Erythritol

[Jo_the_boat]

Seen some positive reports on Erythritol from a Type 2 perspective.
It would be nice to add another dimension to our cooking. Not over the top, just occasionally, to fruit for example.

 

[Goonergal]

I’ve never had an issue with it blood sugar wise. It’s just the things it goes into are moreish and feed my addictions.

 

[Deleted member 475901]

I use it in baking, with ground almonds or coconut flour, and to make my own lower carb marmalade.

 

[HSSS]

I use it. I can’t ditch sweetness in my very occasional coffees, and as I only drink it black cream isn’t an option. I use it in occasional baking and recipes too

It passes through the digestive system unabsorbed (unlike some other sugar alcohols) and thus doesn’t raise bg levels. There is some debate about the encephalitic response of insulin being released in response to the sweet taste even without the bg rise which concerns some for the IR effect.

Some people find it has a cooling menthol like taste (I only notice this at high quantities), mixing with another natural sweetener can mitigate this eg stevia or xylitol (toxic to dogs and a very small bg effect). It doesn’t work brilliantly in recipes needing to caramelise. It can be ground to powder in a magic bullet type blender if you want to have an icing sugar type benefit.

I always reduce the amount state in recipes as it’s usually too much for my low carb adapted taste buds.

 

[Robbity]

I've used erythritol (on its own or combined with stevia) for nearly 9 years now and have never had any issues with it. I originally wanted a sweetener for some of my low carb baking, but now also use it in my coffee & cocoa, when cooking certain things - mainly sourer fruit e.g. rhubarb, gooseberries, cranberries, and also with some fresh fruit, with cocoa and yoghurt or cream for a sweet, and generally if anything else needs a bit of sweetness added.

It is slightly less sweet than sugar which I find OK, and although it's high in carbs as @HSSS said it's not actually digested.

The standard granulated form is available in tubs (Natvia) from some supermarkets, e.g. Tesco who often have it on offer, or Ocado. It's also available from Amazon in various other forms too: powdered/icing sugar, erythritol gold (demerara type), or combined with Stevia for a bit more sweetness. Try Sukrin or our UK NKD Living brands for these options.

And finally I had a very few, very mild false hypos early on after diagnosis and weirdly, my body very definitely knew the difference between sugar which it wanted, and erythritol which was of absolutely no interest whatsoever. I had to resort to scrounging around in my husband's sugary stuff to satisfy that craving.

 

[HSSS]

Oh and like with all sweeteners check it’s not bulked with maltodextrin or the like as so many are. I buy mine off Amazon or “the real food company” online in huge bags as it’s much cheaper than supermarkets

 

[Jo_the_boat]

I use it. I can’t ditch sweetness in my very occasional coffees, and as I only drink it black cream isn’t an option. I use it in occasional baking and recipes too

It passes through the digestive system unabsorbed (unlike some other sugar alcohols) and thus doesn’t raise bg levels. There is some debate about the encephalitic response of insulin being released in response to the sweet taste even without the bg rise which concerns some for the IR effect.

Some people find it has a cooling menthol like taste (I only notice this at high quantities), mixing with another natural sweetener can mitigate this eg stevia or xylitol (toxic to dogs and a very small bg effect). It doesn’t work brilliantly in recipes needing to caramelise. It can be ground to powder in a magic bullet type blender if you want to have an icing sugar type benefit.

I always reduce the amount state in recipes as it’s usually too much for my low carb adapted taste buds.

Very helpful, thanks.

 

[Jo_the_boat]

I've used erythritol (on its own or combined with stevia) for nearly 9 years now and have never had any issues with it. I originally wanted a sweetener for some of my low carb baking, but now also use it in my coffee & cocoa, when cooking certain things - mainly sourer fruit e.g. rhubarb, gooseberries, cranberries, and also with some fresh fruit, with cocoa and yoghurt or cream for a sweet, and generally if anything else needs a bit of sweetness added.

It is slightly less sweet than sugar which I find OK, and although it's high in carbs as @HSSS said it's not actually digested.

The standard granulated form is available in tubs (Natvia) from some supermarkets, e.g. Tesco who often have it on offer, or Ocado. It's also available from Amazon in various other forms too: powdered/icing sugar, erythritol gold (demerara type), or combined with Stevia for a bit more sweetness. Try Sukrin or our UK NKD Living brands for these options.

And finally I had a very few, very mild false hypos early on after diagnosis and weirdly, my body very definitely knew the difference between sugar which it wanted, and erythritol which was of absolutely no interest whatsoever. I had to resort to scrounging around in my husband's sugary stuff to satisfy that craving.

Thank you too, also very helpful.