I totally whomped out on the new sugar free Reece's peanut butter cups last night. Ate a WHOLE bag of the mini ones (around 10 or 2 servings). They were good, but let me tell you, the side effects are bad, bad, bad! They are sweetened by lactitol instead of malitol and for me, the effects are way worse.
I don't really feel guilty (cause I am not ever doing THAT again) but I am trying to figure out how to enter the information into fitday. Here is the nutrition information from the website
http://www.hersheyssugarfree.com/about/reeses.html:
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size (39g – 5 pieces)
Calories: 170
Calories from Fat: 110
Total Fat: 12g
Saturated Fat: 5g
Cholesterol: less than 5mg
Sodium: 125mg
Total Carbohydrate: 23g
Dietary Fiber: 1g
Sugars: 0g
Lactitol: 19g
Protein: 2g
And here is what Hersey's website says about lactitol:
"It... provides about one-half the amount of carbohydrates compared to sugar. This has been reflected in the dietary exchange values indicated on our packages."
From the lactitol FAQ:
"One of the reasons that lactitol is lower in calories and carbohydrates compared to sugar is that it is digested and absorbed in a different way. Sugar is digested in the stomach by an enzyme, while lactitol is digested in the large intestine by normally occurring bacteria. In the process of digesting lactitol, some digestive side effects can occur, including flatulence, colic, and diarrhea. Severity of the side effects will vary based on the individual, and the amount of product that is eaten. "
BTW, the information on the digestion of sugar is not completely true-sugars are primarily digested in the small intestine NOT the stomach by insulin (as we all know) that is produced by the pancreas and dumped into the first part of the small intestine. However, starches are partially digested in the mouth first by an enzyme called amalyse.
Anyway, my question for you physiologists is this: Do I count half the effect carbs in fitday from the nutrition information (that would be 11 per serving) or do I subtract the lactitol like I would the fiber since it is digested in the large intestine-far away from any insulin? I just want to be accurate in my fitday account.