Erythritol - The Healthy Sugar?

Sugar is one of the substances have realized that is causing problems with my digestion. One of the biggest practical problems facing the sugar is added to a large number of industrially produced food - the food, when one would think there would be no sugar, for example in bread.

Sugar is not the only substance in the current Western diet is causing problems with my digestion, several other substances, some natural and some produced chemically. And I'm not the only problems experienced as a result of eating food that has been presented in the grocery store. More and more people experience problems as a result of their diet.

Sugar or sucrose is a natural carbohydrate that occurs naturally in fruits and vegetables. Table sugar is obtained from sugar cane or beet, which contains large amounts of sugar. Today sugar is produced in over 120 countries in the world and total world production exceeds 120 million tons per year.

Artificial sweeteners are an alternative to sugar. Many of them have been discovered by accident in chemical laboratories. So as aspartame, the most widely used artificial sweetener was discovered today. In 1965, James Schlatter, a scientist in the laboratories Searls, licked his fingers while working on anti-ulcer medications and noticed a sweet taste.

Artificial sweeteners are much cheaper than sucrose and does not have the same negative effect on the teether or cause weight gain in sugar does. So these food additives have been increasingly used as a sugar substitute. They are found in the diet and sugar free products. Experts are divided in their opinion about the time that is harmful or not. Today six of these substances are approved by the FDA.

When I first heard of erythritol - or sukrin, as it is sold here in Norway - I automatically thought this was another artificial sweetener. And I try to avoid if possible, because they are artificial and natural, no, and in my experience have a negative effect on my system. When I read a little more about erythritol and learned it was decided to introduce into my diet. Today I use it in small quantities that normally use sugar, and so far I have not had bad experiences with it.

Erythritol is a natural sugar alcohols. It occurs naturally in some fruits and fermented foods. When industrial production that is created from glucose by fermentation with yeast called pollinis Moniliella.

Sugar alcohols are not as sweet as table sugar (sucrose) and contain fewer calories than sucrose. Also not metabolized by oral bacteria, therefore do not cause tooth decay. There are several sugar alcohols and some of them are used as sweeteners such as xylitol and sorbitol, sugar-free food.

Unlike other sugar alcohols erythritol has a laxative effect, as it is absorbed into the bloodstream in the small intestine. Furthermore, it affects the levels of blood sugar as table sugar because it makes excreted unchanged in the urine as it were.

Erythritol is not as sweet as table sugar but has a similar texture and feel to it. In the U.S. was classified as generally recognized as safe (GRAS) by FDA in 1997.

But is it healthy? No se.