Collection: Xylitol

Xylitol looks, feels, and tastes exactly like sugar. Although that is where the similarities end! 

Xylitol can replace sugar in cooking, baking, or as a sweetener for beverages. It is also included as an ingredient in chewing gum, mints and used in other products such as mouth washes because it inhibits bacteria. Unlike many artificial sweeteners, it leaves no unpleasant aftertaste. It also reduces sugar and carbohydrate cravings.

It is a chemical-free, natural alternative to sugar and to artificial sweeteners that contain aspartame.

Can I Use Xylitol in dietary foods?

From a dietary perspective, xylitol contains 40% fewer calories than refined sugar.

Xylitol has been shown in numerous clinical studies to be very slowly metabolized. The Glycemic Index measures how quickly foods enter the bloodstream. Sugar has a 100 GI and xylitol has only 7. The lower the GI the better.

This makes it the perfect sweetener for those who are on controlled diets as well as people who are looking for a suitable alternative to what they currently are offered.

Xyltiol FAQs

What is Xylitol?

Xylitol is a sweetener that occurs naturally. It can be found, for instance, in berries, fruit, vegetables and mushrooms. Xylitol also occurs in human tissues.

Where does it come from?

Corncobs and birch trees are the main sources for commercially produced xylitol. However, there are no residual corn products in the xylitol. Naturally Sweet's main xylitol product comes from corn from China whilst our birch product is sourced from Finland. 

How does Xylitol differ from other sweeteners?

Strictly speaking, xylitol is not actually a sugar, but a sugar alcohol. It differs from other sweeteners such as sorbitol, fructose and glucose because the xylitol molecule has five, instead of six, carbon atoms. Most bacterias are unable to make use of such sugars. This is one reason why xylitol is so effective in preventing caries.

What is the calorie content compared to sugar?

Xylitol has 40% fewer calories than "normal" table sugar.

What is the carbohydrate content compared to sugar?

Xylitol contains the same amount of carbohydrates as "normal" table sugar. On some nutrition panels however, Xylitol is shown to have 75% fewer carbohydrates as sugar since its content can be classed as “unavailable carbohydrates”. This is because most of the Xylitol eaten passes through to the lower intestine and is not converted to glucose. Therefore only one quarter of the weight of Xylitol can be counted as carbohydrate. Some nutrition panels subtract sugar alcohols completely from the carbohydrate count. For the sake of complete transparency we include the full potential amount of carbohydrates on our nutrition panels.