Xylitol - Is it Safe?

[Gertrudes]

I bought a bag of Smart Sweet non-GMO birch xylitol from Amazon. Sometimes there's a little bit of an aftertaste that reminds me of artificial sweetners. My spouse doesn't like xylitol for that reason and also because the foods made with xylitol don't taste as good as regular sugar. I thought it tasted fine, and we've used it all up. I had intended that xylitol become are sugar replacement. I'm not sure stevia can be a full sugar replacement, as the prices seem very high compared to xylitol.

It depends on the stevia you get. I have bought batches that cost a lot, and you have to use a lot to get some sweetness, which makes it definitely expensive. However, stevia should be sweeter than sugar and xylitol, the problem is that some brands process it so much that most of its sweetness is lost.
My last batch bought from ebay is so strong that even though apparently expensive, I use about 1/6 of what I would use in xylitol or some other stevia brands. In the end, this bag is turning out to be very cheap. :)

 

[SeekinTruth]

Swanson has stevia powder - 4 oz. for around US $4.79 (item# SW924). It's very sweet and you only have to use very little compared to xylitol. I buy both from Swanson. Their xylitol powder (item# SW1208) is 16 oz. (454 grams) for $7.99 made from non-GMO birch.

_www.swansonvitamins.com

 

[hlat]

Swanson has stevia powder - 4 oz. for around US $4.79 (item# SW924). It's very sweet and you only have to use very little compared to xylitol. I buy both from Swanson. Their xylitol powder (item# SW1208) is 16 oz. (454 grams) for $7.99 made from non-GMO birch.

_www.swansonvitamins.com

The stevia doesn't say organic or non-GMO. I think I should be looking for that. It has this ingredient in it too, and I don't know what it is: Fibersol®-2 soluble dietary fiber, a registered trademark of Matsutani Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.

The organic version by Swanson has maltodextrin in it. I understand that is not good.

I will keep looking. Thanks.

 

[Nienna]

Swanson has stevia powder - 4 oz. for around US $4.79 (item# SW924). It's very sweet and you only have to use very little compared to xylitol. I buy both from Swanson. Their xylitol powder (item# SW1208) is 16 oz. (454 grams) for $7.99 made from non-GMO birch.

_www.swansonvitamins.com

The stevia doesn't say organic or non-GMO. I think I should be looking for that. It has this ingredient in it too, and I don't know what it is: Fibersol®-2 soluble dietary fiber, a registered trademark of Matsutani Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.

The organic version by Swanson has maltodextrin in it. I understand that is not good.

I will keep looking. Thanks.

Just a warning; stevia does have an aftertaste. A lot more than xylitol has. Maybe your wife will like it, but a lot of people don't. I don't mind it, but that's just me, others do. So a big fwiw.

I think that what it comes down to is how serious are you about getting off of sugar, which is very bad for the body and mind?

 

[hlat]

It looks like I will be trying organic erythritol. Supposedly it does not have the aftertaste like stevia and xylitol. Here is the one I will be getting.
http://www.amazon.com/Wholesome-Sweeteners-Zero-12-Ounce-Pack/dp/B001E5E3IA

Someday later I might get to the point of cutting out all sugars and alternatives. I'm not there yet. I'm trying to go in the right direction, and I thought erythritol would be better than cane sugar.

 

[3DStudent]

Swanson has stevia powder - 4 oz. for around US $4.79 (item# SW924). It's very sweet and you only have to use very little compared to xylitol. I buy both from Swanson. Their xylitol powder (item# SW1208) is 16 oz. (454 grams) for $7.99 made from non-GMO birch.

_www.swansonvitamins.com

That xylitol looks good. I have some NOW xylitol, which they have told me in an email is non GMO. I'm not so sure, I think it comes from China.

But I was looking at the Swanson Stevia powder and it has "Fibersol®-2 soluble dietary fiber". Fwiw, that comes from a Japanese company and is supposedly maltodextrin. I've used "Stevita" before and found it a little bitter, as with all stevia I've tried, but good enough.

 

[SeekinTruth]

Thanks for the info, 3D Student. Should have looked into that as I'd seen it on the label a while back when I first started ordering their stevia. Well I think I'll try the "Stevita" next time - plus it comes in 16 oz containers of powder instead of the 4 oz I've been getting.

 

[hlat]

Erythritol did not pass the taste test either, so it is out like xylitol.

I will need to research which brand of stevia is good.

 

[Nienna]

Erythritol did not pass the taste test either, so it is out like xylitol.

I will need to research which brand of stevia is good.

I find it a bit sad that the small after taste of these sweeteners is outweighing the benefits of stopping the use of sugar. Knowing how bad sugar really is should be enough motivation for putting up with a bit of an after taste for a few days until one gets used to it, or at least it would be for me.

I'm just saying this because stevia is known for it's after taste. It's rather obvious. Whereas, xylitol had no after taste as far as I could tell. So it seems to me that there is a resistance to switching to anything by someone. Stevia will not be any different if taste is what one is looking for rather than health.

 

[Gertrudes]

Erythritol did not pass the taste test either, so it is out like xylitol.

I will need to research which brand of stevia is good.

I find it a bit sad that the small after taste of these sweeteners is outweighing the benefits of stopping the use of sugar. Knowing how bad sugar really is should be enough motivation for putting up with a bit of an after taste for a few days until one gets used to it, or at least it would be for me.

I'm just saying this because stevia is known for it's after taste. It's rather obvious. Whereas, xylitol had no after taste as far as I could tell. So it seems to me that there is a resistance to switching to anything by someone. Stevia will not be any different if taste is what one is looking for rather than health.

I have to agree. I don't know, but to me, I don't even notice the after taste, the fact that I can have anything sweet that is actually healthy is already a plus :D

When the priority is health rather than pleasure eating, I find that one's taste can be almost completely elastic, you end up really enjoying not just the taste, but the combination of both the taste plus how health enhancing the food can be.

 

[SeekinTruth]

Yeah, I have to agree that health come before taste. But having said that, stevia has the most aftertaste if you use just a bit too much. It's something like a minty taste that immediately turns to a bitterish undertone. I've never experienced an aftertaste with xylitol. It tastes exactly like sugar to me no matter how much I put in tea or in a recipe, I can't taste anything but the sweetness, just like sugar.

And my taste definitely changed during the course of this diet experiment. I just don't crave things for taste anymore. FWIW.

 

[hlat]

I am fine with xylitol and erythritol. It is my spouse that objects to the taste. I am trying to steer my spouse on the right path as much as I can without "forcing" change or the speed of change on someone else.

 

[sbeaudry]

Erythritol did not pass the taste test either, so it is out like xylitol.

I will need to research which brand of stevia is good.

I find it a bit sad that the small after taste of these sweeteners is outweighing the benefits of stopping the use of sugar. Knowing how bad sugar really is should be enough motivation for putting up with a bit of an after taste for a few days until one gets used to it, or at least it would be for me.

I'm just saying this because stevia is known for it's after taste. It's rather obvious. Whereas, xylitol had no after taste as far as I could tell. So it seems to me that there is a resistance to switching to anything by someone. Stevia will not be any different if taste is what one is looking for rather than health.

Agreed. That being said, I find the taste of stevia to be rather pleasant, especially after being off sugar for so long - great in homemade smoothies with berries and coconut milk, or homemade chocolate with cacao butter and cocoa powder (especially with salt and almonds! Yum!).

 

[Nienna]

I am fine with xylitol and erythritol. It is my spouse that objects to the taste. I am trying to steer my spouse on the right path as much as I can without "forcing" change or the speed of change on someone else.

If she is saying there is an after taste to xylitol, then I don't think you are going to find anything else that is safe to use as a sweetener that is healthy. It may be that you trying to steer is the same thing as forcing change on someone. Steering is making someone go where you want them to go. If your spouse were actually wanting a healthy alternative to sugar, she would not be objecting to minimal taste differences so much, I would think. She seems to me to be finding excuses for not changing.

fwiw

 

[hlat]

Since I've gone gluten free, I no longer eat cookies and cakes formerly containing wheat flour. So in experimenting, my spouse finally approved a gluten free cookie recipe. So I consider that change falling in the category of change without sacrifice. I will continue to encourage change that is acceptable to my spouse. I don't see that as forcing change.

In trying to change myself, I've come across terrible tasting food that I could not will myself to like. Sometimes food just tastes bad to a person. I had to change the recipe of bone broth, with very helpful suggestions of members here. Now I have a bone broth that tastes good to me.

None of us can change everything at once, even if we had the all the knowledge of what to change. It appears the consensus of the top things to do are: elimination of gluten and dairy, removal of mercury fillings and detox, and very low carbohydrate diet with high amounts of animal fat. So I'm trying to make the changes that I can handle, while dealing with the attacks from the control system and raising young children.

An analogy that comes to mind if someone who has very limited experience in trying foods of different cultures. Slowly that person wants to try different foods that they haven't really had, such as Indian, Greek, Chinese, Vietnamese food, and I know there is really good food in all those cultures. But the person tries perhaps one Indian dish or several, and doesn't like it. I'd say ok you tried some bad ones, now let's go try some others, I know there's great Indian food and we're going to find it. And in this process eventually we find the great Indian, Greek, Chinese, Vietnamese food. I don't think that in this situation that I forced the person to like these different foods.

I think my spouse might take a year to change some of the important things like gluten, or maybe it will take 2 or 3 or 4 years. I think we will get there, and sooner in life than many others. I'm trying to cultivate a mindset that there is time, there's no rush, while acting quickly when I see the opportunity.