Polyols, inulin [not insulin] - are they safe?

[LucySW]

Hi guys, birthday cake time has come around again. What to use for mine? I'd like to use Splenda, but here in Denmark you can't get it. Unless and until I order it from Amazon, all they have here is a mysterious-looking mix of 50% erythritol and 50% inulin. Inulin is a chicory-derived plant fibre; erythritol is a polyol, and supposedly not digested.

There's also a chocolate on sale here with the same mix of inulin (fibre) and erythritol (polyols). Called NellieDellies.

Are these safe? Or are these a non-diabetic's idea of what is okay for us to eat? From googling, it seems polyols may be bad for some people, and to be eaten with caution.

 

[jack412]

can put you on the loo for a couple of hours, but if you do have them, can you put it up on youtube

 

[LucySW]

can put you on the loo for a couple of hours, but if you do have them, can you put it up on youtube

Hilarious

 

[Totto]

I use something called Sötströ, a mix of erythritol and stevia.Terribly expensive but then the 300 grams bag has lasted us for over half a year.

In the past year birthday cakes has had a nut/almond/egg white base, then chocolate mousse and on top of that raspberry jelly or mousse. Certainly not no-carb but acceptable. Depends a lot of what chocolate you use for the mousse. I always go for 85%.

 

[smidge]

Hi Lucy,

Personally I tend to avoid polyols. They don't cause me any of the stomach issues that others report, but they send my BG sky high - might as well eat sucrose. From that, I assume my body is pretty nifty at digesting the blasted stuff! However, erythritol has a different action than most of the other polyols. As I understand it, most of the others such as Maltitol enter the small intestine, but cannot be absorbed by some people, hence the stomach issues, while other people absorb them partially - hence the rise in BG. Erythritol on the other hand is dealt with by the kidneys and passed out in the urine without being digested at all. Most people seem to report this as the best polyol in that it has far less affect on the BG and doesn't have the stomach issues. I've never used it because I'm worried about whether it is harmful to kidneys or bladder - I have never seen any suggestion that it is but I've had bladder problems in the past and just don't want to chance it. Many people seem to report good experience with it. It is certainly a good sugar-substitute where sugar is needed for bulk as well as sweetens, because the granular version is properly granular like caster sugar whereas splenda is more like icing sugar. You can also get a powdered version of erythritol if that's the consistency you want.

Smidge

 

[DeejayR]

Thanks @smidge. I've copied that into my "how it works" folder. I've been using xylitol (about 500g in 12 months, only in LC cakes & puddings), and will think about it when the current packet is empty.