Are Sugar Alcohols Unhealthy and Bad For You?

Sugar alcohols, not a very common term in of itself, but their prevalence and your knowledge of them is quite standard. Take little old xylitol for example. The moment you brush your teeth or gargle with mouthwash, chances are, you're experiencing the full effect of the world’s most popular sugar alcohol, xylitol. It is the sweet sensation you taste when you brush or gargle.

Other sugar alcohols include sorbitol, maltitol, erythritol and mannitol. These are commonly used to flavour stuff that require a sweet kick without the damaging effects of sugar such as medicines, oral care products and sugar free, low calorie foods.

Sugar alcohols, as the name suggests, are part sugar, part alcohol in chemical structure. These hybrid molecules occur in nature, so they are not to be confused with artificial sweeteners like aspartame and sucralose which are human engineered. In fact, xylitol is produced in the human body in trace quantities.

Sugar alcohols have the unique quality in that they taste very similar and often as intense in sweetness as sugar. At the same time, they have a significantly lower calorie value. Erythritol for example, has a caloric value 95% lower than regular table sugar (sucrose).

This gives it a negligible energy value and a glycemic index of zero. Erythritol passes through your system almost completely un-metabolised. Other sugar alcohols include:

• Isomalt

  Used in sugar free hard candies like lollipops and lozenges

• Lactitol

  Used in ice cream and sugar free confectionery

• Hydrogenated Starch Hydrolysates

  Used as a bulk sweetener for low calorie, sugar free foods

It’s no wonder these sugar alcohols have gained popularity as sugar substitutes. They seem, in fact, too good to be true. But beyond all the hype, is there anything sinister lurking in the chemical makeup of these super substitutes? Let's delve deeper and see exactly what sugar alcohols can do to you.

The Benefits and Side Effects of Sugar Alcohols.

Blood Sugar Management

The primary reason for the prevalence and popularity of sugar alcohols is their ability to give you the sweet sensation you crave from sugar, without the drastic hyperglycemia effect. This quality is great for leading a generally healthy life, but more so if you are at risk of high blood glucose related conditions such as diabetes.

Because you need actual sugar to increase your blood sugar levels, sugar alcohols, or polyols as they are scientifically known, don't pose as much risk.

This however, is only true if you observe moderation and take account of the fact that although polyols are not outright carbs, they still pose a carb component which will register as an increase in blood sugar.

This of course, as mentioned, is not nearly as bad as sugar on a gram for gram basis. The danger is when people assume they can consume as much sugar alcohol as they want without consequences for the levels of sugar in their blood. This can end up leading to an excess in blood sugar without even realizing it.

So while sugar alcohols have a significantly lower GI than carbs, they still register on the glycemic scale, with the exception of erythritol, which registered a zero GI value and almost zero calories.

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