Sugar Alcohol

[Cerpin Taxt]

So, I'm shopping for cases of protein bars, and I want to be conscious of how much sugar the bars contain. The one's I've tried and liked were the Optimum Nutrition "Protein Diet" bars with 20g protein and (allegedly) sugar free. They do list "Sugar Alcohol" in the nutritional information, and I'm curious what people on this forum can possibly tell me about the ramifications of Sugar Alcohol as far as affecting carb intake, and particularly simple carb quantities.

 

[uclaLabrat]

Not sure what they mean, but all sugars are alcohols. I don't know if it means anything.

 

[Cerpin Taxt]

Yeah, I started doing my own googling (which I really should know better to do before making a post).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar_alcohol

http://www.lowcarb.ca/tips/tips010.html

Seems like they are better than ordinary sugar, but still one should try to minimize their consumption.

 

[bossman34]

I would just be careful of getting too much sugar alcohol as I heard reports of it causing diarrhea!!

 

[uclaLabrat]

Yeah, they can cause that. Mannitol does that a lot.

 

[Crono]

Originally posted by: bossman34
I would just be careful of getting too much sugar alcohol as I heard reports of it causing diarrhea!!

Yeah. For me, I experience stomach discomfort and acid reflux. I used to eat protein bars quite often (mostly as meal replacement), but I stopped because of this. I wish they would use sugar (even if it meant they would use less sugar) than artifical sweeteners.

 

[StageLeft]

If I recall correctly it's a sugar-like energy source that does not impact blood sugar like normal sugar does, so if you eat 50 grams of cane sugar your blood sugar will shoot up. The stuff in these "sugar free" bars, though, has a minimal impact on blood sugar. However, it still has similar actual calories.

If you take the calories on your bar and subtract out those from protein (4 cal per gram) and fat (9 per gram), the remaining calories are what you're getting from this other source.

 

[KoolDrew]

http://www.mendosa.com/netcarbs.htm

 

[interchange]

"Sugar alcohols" are sugars that the body doesn't regularly absorb and/or quickly metabolize for energy. As a result, they don't carry a high glycemic index. When eaten in consumption, the body cannot absorb them. Since they are small, soluble molecules, osmotic pressure makes water accumulate in the digestive tract causing diarrhea.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: interchange
"Sugar alcohols" are sugars that the body doesn't regularly absorb and/or quickly metabolize for energy. As a result, they don't carry a high glycemic index. When eaten in consumption, the body cannot absorb them. Since they are small, soluble molecules, osmotic pressure makes water accumulate in the digestive tract causing diarrhea.

If you refer to what KoolDrew posted, some of them maintain a GI up to 50. That's medium-high so that's not necessarily the case.