Question about Sugar Alcohol!!!

[Bigitalianguy1982]

hey guys....

really quick question....I love to chew gum cause it keeps my mind off of eating and such but question I know sugar alcohol has been known to cause stalls and things of that nature.

question is when im reading the nutritional facts on the back....

if it says 1g carb and 1g sugar alc. do I minus the carb to make is zero or still count it as 1g carb per piece of gum???

thanks

Dana

[Einy]

You could.. Some bodies though treat sugar alcohol just like regular sugar. This is the most asked question here in ADBB; from what I have seen in the past, most people either avoid them altogether or subtract just half of the amount.. Meaning, if your sugar alcohol intake is 6 carbs a day, just treat them as 3.

Again, it all depends on your body. The rule of thumb is, if you experience upset stomach when you take a low amount of s.a. (may be <=5), then that means your body is NOT treating them as sugar.

Me personally I try to avoid them as much as I can, but I am a BIG ice-cream lover, some low carb brands have a large amount of s.a. there, I usually start to experience stomach issues around 10+ s.a carbs/day. I therefore treat them just like regular carbs.

[Desertthorn]

I agree, count the carbs of the sugar alcohol, but better yet, try to ween yourself off them as induction is really a time to get our old habits changed to good habits. On this plan you should never be hungry but if you switch from chewing gum to sipping water?? that might work better for you.

[clogger]

I'm not sure what stage of Atkins you are on. If you are on Induction you are officially limited to 3 artificial sweeteners per day. For example, three pieces of gum or one piece of gum, one packet of Splenda, and one diet soda. You may want to try chewing 1/2 of a piece of gum at a time to spread things out.

Since you are trying to "keep your mind off of food" I'm wondering if you are eating when you're hungry or not. Dr. Atkins said if you're hungry - eat. We are just not to stuff ourselves.

Another thing to keep in mind is that whether we consume "real" sweeteners (like sugar or honey) or artificial sweeteners (like Splenda, sugar alcohols, etc) it usually leads to us wanting more of them. Are you taking in a lot of artificial sweeteners in a day? If so, you're probably dealing with cravings. If you cut them out or severely limit them you may find the cravings go away.

Like Einy said, it all depends on how these things affect you personally. Good luck to you!