A sugar alcohol is a type of carbohydrate that is not completely absorbed by the body, and thus is supposed to have a minimal impact on blood sugar.
This would also be similar to fiber, which is another type of carbohydrate that we don't digest and that passes through the digestive tract into the colon without being absorbed.
They picked up the name sugar + alcohol, because they partially resemble the chemical structure of sugar, but interestingly their structure also has a part that resembles alcohol.
As a result of their properties, food manufactures began widely using sugar alcohols as sweeteners in their products - the basis for this was if the sweetener wasn't being absorbed by the body, then it didn't have any impact on insulin release or blood sugar levels.
But the marketing goes further to what has become called netting of carbohydrates, and the promotion of foods sweetened with sugar alcohols instead of sugar, as being low-carb foods.
The logic behind this is if there is no impact or increase in blood sugar levels, then there is also no carbohydrate impact.
So, let's say that you have bought a food bar that should be listed as containing 22 grams of carbs, but 15 of these are sugar alcohols, then there are only 7 grams of net carbs.
And, if the same product had 5 grams of fiber, which is another carbohydrate that goes through the digestive tract without being digested, then the carbs are netted even further - and you are eating a food bar that is being sold as having 2 grams of net carbs, because that is the amount that would have any impact on blood sugar.
Is The Netting Of Sugar Alcohols As Having Not Blood Sugar Impact Valid The netting of carbohydrates based on their blood sugar impact is the way Atkins promotes their food products as being low-carb.
And although it is accepted that fiber has no impact, because it goes into the colon after eaten without being digested, sugar alcohols do have an impact on insulin release and glucose in the blood stream.
To begin with, unlike fiber, sugar alcohols are at least partially digested and absorbed, which would cause some impact if they had a glycemic index above zero - glycemic index is a way of comparing the relative sweetness of a food with sugar, where sugar is 100% sweetness with a GI of 60.
There is a wide range of GI and calories per gram in the different sugar alcohols.
But especially in the case of maltitol syrup and maltitol, which is one of the most widely used in food bars, you are within 75% of ingesting sugar - and there is just no way that can be said to have so little impact on blood sugar levels that it can be netted against the total carbohydrate number as if it isn't in the product.
And that is the key question, and why so many do not view that it is valid that sugar alcohols have no effect on blood sugar levels - if this was the case, then why isn't their glycemic index zero?It has been said that it just isn't feasible that something that has a GI and calorie value so similar to sugar, doesn't also have an impact on the amount of glucose in the blood, if they are digested and absorbed in some amount - and those are all characteristic of these artificial sweeteners, and especially maltitol.
Everyone wants to know that the ingredients and nutrition label on the foods they eat are accurate and properly represented.
But this can be a real problem for people with diabetes, or any kind of sugar restriction, and are trying to verify that they are eating low-carb foods.
So, when you are considering buying processed foods based on being low in carbohydrates, carefully check the ingredients for sugar alcohols, because they can impact your blood glucose.