Sorry, when I wrote that post I didn’t have time to do more research on it.

I would not use xylitol because it’s highly processed and refined. I don’t use agave for the same reason. I believe in eating foods that my great-grandmother would have eaten. Xylitol and agave are modern refined foods. I prefer to eat less refined, more natural sweeteners like honey, sucanat, palm sugar and maple syrup.

Even if xylitol turns out to be safe, we don’t know if it is now. They’re not doing tests and it hasn’t been around very long. So how can we know if it is safe for us to eat? Meanwhile, honey and maple syrup and other natural sweeteners have been eaten by humans for millennia.

The FDA? They also approved aspartame as safe. Any questions about whether that is safe, check out this site:

http://myaspartameexperiment.com/

If you get yeast infections and headaches from eating sweeteners, you may have a candida overgrowth or something. I’m not a doctor so please don’t take this as a diagnosis or anything. And if you don’t want my advice, please disregard it.

However, you *may* want to look into doing some kind of program that restores good gut flora. I used to have similar problems when I was in my 20s. I couldn’t eat any sugar without having symptoms. I went on an anti-candida diet and corrected it. It took a couple of years but after that I could eat sugar with no problems.

If it were me, I’d work on correcting my intestinal flora so I could go back to eating natural sugars. I’m going to do a post about this tomorrow so please check back.

Here’s some info from the emeraldforestxylitol.com site:
“Xylitol is naturally occuring in many fruits and vegetables. Once extracted and processed it yields a white, crystalline granule that can be used in any recipe that calls for sugar. It’s good for your teeth, stabilizes insulin and hormone levels, promotes good health and has none of the negative side effects of white sugar or artificial sweeteners. It contains only 2.4 calories per gram and is slowly absorbed as a complex carbohydrate.

Xylitol is a natural insulin stabilizer, therefore it doesn’t cause a spike in blood sugar and actually helps reduce sugar and carbohydrate cravings. There is a growing consensus among anti-aging research that maintaining low insulin levels is one of the keys to a successful anti-aging program.
Xylitol has no known toxic levels, though excessive use might cause a mild laxative effect which resolves as the body’s enzymatic activity adjusts. A large percentage passes through the body before the carbohydrates are absorbed, thereby making it safe for diabetics or anyone pursuing a healthy lifestyle.

Xylitol Crystals
Emerald Forest’s Xylitol comes from U.S.-grown hardwood trees.
Xylitol was approved by the FDA in 1963 as a food additive and diabetics have been using it for years. Xylitol has a glycemic index of seven while sugar is 68. Emerald Forest xylitol is made from U.S.-grown hardwood trees which yields is 99.5% pure xylitol crystals. The process of extracting xylitol from its source eliminates the possibility of allergic reactions from plant materials.

Xylitol is approved for use by:
• The U.S. Food and Drug Administration
• The World Health Organization’s Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives
• American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry
• The European Union’s Scientific Committee for Food
• The California Dental Association
• Calorie Control Council and many others

Many Journals cite the positive benefits of Xylitol,
including:
• The Journal of the American Dental Association
• The International Dental Journal
• Journal of Dental Research and many others

History of Xylitol
During World War II, Finland was suffering from a sugar shortage and with no domestic supply of sugar, they searched for, and rediscovered, an alternative – xylitol. It was only when xylitol was stabilized that it became a viable sweetener in foods. Researchers also discovered xylitol’s insulin–independent nature (it metabolizes in the body without using insulin).
* * *
Thanks,
Jeanmarie

Um, why is it shameless to promote an article for the Weston A. Price Foundation? They are a non-profit. Why exactly is that a bad thing?

And for what reasons do you call the science into question? Please elaborate.

This stinks of negative (read: liable) marketing to garner attention for – Weston A. Price Foundation magazine, shameless!