Health Benefits of Xylitol
Xylitol is a natural sweetener and sugar substitute that is extracted from plants such as fruits, berries, vegetables and oats. It originated in Finland where it was extracted from birch trees and is still widely used in Finland today.
Xylitol is not a chemical sweetener so is far healthier to use than a lot of other sugar alternatives.
It has a very sweet sugar taste and looks the same as white sugar, it is so sweet that less xylitol can be used in recipes than the amount of sugar that the recipe calls for.
Here are 6 Facts about Xylitol
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1. Xylitol is very sweet in taste but is absorbed more slowly making is a low glycemic food. Xylitol has a glycemic index of 7 whereas sugar has a massive glycemic index of 100. This means that xylitol is metabolised slowly and does not cause a glucose levels to rise rapidly (unlike sugar). Therefore xylitol can help in the prevention of diabetes.
2. Researchers in Finland found that xylitol can actually help prevent weakening of the bones and improve bone density. It has potential in treating Osteoporosis.
3. Xylitol increases white blood which helps fight many types of bacteria.
4. Xylitol can help prevent candida unlike sugar which actually promotes candida and yeast problems.
Because xylitol helps prevent candida and yeast problems xylitol will not rise yeast so you can not use it to bake bread unless it is just for sweetening purposes.
5. Xylitol helps to prevent bacteria in your ears and nose. It helps stop bacteria that grows in the tubes that connect your ear and nose together. Xylitol can even be used in a saline solution for nasal irrigation.
6. If you think eating xylitol will rot your teeth then think again, in fact xylitol helps prevent tooth decay. Research even showed that mothers that who chewed xylitol chewing gum from 3 months after giving birth to 2 years had a 70% reduction in tooth cavities. Xylitol is widely promoted as a tooth friendly product.
Cooking with Xylitol
Using xylitol in cooking is very easy. You can use it in replacement of sugar in many recipes.
Xylitol is very sweet tasting so less can normally be used in recipes where it replaces sugar.
Xylitol is great for baking cakes and biscuits and other baking. It is also great to sweeten yogurts or custards with even homemade ice cream.
You will not gain weight using xylitol like you would using sugar so enjoy some guilt free treats.
See my tasty coconut infused Madeira cake recipe that uses xylitol instead of sugar.
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20 comments:
I have never heard of Xylitol before but I love reading about new food ingredients and their nutritional benefits. What a great post Jeena!
This is the first that I have heard of Xylitol. It sounds really interesting. I will have to keep an eye out for it.
Hey Jeena, first time on your blog... good one!
I have used this type of sweetener before too, I think in one of my cakes, but it turned out to have a bitter after-taste.
Have you tried to cook/bake with this?
Thank you so much for the good information. I've never used xylitol and I'm always reluctant to use artificial sweeteners. Now I'll use it with confidence. Your cake looks lovely!
Thank you so much for the good information. I've never used xylitol and I'm always reluctant to use artificial sweeteners. Now I'll use it with confidence. Your cake looks lovely!
Wow thats good to know.
I haven't heard of that name! :)
Jeena, have sent u an urgent email pls check it..
I have never used xylitol before. Thanks for the info!!
Hey Jeena, I found this info so useful so I just linked it to a recipezaar forum page where the author of the thread was asking about using equal or sweet 'n low type stuff in baking. I thought this was a much better idea so I posted it there -hope you don't mind!
Great post, I need all the education possible on these types of seeteners. I'll be saving this so I can reference back!
Thanks for the great information! I will have to see if I can find some.
Nice reading and know abt xylitol..thanks for sharing..
Its great to know about this product... Wish we could get it in India ..
Thanks Jeena,
As a nurse, I fully recognize the value of using natural substitutes for sugar. But, while I knew a bit about xylitol, I certainly didn't know about the health benefits (besides being a low glycemic index sweetener).
And I certainly didn't know about the candida prevention angle. I wonder if it might also be effective in stopping an over growth of the spore forming C. difficelle that has become such a severe problem in the hospitals and nursing homes. (While C. diff is not a yeast, it does form spores like yeast.)
I've been using honey as a sweetener for 35 years, but there are just some recipes where honey isn't a good substitute. I'll be picking up some xylitol.
Thanks,
Rod
Thankyou for your lovely coments everybody. :-)
Hi Rod, thanks for the feedback. It is nice to know that someone in your line of work reads my blog.
I understand about using honey, it is great in many recipes but sometimes you don't always want the honey flavour in a recipe.
Thanks for stopping by Jeenaskitchen.blogspot.com
Jeena. :-)
The first time I ever heard of xylitol was this year at my Aunt's house. She made German Pancakes with xylitol. I have trouble with sugar, so this is great for me!
I started using Xylitol about a month ago and the thing that surprised me most was that all my sugar cravings disappeared. I'll never go back to sugar.
I have just been recently diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and the only artifical sweetener my doctor would recommend was xylitol. It tastes great.
I love baking with xylitol and it's a perfect substitute for sugar. My mom is a diabetic and she loves the fact that she can eat all my baked goods with no consequences. I have run into a bit of trouble in a few cookie recipes and was looking for any suggestions. Sometimes when I bake cookies, oatmeal for instance, and use the xylitol, the cookies are super crumbly and don't hold together well. They are soft and I think I need a binder of some sort. Any ideas?
Great article, nice to see more people learning about Xylitol.
Just a quick comment to help out those interested in baking with Xylitol.
Xylitol doesn't crystallise in the same way as sugar so you will lose some moisture in baking. You can counteract this by using less Xylitol, or (what I do), more liquids such as butter or egg. If you have problems with binding, you're probably better increasing your eggs.
A couple of warnings about Xylitol (nothing that would offset the benefits but just so you know). When you start using Xylitol it can initially have a laxative effect so build up your use over time. Also, it's fatal to dogs so if you have any, be extra careful with sweet treats around them.
I love Xylitol and wouldn't go back to anything else. And it's been great for my health.
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