Maltitol

Has anyone heard of that Maltitol stuff in Carbolite bars, they claim it has some sort of different carb than sugar and does not affect the body like sugar carbs, is this legit? The bar says that it has zero carbs, but has an asterix at the bottom about how these carbs don’t have a high enough GI to be normal carbs or something. Needless to say, I’m very skeptical, what have yall think or have heard?

Maltitol tastes like something someone left out in a chemistry lab, and if I remember correctly is loaded with calories and has no nutritional value. I could be way wrong here though. Anyone else want to chime in?

Maltitol is a sugar alcohol which as I recollect has between 1.4 and 1.8 calories per gram. Your small intestine lacks transporters for maltitol, therefore it is poorly absorbed through passive diffusion. Once it is absorped it is not metabolized very efficiently resulting in lower calories per gram than normal sugar. Most of maltitol or other sugar alchohols are not absorped at all but are metabolized well by bacteria in the small intestine resulting in a lot of gas and bloating. If you are willing to put up with the gas and bloating then maltitol would be a great sugar alternative. However, I can’t handle it. One time I ate a few packages of high protein candy by Iron-Tek which is loaded with maltitol, mannitol, and other sugar alchohols. I woke up in the middle of the night with horrible gas pains. That was the last time I ever had that candy. I believe that glycerol is a much better sugar substitute than sugar alchohols. By the way they are supposed to list sugar alchohols in the carbohydrate count. They should also include the calories in the total calorie count, which will be less than sugar if you add it up because of the lower calorie content of sugar alcohols.