Glycerine in Low carb bars

I’ve noticed all the low carb bars contain glycerine…It has a calorie value of 4kcal/g. Is is metabolized in the body as a carb and therefore ilicits an insulin reponse defeating all purpose of a low carb diet? How is it metabolized in the body?

Do a search for “glycerine” at T-mag then read the Behind the Scenes articles that pop up. Tim has talked alot about these hidden carbs. Most companies also fiddle with the protein content too.

Yes, glycerine does have the same caloric value as carbohydrates (in a calorimeter), but it is not metabolized in a similar manner so the effective physiological caloric content may not be exactly the same. This is the reasoning most companies are using for not listing glycerine on the carb content.

First off, glycerine will not elicit an insulin response, so it should not muck up a keto diet if that is what you are on. Secondly, in the short-term glycerine is thought to be inert metabolically. It will not readily be converted to triglyceride (storage form of fat) even though glycerol serves as the backbone. Typically, glycerol needs to be converted to glycerolphosphate before it can be esterified with fatty acids. Finally, if in a state of ketosis, lipogenesis will not occur and glycerol will likely be oxidized as opposed to esterified.

If you are on a low carb diet and counting calories, you should probably make some room for the glycerine in the calorie count though. I would guess that it is less than 4 kcal/gram due to the fact that it enters glycolysis half way down.

bump for mdlp’s glycerine ?