The Specific Carbohydrate Diet

Frequently Asked Questions


Isomalt

Seth found this interesting link from the makers of Isomalt:

http://www.isomaltusa.com/gastroin.htm#ISOMALT

"A tried and true rule of smart nutrition, is don't always eat the same foods — variety is the key to getting the balance of nutrients your body needs. Eating excessive amounts of any single food is unwise, but is especially unwise for foods like sugar replacers and high-fiber foods that contain carbohydrates which are not completely digested by the body."

"Some people who have previously tried sugar-free products made with sugar replacers probably already know that these ingredients might cause a gastrointestinal reaction such as more gas than usual and softer, even more watery stools, if too much is eaten. The reason people should not initially eat a lot of sugar-replacer containing products, especially if they are unaccustomed to eating low digestible carbohydrate, is rather simple. Non-digested carbohydrate has what is called an osmotic effect; that means that the carbohydrate that stays in the intestine pulls water from cells of the body back into the intestine. This normal pull-water-back-into-the-intestine process is why bran and prunes help relieve constipation. Sugar replacers can do the same thing.

"Most people have no gastrointestinal problem from ISOMALT but some are more sensitive. To a certain degree, a person's reaction depends on what else they have been eating and other individual variables. Flatulence or "wind," as the British say, can happen if the bacteria in a person's colon are able to use unabsorbed carbohydrate for their own food; bacteria's waste products are gas and short fatty acids."

To which Seth quips, "Interesting stuff! Almost SCD-ish."

... it certainly is...

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"We must never forget that what the patient takes beyond his ability to digest does harm."
    Dr. Samuel Gee

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