BellaOnline Forums Food and Wine Low Carb Lactitol - The new Olestra?

I'll add another vote on behalf of sugar alcohols.

We eat the Hershey's products in my house... my boyfriend eats the Reese's PB cups, and I eat the small bars.

Neither of us have experienced even mild symptoms as a result, and while I've not eaten the whole bag in a day before, I've certainly had 5 or 6 at a time, and my boy certainly has eaten the whole bag of PB cups before.

Yeah, its a laxative. Yeah, some people react badly. I don't think any of us here really know the statistics of who does and who doesn't, so the bottom line is that we're all correct about one thing: until you know for sure, start slowly.

N

I had the bright idea to buy this demon candy two days ago. About 5 hours after eating 7 pieces, my stomach started churning. Shortly after, I had explosive diarreah. I actually had to call in sick to work yesterday. I couldn't very well sit at my desk farting all day. I took some Mylanta yesterday and that just made matters worse. The gas became trapped and I felt like I would literally explode. I was so full of gas that my left shoulder hurt and I started sweating from the pain. Eventually, the Mylanta wore off and I farted for about 2 hours straight and they were the best farts of my life. I finally had relief. I very rarely fart. My husband thought it was funny, but I was miserable. I really wish I had found this board before I bought Satan's candy, but at least I have confirmation that it was the cause of my problem. Thanks everyone. This candy is proof that if something seems to good to be true, then it really is. My diet is normally very healthy. I try to avoid all junk food, but every now and then I just crave chocolate. Since I don't eat sugar, I thought this would be a better option. How wrong I was.

It's a very personal thing. We eat a ton of it, no problem. I know MANY many people in my circle of friends who live off of these products. Yes, it's always best to simply eat natural food. But those Entenmann's muffins for example are DELICIOUS and they are such a treat.

Always eat just one of something first to see how you react. If you react poorly, fine, avoid that food product. That goes for peanuts or milk products or anything else. But if you're in the majority and enjoy it, then your world has a gigantic variety of new options <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Heck, with sugar alcohols, you fart. Not necessarily a big deal. Our culture finds it embarassing - others find it amusing. With peanuts, many people *die*. My friend is deathly allergic to peanuts. So it's important to keep this in perspective <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I had to register just to respond to this. I've not found lactitol boxed as an OTC laxative, so I'll have to take y'all's word for it. Lactitol has been proven in clinical studies to lower blood ammonia, which is very helpful to some (and it doesn't require a prescription like lactulose).

But, I have to say I probably wouldn't stay on the low carb diet *except* for the variety of low carb treats, including those with aspartame, Splenda, and sugar alcohols. Splenda isn't all sunshine and roses - it is a sugar molecule with chlorine replacing some of the atoms. Aspartame of course we know the warnings on - funny, sounds like the same complaints about lactitol - some people have problems with it, some people don't.

Olestra has been proven to deplete Vitamin K - they even supplement foods with Olestra with Vitamin K to avoid a deficiency. I don't think comparing Olestra and lactitol is a fair comparison. And I also don't like chips with Olestra, they *do not* taste like the real thing to me.

Anyway, read your labels. The most difficult part I find is hearing about a "great low carb treat", and then finding out it has saccharin/aspartame/splenda/lactitol/maltitol/whatever in it that you're trying to avoid.

IMHO, the only thing I feel remotely okay about giving my kids is Splenda (not more than once per week), but I'm rethinking that. My nephew (10) and niece (13) are thin as rails, and have been drinking diet Coke as the beverage of choice for several years, scary...

And taste-wise, Reese's Sugar Free PBC do taste great, and by the way, some people need to get a bit looser bowels when on low carb.

Caveat emptor...

RH, 20 down, 20 to go.
(p.s., ditto on other cultures thinking it is funny to fart, the taboos America has are extensive...)
(p.p.s. Lisa, WHERE did you find low-carb Entenmann's muffins? Or did you mean your friend's were eating the low-fat muffins?)

Yup I agree with you 100%. Really people should be eating healthy fresh food and not eating any of this processed junk at all. If someone chooses to eat a chemical concoction, they should *always* read to know what they're eating and know how it might affect them. That's what being a responsible adult is all about.

Yup our culture has HUGE hang-ups which are pretty silly. The amount we wax and shave and botox and hide our normal body functions is just insane. We all want to look age 23 and slim for our entire lives, from age 8 to 80. It'd be nice to be able to look like normal human beings and accept our bodies the way they are ...

The muffins were definitely low-carb and VERY good, they're a brand new product. From past history it seems Entenmann's rolls out products haphazardly across the country, there are often things I'm eating that others can't find in their stores. Ask your local store if they can bring the muffins in for you ...

I want to note that I had to delete some indecent posts by TechnoSquid, as per requests from several users. This forum is for supporting and promoting a low carb lifestyle, not for looking at obscene images.