Re: CS>Re: Sugar was // Re: bladder,

Thu, 27 Sep 2012 09:02:15 -0700

Xylitol has some health benefits, used in moderation. You have to be careful to get birch bark formulation and not the one made from corn - most brands don't tell you. Ones that used to specify have largely changed and just left off the specification. It is also an alcohol sugar, easily causing runs. The reason it is considered a sugar substitute is that the body won't fully digest it. However, what you don't digest results in the runs. It will also raise blood sugar levels, even when it is not being fully digested - again, from the sweetness factor on the taste buds. Xylitol is great for brushing your teeth, assuming you can find an authentic birch bark formulation. It has specific other health based uses. I wouldn't use it regularly as a sweetner. Definately not as a sugar substitute. Absolutely not as a sugar substitute in the levels our culture considers normal sugar/sweet consumption. Sara
I've been following this thread and wondering why people are not using birch bark extract xylitol? 
Thanks.
PT

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*From:* Sara Mandal-Joy <[email protected]>
*To:* [email protected]
*Sent:* Thu, September 27, 2012 9:48:57 AM
*Subject:* CS>Re: Sugar was // Re: bladder,
Many health food stores don't bother to carry the green/brown leaves or powder. It has a licorice taste, and is harder to use in cooking/baking, though it is often a perfect addition to a cup of tea. I get mine from vitaglo, NOW brand. Fairly inexpensive, certainly so compared to the cost of the processed stuff. I'm sure you can get it bulk as well from a variety of herbal folks online. Important thing is you're looking for something described as brown and/or green, and speaks of the leaves or powdered leaves, rather than "extract". And for those looking for the white/processed extract, make SURE it is pure stevia, or at least that you are comfortable with the other ingredients. Some folks use erythritol (an alcohol sugar, used in any amount will give you the runs); most use maltodextrin - which to me is a poison. particularly if the brand of "stevia" you are using says it is measures like sugar, you are looking at something that is only slightly stevia. Pure processed stevia extract has a sugar equivalency of one teaspoon stevia= one cup of sugar. Sara 
What's a good source of the "real stevia"?
Olushola
On Thu, Sep 27, 2012 at 1:05 AM, Sara Mandal-Joy <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: 

    ... BUT "real" stevia, the whole leaf or powdered green/brown
    hard to dissolve stevia - this is used as a pancreatic tonic,
    doesn't have the same insulin boost, as the whole herb mediates
    the oversweet sensation, and does moderate blood glucose levels.
     In South America it is used as a primary treatment for diabetes.