Maltitol Warning

[Waterbabe_Helena]

I found this at http://www.commonvoice.com/readthread.asp?cid=5711


Fred from Portland writes:

9/12/2006 9:41:24 PM
Hoo Boy! That explains it! I bought some great low-carb chocolate from Trader J's and noted that the whole bar supposedly contained 2 net carbs. Naturally, my wife and I daintily took one little piece each and congratulated ourselves on our restraint, and nibbled a tiny bit off a corner while making little bunnylike nose-squinchy giggles and shrugs at our naughtiness.

The next thing I knew the chocolate bar was gone in a brownish blur, there were pieces of wrapper in our teeth and strewn about the floor and our faces and furniture were smeared with grubby chocolatey finger-smudges. Ah, how we giggled yet again at our own weakness and utter humanity, and promised to make the next one last a little longer than 1.3 seconds.

Skip to three hours later. The rock-shivering cacaphony reverberating in our living room can best be described as sounding like an orchestral tuba section warming up, a dirigible rupturing and the earthy bla-a-atting tones of a fleet of diesel semis throwing on the "jake brakes" on a long downhill stretch, with the odd bassoon glissando thrown in to provide color, and flutey, schoolgirl-ish "skirt-lifter" flourishes blupping periodically from my soulmate.

I have never had gas so bad in my life. Not even close, and in my family "pull my finger" is considered a cooing utterance of affection, followed by the inevitable sound of a watermelon breaking in half.

The cramps alone were excruciating, much less the sore stomach muscles from simultaneously moaning in pain and laughing (which caused an odd "putt-putt" style nether-zephyr to emerge in staccato trumpet-blasts from our hindquarters, eliciting further torture to our already weakened respiratory systems). We were on all fours, barking from both ends. Not a pretty sight.

Or smell. You'll just have to imagine that, for words can only fail to deliver an account of such a horrendous assault on the olfactory organs, save to those who work in sewage treatment facilities or overcrowded South American prisons. If you need a prompt for a realistic simulation to catalog in your own mental flatulence-file, hold a teenager's wet sneaker up to one nostril and a freshly-opened bag of pork rinds to the other in a kitchen where cabbage is being overcooked. Then you might BEGIN to suggest a vague guess as to the essence.

Until I read this review and understood the magical hurricane-producing properties of maltitol on the digestive system, I had no idea why we had spontaneously erupted like a wind section in a John Cage score. We thought we had somehow insulted the Aztec gods of the bean harvest or something. Now that we know, we will avoid the detestable sugar-fraud in favor of something kinder to our poor abused starfish and easier on our laundry bill.

[not2late]

Sugar alcohols have that effect on some folks. So beware: your mileage may vary!

[CarbaholicJoe]

Can be good as a laxative when bunged up though

[ValidRouge]

ROFL, I can relate. I can Soooooooo relate.

[Miss Phode]

That's hysterical. Thanks for sharing!

[ladyinred]

ROTFLMAO Omigosh!!!! I'm so glad I'm not at work right now cuz they'd lock me up for laughing hysterically by myself in my office. lolol Thanks. Now my stomach hurts from laughing so much. Oh my. sigh.

[2big4mysize]

yep Sugar alcohol candies are better named CYP candy as in c r a p your pants. in the US they have to have a tolerance statement on file with the FDA about how much is the common threshold for getting that reaction and you'd be surprized at some of them. remember to SAs occur naturally in mamny foods even protein sources so it is the cummulative effect of all you have consumed that can cause that action too.

[scott123]

The article is very well written and quite entertaining, but, unfortunately, the message it's conveying is a bit counterproductive to the low carb/diabetic community.

Bottom line- it equates maltitol with pain. For some people, this is certainly the case. For many people though, the majority of the population, this is NOT the case, especially when consumed in moderation.

For those of us truly committed to this WOE, sugar will never again be an option. Sugar alcohols such as maltitol are one of the only options for achieving sugary texture in sweets and baked goods. Forever is very long time to forgo a chewy brownie. An even longer time to forgo a halfway decent chocolate bar. A very long time indeed.

This type of article scares people from trying maltitol. Rather than approaching maltitol judiciously and wisely, from an informed standpoint, many low carbers just say 'no.' The net result? Deprivation. Deprivation that at some point could result in cheating. Deprivation that is completely unnecessary for those large numbers of people who can consume maltitol in moderation.

This is a long haul we have before us. It's a marathon not a sprint. If there's a potential ingredient lurking out there that can aid us in our quest to avoid sugar, then by all means, we should find out if we can tolerate it. It's more than worth the effort. Try a small amount. If it gives you gas, consume a little bit each day and see if you can acclimate yourself to it. If a few weeks pass and it's still giving you the gurgles, cross it off the list. If you find it stalling you, again, cross it off the list.

Maltitol deserves a chance. Not a fear based uninformed knee jerk reaction.

[sadie147]

I'm with Scott. I love my occaisional indugence of a Cadbury's Delight bar (IMO the best s/f chocolate on the market). As long as I don't eat more than one serving, I'm also fine. The authors of this admit to eating far more than just a couple of pieces, which would be the problem. I also will have the exact same issueswith fibre if i have an unreasonable amount of g's in a day (usually more than 20) . Everything in moderation I think.

[Waterbabe_Helena]

Originally Posted by scott123

This type of article scares people from trying maltitol.
Maltitol deserves a chance. Not a fear based uninformed knee jerk reaction.

I thought the writer made is abundantly clear that the pair of them ate far too much at one sitting.

I bought some Maltitol sweets from Holland & Barrett a couple of months back and like many carb addicts, I simply could not stop once I'd opened the pack.

I also suffered terrible pain and diarrheoa for three days. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to write wittily about it. I personally would never touch Maltitol again.