Thought it sounded good years ago the Xylitol - put a dessertspoon in a custard I was making and didn't get off the toilet for a week. Didn't use it again. I seldom use any sugar except in occasional cake cooking but am using a little dark brown coconut sugar (a small teaspoon on his morning porridge) if I need anything & it appears DH responds better to that than the dark organic agave syrup he was muscle tested as OK for back when. When he was tested the agave was the only sweetener he had an "OK" for. Nothing else at all tested OK & all were tested.
Jane Subject: Re: CS>Re: Sugar was // Re: bladder, 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

