It is almost past the Mid-Autumn Festival, and it is a good time to eat mooncakes and send mooncakes once a year. This was not the same as the "knowing that the mooncake ate diarrhea" a few days ago, and it was also on the hot search. Later, after some research, everyone figured out: I knew that I wanted to send some healthy low-sugar mooncakes to the creators, but because I used too much maltitol as a sugar substitute, some people were diluted after eating.
So the question is, why does maltitol eat too much and cause diarrhea? Does eating all the sugar alcohols make people diarrhea? Are the various sugar substitutes added to food healthy? Let's talk about it today.
I also received, wanted to eat, and haven't eaten yet
01What is a sugar alcohol?
A sugar alcohol is a polyol that is generally prepared from a wide range of sugars. For example, the production of xylitol by xylose reduction is the familiar xylitol, and maltose reduction is generated by maltitol that appeared in this mooncake event. In addition, the currently developed sugar alcohols are as follows: glucose→ sorbitol fructose→ mannitol lactose→ lactitol glucose→ erythritol sucrose→ isomaltoneitol
sorbitol
Sugar alcohols are now one of the more typical "functional food additives". Why is it added to food? Because it has many advantages in itself. First of all, the stability of sugar alcohols to acid heat is good, and the Maillard reaction is not so easy to occur when it is hot, so it generally does not cause nutrient loss and carcinogen production and accumulation.
Although but... As soon as the Maillard reaction appeared, I felt very fragrant
Secondly, sugar alcohol will not be used by microorganisms in our mouth, so that the pH value in the mouth is reduced, so it does not corrode the teeth; also, sugar alcohol will not increase the human blood sugar value, but also provide people with a certain amount of calories, so it can be used as a nutritional sweetener for diabetics.
There are many kinds of xylitol snacks and desserts on the market
So you can understand why sugar alcohols have become typical "functional food additives", right? After all, people have low sweetness, high nutritional safety, do not cause caries, do not affect blood sugar values, and have high acid and thermal stability. Pretty outstanding! Of course, although the sugar alcohol is good, you can't be greedy - most sugar alcohols usually have a slowing effect when taken in large doses, which is why "knowing the mooncake ate diarrhea" on the hot search...
02 Sugar alcohol eat more diarrhea, what principle?
Before we talk about the principle, let's first look at the laxative effects of several common (commonly used) sugar alcohols. The next time you eat it in your mouth, be prepared:
Sugar alcohol sweetness (sucrose = 100) Laxative xylitol 90-100++ sorbitol 50-60++ mannitol 50-60+ + maltitol 80-90 ++ lactitol 30-40 +
Source: Salminen and Hallikainen (2001). Sweeteners, Food Additives. Ⅱnd Edition.
The sugar alcohol eaten into the stomach is not broken down by pepsin, but directly into the intestine. Most sugar alcohols are absorbed slowly in the intestine, resulting in a higher osmotic pressure, resulting in an increase in the osmolal pressure of the intestinal contents, and then the water of the mucous membrane of the intestinal wall will enter the intestinal lumen, and then you will be a thousand miles away. At the same time, after the sugar alcohol enters the large intestine, it will be fermented by intestinal bacteria to produce gas, so the stomach and intestines will also be flatulent.
However, not all sugar alcohols produce diarrhea and flatulence. For example, erythritol, the only zero-calorie sugar alcohol, has a small molecular weight and is easy to absorb, and only a small amount enters the large intestine to be fermented by microorganisms. The human body's tolerance to erythritol is also relatively high, 80% of erythritol into the human blood, is not catabolized by enzymes, does not provide energy for the body, does not participate in sugar metabolism, can only be excreted through the urine, so usually does not cause diarrhea and flatulence.
Erythritol, not advertised
Another example isomaltitol. The body tolerates a large amount of isomaltitol, and a daily intake of 50g will not cause gastrointestinal discomfort. In addition, isomaltultanol is also an excellent bifidobacterium proliferative factor, which can promote the growth and reproduction of bifidobacteria, maintain the microbiological balance of the intestine, and benefit good health.
In summary, the main reason why sugar alcohol causes diarrhea and flatulence is that it is not metabolized by human enzymes but is used by the intestinal flora; the other is that the human body has a low tolerance to it. If erythritol and isomaltone sugar alcohol are used in food, or if the formula is improved to increase the body's tolerance to sugar alcohols, the side effects of sugar alcohols can be greatly reduced.
@Zhihu
What else is there in the 03 generation of sugar? Is it really safe?
Many people love to eat sweet, but while sweetness brings us happiness, it also brings obesity, dental caries and cardiovascular disease. Therefore, in order to meet the dual needs of taste and health, sugar substitutes were born. Sugar substitutes are a class of compounds that sweeten foods and are low in calories. In addition to sugar alcohols, there are other types of sugar substitutes, such as licorice, stevia, monk fruit glycosides, somatian and other natural sugar substitutes; as well as synthetic sugar substitutes such as saccharin, acesulfame potassium, aspartame, sucralose, cyclamate and so on.
Many beverages on the market are labeled "sugar-free, 0 sugar", many of which are actually "sucrose-free, fructose-free", and usually add sweeteners (sugar substitutes) to ensure sweetness. For example, the "xx forest" soda is added with erythritol and sucralose.
Some time ago, the concept of "sugar-free" and "zero sugar" caused widespread discussion on the Internet, and many people were questioning its security. How to say it? The relationship between sugar substitutes and health is actually quite complicated.
First of all, natural sugar substitutes have a positive impact on human health. At present, the main difficulties are their production costs and the availability of natural resources. Monk fruit contains a natural sugar substitute "monk fruit sweetin". Studies have shown that monk fruit sweet glycosides can improve the use of glucose and fat, increase insulin sensitivity, that is to say, it is expected to improve diabetes. Unfortunately, these mechanisms of action are not yet clear.
Monk fruit
Other scientific studies have shown that zero-calorie synthetic sugar substitutes can reduce the number of beneficial bacteria in the intestine, resulting in imbalance of the intestinal flora and increasing the risk of glucose intolerance. Some sugar substitutes (mainly low-calorie synthetic sugar substitutes), such as isomaltoneitol and lactitol, can play a positive role by increasing the number and diversity of the intestinal flora. In addition to this, xylitol has an inhibitory effect on digestive enzymes such as α-glucosidase. Neohesperidin has some antioxidant properties. A mixture of saccharin and neohesperidin improves and increases beneficial bacteria. Steviol glycosides have the effect of insulinotropic, hypoglycemic and glucose homeostasis.
In general, most of the foods we see with added sugar substitutes can be approved for listing, so we don't have to worry too much about its safety. Just buy this kind of product, look at the ingredient list clearly, and then eat it in moderation.
参考文献1. Ghosh S, Sudha ML. A review on polyols: new frontiers for health-based bakery products. Int J Food Sci Nutr 63, 372-379 (2012).2.Evaluation of certain food additives Eighty-seventh report of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives. Evaluation of Certain Food Additives: Eighty-Seventh Report of the Joint Fao/Who Expert Committee on Food Additives 1020, I-+ (2019).3.Gomez-Fernandez AR, Santacruz A, Jacobo-Velazquez DA. The complex relationship between metabolic syndrome and sweeteners. J Food Sci 86, 1511-1531 (2021).4.Ebrahimzadeh V, Ardalan MR, Mandavi AM, Gorbani A. A review of the health hazards of artificial sweeteners: are they safe? Prog Nutr 20, 36-43 (2018).5.Suez J, et al. Artificial sweeteners induce glucose intolerance by altering the gut microbiota. Nature 514, 181-+ (2014).6.Palmnas MSA, et al. Low-Dose Aspartame Consumption Differentially Affects Gut Microbiota-Host Metabolic Interactions in the Diet-Induced Obese Rat. Plos One 9, (2014).7.Kuk JL, Brown RE. Aspartame intake is associated with greater glucose intolerance in individuals with obesity. Appl Physiol Nutr Me 41, 795-798 (2016).8.Lertrit A, et al. Effects of sucralose on insulin and glucagon-like peptide-1 secretion in healthy subjects: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Nutrition 55-56, 125-130 (2018).9.Chukwuma CI, Islam MS. Effects of xylitol on carbohydrate digesting enzymes activity, intestinal glucose absorption and muscle glucose uptake: a multi-mode study. Food Funct 6, 955-962 (2015).10.Chukwuma CI, Islam MS. Xylitol Improves Anti-Oxidative Defense System in Serum, Liver, Heart, Kidney and Pancreas of Normal and Type 2 Diabetes Model of Rats. Acta Pol Pharm 74, 817-826 (2017).11.Daly K, Darby AC, Hall N, Nau A, Bravo D, Shirazi-Beechey SP. Dietary supplementation with lactose or artificial sweetener enhances swine gut Lactobacillus population abundance. Brit J Nutr 111, S30-S35 (2014).12.Jeppesen PB, Gregersen S, Alstrup KK, Hermansen K. Stevioside induces antihyperglycaemic, insulinotropic and glucagonostatic effects in vivo: studies in the diabetic Goto-Kakizaki (GK) rats. Phytomedicine 9, 9-14 (2002).13.Zhang YL, Zhou GS, Peng Y, Wang MY, Li XB. Anti-hyperglycemic and anti-hyperlipidemic effects of a special fraction of Luohanguo extract on obese T2DM rats. J Ethnopharmacol 247, (2020).14.Li XC, Chen B, Xie H, He YH, Zhong DW, Chen DF. Antioxidant Structure-Activity Relationship Analysis of Five Dihydrochalcones. Molecules 23, (2018).