Discover the benefits of xylitol, the safe alternative to sugar

Monday, November 11, 2013 by: Adrian Cooper
Tags: xylitol, safe alternatives, sugar substitute

(NaturalNews) The prevalent use of refined white cane sugar as a sweetener in foods and drinks is a serious contributing factor for a wide range of diseases, including cancer. Many alternatives, including aspartame and high-fructose - often GMO - corn syrup, are often even more dangerous to health than sugar. An excellent and unique alternative is xylitol, a sugar-like sweetener which is actually highly beneficial for health. Here is why.

For many generations, families have used the ubiquitous refined white cane sugar for sweetening drinks and foods, completely oblivious to the many health consequences.

In 2009, 50% of Americans were consuming at least half a pound of refined sugar per day in food and drink products, an incredible 180 pounds of refined sugar per year.

These are just a few of the adverse health consequences potentially arising from the use of refined cane sugar in any food or drink:

• Causes acidosis, the origin of a vast array of serious diseases
• Feeds "bad," pathogenic bacteria in the gut, weakening the immune system
• Feeds cancer cells making primary use of sugar to multiply and grow
• Causes tooth decay
• Contributes to diabetes
• Contributes to obesity
• Causes an energy deficit, experienced as tiredness and fatigue
• Affects brain function through B vitamin and "good microbe" depletion
• Leaches vital vitamins and minerals from bones and other parts of the body
• Converts to fatty acids which are deposited in the heart, kidneys and other organs

There are literally hundreds of further deleterious effects to health.

While alternative natural sweeteners such as maple syrup, stevia, agave, molasses, fructose and others avoid some or many of these issues, they still often fail the body in two main areas - they feed bad microbes in the gut and therefore weaken the immune system, and they cause the body to become more acidic, the root of countless health conditions.

Why xylitol is so different from sugar and highly beneficial to health

Although xylitol looks, tastes and behaves exactly like a sugar, it is actually not a sugar at all but a "sugar alcohol." This does not mean that it is alcoholic but that it contains five carbon atoms as opposed to the six carbon atoms of a sugar.

Xylitol is all natural, being extracted mostly from the bark of birch trees, the original source, but also from many other fibrous vegetables. A word of caution - xylitol is being increasingly made from corn husks. Corn husk xylitol should always be avoided on the basis that the corn from which it was processed may well be GMO.

Here are just a few of the numerous health benefits of xylitol

• Looks, tastes and behaves like sugar and is totally interchangeable
• Suitable for diabetics due to low glycemic index
• Antibacterial, antiviral for protecting against and fighting infections
• Antifungal, fighting candida, yeast and other fungal infections
• Alkalising, thereby helping to maintain the body at a healthy alkaline pH
• Probiotic and therefore feeds "good microbes" to strengthen the immune system
• Anti-pathogenic microbial, killing bad microbes that weaken the immune system
• Stabilizes insulin and hormone levels in harmony with the endocrine system
• Reduces craving for food and calories, thereby assisting weight loss
• Beneficial for helping sinus, ear and nose infections

Xylitol looks, tastes and behaves like sugar without all the harmful health consequences while being extremely beneficial for general health.

Sources:

http://nature.com

http://xylitol.org

http://science.naturalnews.com

About the author:
Adrian Cooper is the best-selling author of the highly acclaimed book Our Ultimate Reality, Life, the Universe and Destiny of Mankind. For 7 years he was also the author of a 7+ page weekly newsletter on Spiritual, Metaphysics, Quantum Mechanics and Natural Healing and Health related subjects, read by over one million people around the world.

Adrian has extensively researched the super-whole food Spirulina, which he also consumes in large amounts daily, and is the creator and author of the Spirulina Magic website which reveals in great depth all of the health, healing and nutritional benefits of Spirulina.

A raw vegan and practitioner of Natural Holistic Nutrition, Healing and Lifestyle, Adrian is an experienced writer and practitioner in every aspect of these fields, including the use of natural plants, herbs, fungi and algae in the context of a balanced natural raw food diet.

Adrian is also a practitioner of Zen meditation and other Spiritual disciplines, and throughout his life, as today, lives very close to Nature where he spends as much time as possible walking, meditating and being completely connected to life and the Universe.