What ingredients are sugar alcohols?
 

Just met with this Amway consultant who gave me a HealthPoint low-carb bar - she wasn't sure whether they contain sugar alcohols.

Here are the ingredients: protein blend, glycerin, maltitol, roasted peanuts, sunflower oil, soy protein nuggets, calcium phosphate, salt, dextrose, cottonseed oil, lecithin, sucralose

Are any of these sugar alcohols???

Thanks!!!

Katt :roll:

Glycerin and maltitol are!

Actually, let me clarify...I don't know if glycerin is actually labeled a sugar alcohol but you can subtract it from the total carb count.

I know that some of the things that you might see on a label that ARE sugar alcohols are maltitol, sorbitol, isomalt, erythritol, and inulin. Hope this helps!

Crikey, that's a lot of different things to watch out for!!! This bar's pretty high in them then... however I decided just to have a try and it's really good, better than the Atkins Brownie bars that I'm just sick of!!!

Katt :)

PS: Very impressed with your 'cheat free' number!!! Congrats!!!

Here's a list of all the Sugar Alcohols I know of:

Maltitol, Maltitol Syrup, Hydrogenated Starch Hydrolysate, Hydrogenated Glucose Syrup, Sorbitol, Erythritol, Lactitol, Isomalt, Xylitol, Mannitol.

Pretty much anything ending in -itol is a Sugar Alcohol. Any Sugar or Starch preceeded by the word "Hydrogenated" is a Sugar Alcohol. But, be carefull on that one, because fats preceeded by the word "Hydrogenated" are Trans-Fats, which are very bad for you.

-ol indicates an Alcohol. Glycerin (Glycerol) is also an Alcohol. It is not technically a Sugar Alcohol. But, many folks lump it in with Sugar Alcohols. Neither of these are truly Carbohydrates. But, since the FDA considers everything that isn't fat, protein, water, ash, or ethanol...to be a carbohydrate, they are listed under the carb count. I personally prefer to think of them all as Alcohols and treat them accordingly. Too many Alcohols will stall folks, because they are burned before Fat.

BTW, Dextrose is powdered glucose...the same sugar used in Pixie Stix. Fortunately, since it is near the end of the list, there probably isn't very much of it in there. Salt is before it on the list. Multiply the Sodium content by 2.5 and the Dextrose content will be less than that amount. 1mg = .001g or 1/1,000th of a gram. So, if it has 100mg of Sodium, there would be less than 250mg (0.25g) of Dextrose.

They aren't THAT bad for an occasional treat... and how on Earth did you ever get those brownie bars down?? To me, they're like sawdust!! :lol:

CC,

Thank you for that VERY informative post... I had no idea that 'hydrogenated' meant trans fats... cause I see that everywhere and have never known what it means.

That is quite a hefty list... probably the reason for my frustrating stall ~ the moment. Tell me, do sugar alcohols raise blood sugar/insulin levels? I thought I read on a post somewhere that they do in certain people... here's hoping I'm not one of those certain people...

Tato free, the answer is 'only just' lol, but my big weakness is sweet things so I figure it's better than caving in at the pastry/sweet shop across the road iykwim... anything tastes good to a starving woman!!!

Katt :lol:

I was able to start a thread on isomalt then saw this one. I just bought some lollies that are labelled sugar free. I read the nutritional info and it states less than 0.1g carbs per 100g. I thought "you beauty". So I bought them, and have had a few. But now I'm wondering what the heck some of these things are listed on here that I've not seen before.

Isomalt 35.1g/100g polydextrose 41.8g/100g

Have i screwed up by eating these?
I'm a bit confused. I thought providing the nutritional guides state 0 carbs, then the product is ok!