Bone health, oesteroperosis-please read-

[fullofbeans]

I have mentioned before that I use Xylitol as a sweetner which despite a silly chemical sounding name is in fact a very natural product.

There are many reasons to use it but I'll give you 3 important one:

1-FOR BONES
"In studies in Finland in 1994 (mentioned in our previous article), Xylitol was shown to be able to maintain bone density in rats which had their ovaries surgically removed. (7) Without ovaries, estrogen levels in these rats plummeted — and so did the bone density in the rats which were not given Xylitol. However, in ovariectomized rats which had been given Xylitol, bone density actually increased." http://www.vrp.com/articles.aspx?ProdID=art717&zTYPE=2


2-CANNOT BE USED BY CANCER CELL
"Assays of neutral sugar metabolites from each substrate in the acid-soluble fraction of liver or AS-30D tumor showed that xylitol in the liver was converted primarily into glucose while in the tumor 80 to 90% of the xylitol remained unchanged. This hepatocellular carcinoma is also markedly deficient in the ability to synthesize acid-insoluble glycogen and glycoprotein from xylitol as compared to the liver. "
http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/41/8/3192

3-IT IS GOOD FOR YOUR TEETH!
Xylitol is a "tooth friendly" sugar. Early studies from Finland in the 1970s found that a group chewing sucrose gum had 2.92 decayed, missing, or filled (dmf) teeth compared to 1.04 in the group chewing xylitol gums.[10] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xylitol#cite_note-aapd-9) In another study, researchers had mothers chew xylitol gum 3 months after delivery until their children were 2 years old. The researchers found that the xylitol group had "a 70% reduction in cavities (dmf)."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xylitol


Ok I have used it for almost 2 years (much better taste that stevia and actually prefer it to normal sugar) but as it is also a probiotic (yes you hear right a probiotic!) you have to get used to it slowly or if you over do it make sure that that you have access to the toilette! You will need to build up the good bacteria that can deal with it once in the gut. Now I can eat as much as I want (make my cakes ect..). The problem is that because your friends are not used to it you cannot use it too much when you invite them for cakes.

I love the fact that cancer cell cannot get any energy from it and I like to think (MHO) that it damages them to have all this stuff in their cell that they cannot metabolise. Off course I am hoping that breast carcinoma react the same way as liver ones which is quite likely I should hope. Did I mention that Xylitol has 40% less calorie that sugar and does not raise insuline level at all..

[Shobha]

Thank you for sharing this! I have been struggling to decide the alternatives to sugar.

This group has really got such a wealth of information that I actually look forward to logging in every day and checking it out.

Thanks again!

[Laurel]

Just remember to keep all foods containing xylitol away from your pets. Xylitol is poisonous to dogs. My sister nearly lost her retriever who injested something, was it a jumbo pack of gum?, and became deathly ill. It does something quite negative in the body of a dog. Just a little F.Y.I.

Can you purchase xylitol in a powder form for baking like you can with Splenda?

[fullofbeans]

Hi Laurel I only ever saw it granulated but then again I use it as such for baking and for me it works.

Yes I should have said about dog and xylitol same as for chocolate, so def do not give them your chocolate xylitol muffins!! the article in wikipedia is pretty thorough and it mentions it:" Dogs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog) which have ingested foods containing high levels of xylitol (greater than 100 milligram of xylitol consumed per kilogram of bodyweight) have presented with low blood sugar (hypoglycaemia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypoglycaemia)) which can be life-threatening.[25] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xylitol#cite_note-24) "

I would stay away from Splenda tho, I would rather eat high fructose syrop and a normal sager than Splenda.. below is simply a Mercola article will not do research on this but that should be enough:

"
It’s very important to realize that Splenda (sucralose) is actually NOT sugar, despite its marketing slogan “Made from sugar, so it tastes like sugar”. Rather it’s a chlorinated artificial sweetener in line with aspartame and saccharin, and with detrimental health effects to match.
Splenda was approved by the FDA in 1998 as a tabletop sweetener and for use in products such as baked goods, nonalcoholic beverages, chewing gum, frozen dairy desserts, fruit juices, and gelatins. Sucralose is also permitted as a general-purpose sweetener for all processed foods.
The approval was given after the FDA supposedly reviewed more than 110 animal and human safety studies, but as you’ll soon find out, out of these 110 studies, only two were human studies, and the longest one was conducted for four days!
There’s overwhelming evidence that consuming artificial sweeteners will likely wreak havoc on your body. Previous news has centered mainly around artificial sweeteners’ ability to impair your appetite regulation and leading to weight gain.
For example, it’s been discovered that diet soda increases your risk of metabolic syndrome (http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/02/23/diet-soda-now-linked-to-heart-disease.aspx) and, ultimately, heart disease.


However, the study mentioned above, published in the Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, found even further disturbing news besides weight gain. Splenda:

reduces the amount of good bacteria in your intestines by 50 percent
increases the pH level in your intestines, and
affects a glycoprotein in your body that can have crucial health effects, particularly if you’re on certain medications
They also found unmistakable evidence that Splenda is absorbed by fat, contrary to previous claims.
It’s truly disturbing that Splenda can destroy up to 50 percent of your healthy intestinal bacteria, as these bacteria help maintain your body's overall balance of friendly versus unfriendly micro-organisms, and support your general health. Many people are already deficient in healthy bacteria due to choosing highly processed foods."

[harrie]

Fullofbeans...thanks for sharing the info!! Yes, I have been hearing and reading for yrs in the dental community how beneficial xylitol is!!

[R.B.]

Thanks FullofBeans good post.

I did not know anything about xylitol

Here is the wiki entry. The use as sinus wash is interesting.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xylitol

[Laurel]

Thanks, full o beans, I used to like to chew gum with xylitol, but since my jaw is a bit touchy these days I am kickin' the habit. I don't use Splenda, because of all that you mentioned above. I admit to having a bit of a sweet tooth, though, so being able to substitute a safe porduct would be nice.

[harrie]

Laurel, I bought a can of cinnamon breathmints from Borders and the sweetener was xylitol. This was quite a long time ago, and I have not looked for it since.

[fullofbeans]

Remenber to get used to it slowly (i.e. build up the good bacteria) as it is a probiotic, otherwise you'll need to be close to your bathroom..

It is such a strange thing to eat/drink something sweet and know it is good for your teeth.. Also the xylitol is good for your immune system just the contrary of sugar.. Once I found out about this I cannot beleive that we still use normal sugar considering how much damage we know it does.