber: AA Sugars: BB Sugar Alcohol: CC And you would count your net carbs as: Net carbs = XX - (AA, if AA >5) - (CC/2) (Carbs - fiber if greater than 5 - 1/2 of the sugar alcohol) The 'Sugars' line can be ignored for the most part (unless you are evaluating the carbs... then it's always better for sugars to be as low as possible). Hope that makes sense. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 31, 2006 Report Share Posted July 31, 2006 Thanks Mike. That helps. In a message dated 7/30/2006 11:46:52 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, schappaugh@... writes: Sugar alcohols are carbs, but the way they are digested causes them to have a lower impact on your blood sugar. They are digested slower (which is why exess consumption of them can have a laxitive effect). Usually sugar alcohols are counted as carbs by dividing the amount in 1/2... example: If the food you are eating as 20 grams of carbs, and 10 of them are from sugar alcohols, you can subtract 5 grams from the total carbs. So your food is counted as 15 grams of carbs. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 31, 2006 Report Share Posted July 31, 2006 Thanks Walter. I was wondering mostly about like sugarless gum and stuff like that. It has zero sugar but 3 g of sugar alcohol. I figured it was so little but i just didn't know how it worked. In a message dated 7/30/2006 3:52:56 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, wjglenn@... writes: Sugarless things do not affect your blood acohol, so drink all the crystal light you want. But, sugar alcohols do count against you. We had the same question for our son's nutritionist (who works in the diabetes clinic we go to) because so many products talk about impact carbs and so on. She said that we should always count what's listed on the total carb line, unless a product had more than 5 grams of fiber per serving, in which case we could subtract the fiber grams from the amount of carb grams. So, for example, if you're looking at an energy bar that has 26g total carbs, 13g sugars, and 1g fiber, you have to count it as 26g carbs. If you're looking at a cereal that has 25 carbs, but has 6g fiber, you can count it as 19g carbs. But, under 5g fiber in a serving and you should not count the fiber against the carbs. - Walter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 31, 2006 Report Share Posted July 31, 2006 Leave it to Mike to reduce it to an algebraic formula. S Wilkinson, Rome, New York Re: sugar alcohol > > that we should always count what's listed on the total carb line, > unless a product had more than 5 grams of fiber per serving, in which > case we could subtract the fiber grams from the amount of carb grams. This is where you may get conflicting advice from your dietitian. My said that you could take total carbs, minus 1/2 of the sugar alcohols, minus the fiber if it's 5 grams or more. But just to make sure we are talking the same thing.... We are talking about SUGAR ALCOHOLS, not SUGAR (the original poster questioned sugar alcohols, such as maltitol, sorbitol and other things that end in " tol " ) A label would like like: Total Carbohydrates: XX Dietary Fiber: AA Sugars: BB Sugar Alcohol: CC And you would count your net carbs as: Net carbs = XX - (AA, if AA >5) - (CC/2) (Carbs - fiber if greater than 5 - 1/2 of the sugar alcohol) The 'Sugars' line can be ignored for the most part (unless you are evaluating the carbs... then it's always better for sugars to be as low as possible). Hope that makes sense. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 2, 2006 Report Share Posted August 2, 2006 Thanks ! In a message dated 7/31/2006 10:26:24 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, misguided_mortal_1970@... writes: If a product shows as 0 carbs, then it is totally free and your sugar will not be affected. I just checked one of our cyrstal lites, and it shows as 5 calories but 0 g's of carbs,fat and protein. I even remember this from 20 years ago. Though back then it showed as one gram of carb, depending on the fruit flavor. Still this is nothing as it won't affect you. Now augar alchols should be taken into counting. It is said that if a item shows as 16 grams of sorbitol, and I have seen this, take half of it as carbs. Your body usually digests about half of it and the rest just goes through your GI tract untouched. On packages, it also states that too much consumption of sugar alchohols may make you drunk. OOPs, no, I mean may have a laxative affect. Me included. I beleive sorbitol, maltitol, xylitol, etc come from corn. I hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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