Xylitol, as discussed yesterday BLOG, was used in my friends apple pie recipe (which I will get my hands on). The taste of the dessert shocked me and inspired this weeks worth of blogs! I love being inspired by desserts!
The benefits of this sugar substitute was even more shocking than the taste.
Benefits include:
- Prevents tooth decay and gum disease
- Helps prevent middle ear infections, nose and throat infections
- Reversing bone loss for Osteoporosis
- Helps with Insulin resistance, Diabetes Hypertension and Hormonal Imbalances
- Lowers cravings for sugar and carbohydrates
Sugar is acidic and weakens the immune system. Xylitol restores a alkaline/acidic balance in our mouth and makes it hard for the cavity causing bacteria to live in this inhospitable environment.
There is a xylitol nose spray which is sold everywhere and xylitol chewing gum. Both are shown to reduce bacteria growth that causes middle ear infections, allergy reduction, asthma and irritants that are caused by pollution.
Studies have been done on rats in Finland (Note: I am highly against tests performed on animals, but I am here to present the studies.) show increased bone density with rats that had their ovaries removed. In older male rats there was a decreasing bone loss with age-related effects. Svanberg M, Mattila P, Knuttila M. Dietary xylitol retards the ovariectomy-induced increase of bone turnover in rats. Calcif. Tissue Int. 60:462-466.
Diabetics have a problem with the consumption of refined carbohydrates and sugars. Because of a rapid glucose released into the body, excess glucose gives the diabetic a system over load and causes the cells to stop responding to insulin. Xylitol enters the bloodstream at 7 on the glycaemic index while sugar is at 100! For more information on this topic click HERE.
The more you eliminate sugar from your diet means the less you crave it, the less you want it!