Xylitol, the matters of

If you spend any time on the internet reading about lifestyle diet ( i.e. raw foods, veganism, vegetarianism etc.. ) you will probably stumble upon the
sugar debate. What sugar is best and what sugar to use. It is for good reason though. Sugar is so readily found in EVERYTHING these days. Here is a challenge-- Next time you are out in the grocery store check the labels and see how much sugar they put in food. My husband often hears me mumbling quietly to myself "They put sugar in everything.. jeeze.. what is their problems.. ugh.." and on and on.

Sugar( refined) is horrible in my mind. It has nothing beneficial except for extra refined food for your body to be confused about.
The problem with white sugar is the fact that they remove everything beneficial from it. In the process of processing sugar ( which is derived form beets or cane) they remove the following : vitamins, minerals, protein, fiber, and water. hmmm... I will let you sit on that list and go to my next points!

BROWN SUGAR! If you do use brown sugar, I understand the confusion. You might have thought it was healthy because it is brown. Because hey! brown food is healthy! right? umm no. sorry :) Here is the breakdown of what brown sugar really is. I will lay it out simply :

refined sugar ( white sugar ) + Molasses = brown sugar.

I think I could write several pages on my dislike for sugar ( refined sugar )-- but I won't. I will move along to where I was going with this blog.

Like I said, if you read around there are many types of sugar you could buy. If you are a vegan you can't eat honey, and if you are a raw foodist you can't eat pasturized honey. I am not an expert but I know that with all the different food lifestyles out there-- it can be hard to find the sweetener for you!

I came across several articles concerning Xylitol. I decided to read and inform myself. Thought I might share the info with you! Here is what I came up with .






Xylitol is an alcohol sweetener extracted by the Finnish. They were successful in extracting this sweetener from birch trees. Xylitol or 'Ksylitol' in Finish was popularized in europe and used widely. They gladly acccepted this sweetener due to its diabetic friendliness. Xylitol does not change insulin levels due to its slow metabolization rate. ( this goes much deeper than I have written here, want to learn more? xylitolcanada )

Birch is not the only place that Xylitol is found. BUT, here is a little blirb from rawfoodrightnow :

"Important: If you are going to get xylitol, make sure you get organic birch xylitol and not corn xylitol, which is often derived from GMO-corn. We know you are health conscious, and you don't want to be eating GMO corn! Besides, according to research it is the birch xylitol that has been found to aid the teeth."

Other sources of xylitol are fibers of fruits and vegetables ( berries, corn husk, oats, and mushrooms.) It is available from corn fiber, raspberries and plums.

One of the more attractive qualities of Xylitol lies in its calorie count. 5 ml only contains 9.8 calories-- while the evil white sugar ;) comes in at 15. ( stevia, another alternative to white sugar is virtually non caloric.) If you do count calories, this may be a benefit for you .

Xylitol also comes in easy to use forms such as powdered and granulated. This might make the switch with baking easier. On the sweetness chart. Xylitol is less sweet than agave, and has a more mild taste. I have read that it has a cooling effect on the tongue. ( note I have not tried it, I am merely stating what I have read)

Xylitol has been thought to have some medical benefits as well. Here is a list of some benefits that Xylitol is thought to have:

- Tooth friendly, Cavity prevention
- Treatment for Osteoperosis
- Some reports have shown that Xylitol chewing gum can prevent ear infections ( who would of thought?? )
- In rats it has been showing increased activity of white blood cells-- to help fight bacteria.

If you have tried Xylitol. or use it as a regular sweetener-- let me know what you think and share your tips.
I do not use this sweetener, thus the reason I wanted to know more about this highly discussed sweetener. Although I use raw honey I am tempted to try this one. However I did read that the long term effects of Xylitol are unknown-- When reading that I laughed-- despite the long term effects of white sugar and corn syrup etc etc... it is still a highly used sweetener.

If you have any additional info that I may have left out-- please let me know!

Xylitol is still being explored, feel free to read more.

Useful sites for further reading:

http://www.xylitol.org/
rawfoodrightnow
http://www.xylitolsalvation.com/