[cbmare]

When I came into work today, I found a free sample of Z Sweet. I must have requested it from someplace. I haven't used it yet. Have you tried it? I've been using Splenda and really like it.

This is zero calorie and is made from Erythritol. They say it is a naturally occuring sweetener found in many common foods. (no idea what they are.) Also says it is recognized by the FDA as a food (as is sugar) whereas some other brands (Stevia) are supplements.

[kaplods]

The tol at the end means it's a sugar alcohol, which could mean that it has a bit of a laxative effect (sometimes extreme in some people), especially if you eat more than whatever is labeled as one servings. If I remember the advertising "hype" the Zsweet is supposed to have somewhat less of this effect.

I once bought a small bag of sugar free jelly belly jelly beans sweetened with xylitol (in the giftshop at work, unfortunately). Technically the bag was supposed to be 3 servings, but the bag was maybe 3x1.5 inches, as it fit in a closed fist, so I ate the entire bag. I nearly had to go home early, I got so sick (and I'm fairly resistant to the sugar alcohols, but still I NEVER eat more than what the package calls a serving anymore).

[bargoo]

I have had explosive results from foods with malitol. And I do mean explosive.

[cbmare]

Hmmm. I'm trying to increase my fiber. Don't know if I want to add anything that will add to my own thunderous performances.

[Kilketay]

Xylitol sweetened mints got me once. Not worth it.

[gaylors79]

Where my husband works they have a group that makes erythritol. Yes, in LARGE AMOUNTS it can induce diareha and other stomach issues. But in one piece of candy it won't hurt. You just have to see if it effect you.

Any fake sugar can have that effect. Anything more than a teaspoon of Splenda makes me ill. So it's not just the "tols" that do that.

[kaplods]

I don't boycott sugar alcohols (my husband does because he is VERY sensitive to even small amounts of them, but his digestive system is easily disturbed), but I do read the labels carefully. And I agree that most of the products containing the sugar alcohols are very careful to reccommend serving sizes that are unlikely to cause an unpleasant reaction in the majority of customers. The problem is that very often the recommended serving sizes are much smaller than for similar products sweetened with sugars. For example a standard size candybar (the 2 oz regular hershey bar size, for example) listing the serving size as 1/8 of the bar. Without reading the labeling, it would be quite natural to assume that this was a single serving bar, as I did with the tiny bag of jelly beans.

Some of the ols are known for having more severe effects than others, and most even have their own "websites" comparing their side effect ratios with other sugar alcohols (although I think they call them something else like polynols, probably to downplay the word alcohol, but just a guess). I remember one pointing out that you could build up your tolerance by gradually increasing the use of their product. But since I rarely eat candy (which they mostly seem to be in, at least in the products I've encountered)
I don't see much point in that.