As a result of this modern and fast lifestyle, the number of people who are fighting with obesity is to increase. According to statistics, even 63% of Australian people are struggling with overweight, which is over half of the nation’s population. A number that is terrifying and should give you a motivation to change your bad eating habits with healthier ones. Sugar takes great part from your daily diet. We know it can be hard to stay resistant to this delicious piece of chocolate cake or the fresh baked cookies, but you still have choices.
Using natural sweetener instead of table sugar to make your favourite sweets will really make a difference. In search of natural sweetener erythritol should be the one to consider. This sweetener comes with low-calorie, tastes almost exactly like sugar but it does not cause any of the side effects that regular sugars do.
Erythritol belongs to the group of sugar alcohols. They come in wide range and they can be found in natural foods like fruits but often time they are added to products that are labelled as ”sugar-free”. What stimulates the sweet taste receptors on your tongue is the structure of these molecules. Here is a brief comparison: 1 gram table sugar contains 4 calories, xylitol comes with 2.4 calories while 1 gram erythritol contains 0.24 calories. If you are still in doubt about this natural sweetener erythritol, here are some of the benefits that might change your mind.
Erythritol does not spike insulin or blood sugar-free
People do not have the enzymes to break down erythritol. Once this sweetener gets into your body tt will get absorbed into your bloodstream and then will be extracted in the urine in an unchanged condition. When healthy people were consuming erythritol for a certain period of time there were not change in their insulin and blood sugar levels. There was also no effect on triglycerides, cholesterol or other biomarkers.
It does not feed bacteria in your mouth
Table sugar is very harmful to your teeth causing tooth decay and cavities. The harmful bacteria that live in our mouth use the sugar as a source of energy so they grow, multiply and erode the enamel of the teeth. According to a three-year study made on 485 school kids, erythritol was even more protective against dental caries than any other natural sweetener.
Erythritol and the digestive system
Even though some amount of this natural sweetener were to reach the intestinal bacteria in your body, they can still not digest. Unless you are eating huge amounts of it at a time, you are unlikely to become sick or have to run to the toilet. However, erythritol is considered as very safe to use. A number of studies on toxicity and metabolism have been performed in test animals and despite long-term feeding, there were no negative effects discovered.
As a bottom line, erythritol is a great sweetener that contains almost no calories, it has 70% of the sweetness of sugar, it comes with very little side effects and it does not raise insulin and blood sugar levels.
