Xylitol - All Natural Sweetener...Xylitol - Our Sweet Salvation?

Xylitol is not only a safe, natural sweetener without the bad side-effects of
sugar and artificial substitutes, it's also good for your teeth, stabilises
insulin and hormone levels and promotes good health.

Americans have a mighty hankering for sugar. It seems that we just can't get
enough of the stuff. On average, a half a cup of sugar is consumed per person
every day. It is estimated that the average American eats, drinks, slurps,
stirs and sprinkles about 150 pounds of it annually. Never in modern history
has a culture consumed so much sugar.

Sugar truly does deserve its reputation as a "white poison". Thinking of
sugar as a food is really a stretch of the imagination, because it is more a
chemical that is difficult for our bodies to utilise and digest. Humans were
really not designed to eat large amounts of sugar in whatever form it may
take: white and brown, corn syrup, sucrose, dextrose, glucose, fructose,
lactose, maltose, barley malt, honey, rice syrup and maple syrup. Sugar is
also highly seductive, acting like an addictive drug that lures even the most
well-intentioned person back into its sweet clutches.

According to Chinese wisdom, sweetness is one of the flavours necessary for
maintaining balance in the body. But regularly eating large amounts of sugar
will cause serious harm. Sugar can cause hypoglycaemia and weight gain,
leading to diabetes and obesity in both children and adults. It leaches the
body of vital minerals and vitamins. It raises blood pressure, triglycerides
and the bad cholesterol (LDL), increasing the risk of heart disease. It
causes tooth decay and periodontal disease, which leads to tooth loss and
systemic infections. It makes it difficult for a child's brain to learn,
resulting in a lack of concentration. Both children and adults exhibit
disruptive behaviour, learning disorders and forgetfulness from sugar
consumption. It initiates auto-immune and immune deficiency disorders such as
arthritis, allergies and asthma. It also upsets hormonal imbalance and
supports the growth of cancer cells.

So what are we to do? Will our sugar-cravings always hold us hostage, or is
there really a way to lick the sugar habit successfully?

Xylitol to the Rescue!

During World War II, Finland was suffering from an acute sugar shortage. With
no domestic supply of sugar, the Finns searched for an alternative. It was
then that the Finnish scientists re-discovered xylitol, a low-calorie sugar
made from birch bark. It had, in fact, been known to the world of organic
chemistry since it was first manufactured in 1891 by a German chemist.
By 1930, xylitol had been purified, but it wasn't until World War II that the
sugar shortages forced researchers to look at alternative sweeteners. It was
only when xylitol was stabilised that it became a viable sweetener in foods.
It was also during this time that researchers discovered xylitol's insulin-
independent nature (it metabolises in the body without using insulin).

By the 1960s, xylitol was being used in Germany, Switzerland, the Soviet
Union and Japan as a preferred sweetener in diabetic diets and as an energy
source for infusion therapy in patients with impaired glucose tolerance and
insulin resistance. Since then, many other countries including Italy and
China have been producing xylitol for use in their domestic markets--and with
remarkable health benefits. It has been relatively unknown in the USA and
Australia, primarily because cheap supplies of cane sugar made the more
expensive xylitol less economically viable.

Xylitol is a natural substance found in fibrous vegetables and fruit, as well
as in corn cobs and various hardwood trees like birch. It is a natural,
intermediate product which regularly occurs in the glucose metabolism of man
and other animals as well as in the metabolism of several plants and micro-
organisms. Xylitol is produced naturally in our bodies; in fact, we make up
to 15 grams daily during normal metabolism.

Although xylitol tastes and looks exactly like sugar, that is where the
similarities end. Xylitol is really sugar's mirror image. While sugar wreaks
havoc on the body, xylitol heals and repairs. It also builds immunity,
protects against chronic degenerative disease and has anti-ageing benefits.

Xylitol is considered a five-carbon sugar, which means it is an
antimicrobial, preventing the growth of bacteria. While sugar is acid
forming, xylitol is alkaline enhancing. All other forms of sugar, including
sorbitol, another popular alternative sweetener, are six-carbon sugars which
feed dangerous bacteria and fungi.

Approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1963, xylitol has no
known toxic levels. The only discomfort that some sensitive people may notice
initially when taking large amounts is mild diarrhoea or slight cramping.

Since the body makes xylitol daily, as well as the enzymes to break it down,
any discomfort usually disappears within a few days as the body's enzymatic
activity adjusts to a higher intake.

Xylitol has 40 per cent fewer calories and 75 per cent fewer carbohydrates
than sugar and is slowly absorbed and metabolised, resulting in very
negligible changes in insulin. About one-third of the xylitol that is
consumed is absorbed in the liver. The other two-thirds travels to the
intestinal tract where it is broken down by gut bacteria into short-chain
fatty acids.

Xylitol looks, feels and tastes exactly like sugar and leaves no unpleasant
aftertaste. It is available in many forms. In its crystalline form, it can
replace sugar in cooking, baking or as a sweetener for beverages. It is also
included as an ingredient in chewing gum, mints and nasal spray.

by Sherrill Sellman

#1 Publisher of Alternative Cancer Treatments

Ray Stevens - God Save Arizona

God Bless Everyone & God Bless The United States of America.
Larry Nelson
cancercurehere@gmail.com