It can be difficult to find sweet treats if you are following a low-carb diet. Although sugar-free gums contain some carbohydrates in the form of sugar alcohols, these carbohydrates may not cause a rapid increase insulin, though they should still be counted if you are following a low-carb diet, as consumption of large amounts of sugar free gum can cause an increase in blood glucose levels.
What Are the Carbs in Sugar Free Gum?
Although sugar-free gum does not contain any sugar, it still has some carbohydrates. These carbohydrates come in the form of sugar alcohols. For example, one stick of Extra Sugarfree Delights contains 2 g of sugar alcohols, according to the Wrigley website. Similarly, Trident gum, which is also sugar free, contains between 1 and 2 g of sugar alcohols per serving, depending on the type of gum. Sugar alcohols are listed as "carbohydrates" on nutrition labels.
Sugar Alcohols and Metabolism
Technically speaking, sugar alcohols do count as carbohydrates, because your body ultimately is able to convert them into glucose, which is the fate of all carbohydrates that you eat. This means that technically, the sugar alcohols should be counted in low carb diets. However, sugar alcohols provide fewer calories per gram than other carbohydrates. Your body also converts sugar alcohols into glucose more slowly, which in turn causes a smaller increase in insulin secretion than other kinds of carbohydrates.
Insulin and Low Carb Diets
The effects that different carbohydrate sources have on insulin is important because of the way that low carb diets work. The theory behind low carb diets is that increased insulin levels cause your body to convert glucose into fat; if your insulin levels stay low, your body will burn fat reserves as energy. Thus, sugar alcohols may not be as detrimental to low carb diets as other kinds of carbohydrates due to their diminished effects on insulin.
Considerations
Because the sugar alcohols in sugar-free gum qualify as carbohydrates, you should be careful about consuming large amounts of sugar free gum if you are following a low carb diet. If one or two pieces puts you over your daily carbohydrate goal, it likely won't have a major effect on your weight loss, but consuming large quantities of sugar alcohols can cause blood glucose levels to rise, which will counteract the metabolism changes generated by the low carb diet.
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