Health Benefits And Nutritional Value of Xylitol

Health Benefits And Nutritional Value of Xylitol

Nutritional Value of XylitolAs a sugar substitute, xylitol contains no vitamins or minerals. It contains carbohydrates, calories, and a variety of organic compounds that affect the body. While it has long been used simply as a hyperglycemia-safe sweetener, recent studies have revealed many more important health benefits that it can confer on the body.

Best 10 Health Benefits of Xylitol

1.Diabetes Management
One of the most common afflictions of modern life is diabetes. Perhaps this is because of an increase in high-fat diets around the world, or a globalization of fast food, or the generally high-paced life that doesn’t allow people to eat properly, but the problem remains. Therefore, any solution that can help manage diabetes, which is an inability of the body to properly maintain insulin and glucose levels throughout the body, is very important. 

Xylitol is a chemically processed form of sugar, meaning that the body cannot break down the carbohydrates into simple sugars and flood the bloodstream with it, thereby throwing off the balance of insulin and glucose. This means that diabetic patients can consume xylitol in all of their normal foods without the fear of huge plunges or spikes in blood sugar levels. This is the oldest and most commonly used application of xylitol, and has helped millions of diabetic patients around the world.

2.Antibacterial Abilities
One of the basic chemical applications of xylitol is as an alkalizing agent. It increases the alkalinity and decreases the acidity in the body and mouth. Alkalinity is not a good situation for bacteria, because it cannot grow in that condition. Therefore, xylitol has been long praised for its ability to wipe out bacterial infections and colonies of all kinds throughout the body.

3.Dental Health
In a similar vein to the antibacterial qualities explained above, xylitol has been shown to be very good for oral health. Some of the world bacterial strains, like Streptococcus bacilli, can be neutralized by xylitol, thereby preventing infections in the mouth. Also, xylitol has been found to reduce plaque, as well as caries and cavities. Numerous studies conducted around the world has shown xylitol to be far better as a deterrent to cavities than normal sugars that are often found in toothpastes. Normal sugars increase acidity, which makes them counterproductive in mouthwashes and toothpastes, but xylitol is ideal for that purpose.

4.Bad Breath
Xylitol has even been connected with a reduction in halitosis, which is a fancy word for “bad breath”. Halitosis is a bacterial infection that results in that foul smell that seems almost impossible to get rid of. Xylitol-based chewing gum is often recommended by doctors and dentists alike to get your breath back to its peak freshness!

5.Weight Loss Aid
One of the side effects of xylitol is that it slows down the digestive process slightly, mainly in terms of the time the stomach takes to empty. This means that people who eat xylitol-based foods will feel full for longer, similar to the effects you have after eating a high-fiber meal. When your stomach is full, you are less likely to snack or overeat in a given meal, maintaining a healthy, balanced caloric intake and helping to aid in any dieting or weight loss efforts.

6.Ear Infections
One of the most interesting effects of adding xylitol to your diet is its effect on ear infections. These commonly afflict children, but are also known to affect adults as well. Xylitol has antiviral and antibacterial effects, which are often the immune attackers that result in ear infections, but only 8-10 grams of xylitol resulted in a 30% decrease in the prevalence of ear infections. Clearing up those painful conditions for children and adults is a recent development in the xylitol legend!

7.Sinus Health
Many people have begun turning to Neti Pots to clear up their sinus infections and conditions in recent years. Xylitol has those important antibacterial qualities, so adding some of this replacement sweetener to your Neti recipe can speed up the healing process and keep your sinuses clear.

8.Bone Mineral Density
Although this is still a relatively new area of xylitol research, some researchers in Canada have shown promising results of xylitol increasing bone mineral density in various species. While human testing and studies are still underway, the signs look very promising for xylitol as a bone booster. This might be due to a higher absorption rate of other minerals when coupled with xylitol, but whatever the exact mechanism is, improving the strength, durability, and healing speed of bones is extremely valuable, particularly as we get older and begin suffering from common afflictions like osteoporosis. Most likely, this effect is due to the alkalizing effect of xylitol; acidity in the body actually leeches calcium from the system, making bones weaker.

9.Gastrointestinal Effects
Since xylitol is somewhat similar to dietary fiber in its basic function within the gut, it has also been found to have similar side effects as dietary fiber. Xylitol efficiently converts into short fatty acid chains that increase gut function and efficiency, thereby reducing stagnantion in the digestive tract and reducing gastrointestinal conditions, including ulcers, constipation, diarrhea, hemorrhoids, and even certain types of cancer associated with the gut. Xylitol also slows down the growth of Candida Albicans, a very serious yeast infection, which is connected to ulcers and cancer. It also eliminates the bacteria you may have picked up in certain foods, like H. pylori bacteria or other dangerous strains, and effectively neutralizes them before they can do any real damage.

10.Immune System
As mentioned earlier, the antibacterial and antiviral capacity of xylitol make it an important weapon that fights against infections in various parts of the body, like the sinuses, mouth, throat, and stomach. Xylitol provides a general boost to the immune system from top to bottom in your system, and increases the general efficiency of your system by alkalizing it and providing the energy for other metabolic processes. Finally, although the evidence has not been completely verified, early studies have shown that xylitol directly affects the amount of white blood cells that are in the body, meaning that this sugar substitute directly boosts the infection-fighting power of our entire body.