Stevia, Erythritol etc Count or Not Count Confused

(Baz) #1

Heya,

So I’m pretty sure this topic has been covered before - I did a quick search - there’s a million topics on it. So from my understanding these two sugars DON’T effect your blood sugar… however - I am rather confused.

I am using the app TotalKetoDiet to track everything - when I scan my sugars, it counts the carbs. I do not understand this. Do you count the carbs or not?

So… IF allegedly .

  • it does not spike your blood sugar
  • your body doesn’t recognize nor absorbs it
  • it has no caloric value

Then how come each tsp (4 gm) of Erythritol has 4 gm of carbs? 4 carbs = 12 calories?

I’m confused…

#2

Just a guess but maybe your app TotalKetoDiet is called that because it counts total carbs (including fiber, sugar alcohols) and not net carbs.

Personally I only count net carbs, so for me Erythritol is practically 0 carbs after taking away the sugar alcohol.

So it all depends if you count total or net when it comes to carbs.

(Baz) #3

Actually it does count “net carbs” - I made sure of that when I scanned my labels of ex: chia seeds (has 5 grams of fiber). So… essentially, then my thought process is correct - don’t count sugar alcohol carbs?

Sooo… does this mean I can chew thousands of pieces of PUR that have 1 carb/piece of erythritol and still be okay?

#4

As you said earlier, the body doesn’t absorb or metabolise sugar alcohols like erythritol so I personally don’t count it, but it all comes down to the individual. Some people reacts differently to artificial sugars. Some find even artificial sweeteners can trigger cravings like normal sugar can. And besides erythritol, some other artificial sugars can spike one person’s insulin and not another’s.

So I say proceed (but just to be safe, don’t go chewing a thousand pieces of PUR just yet). :slight_smile:

#5

Sweeteners can be idiosyncratic. They do not always have the same effect on everyone. So what matters is how it effects you. Which can only be determined by testing your blood glucose response.

Nevertheless, there are several videos folks have posted of their n=1 testing: