Xylitol (English: xylitol), also known as amyl alcohol (called dried camel in Cantonese in an advertisement in Hong Kong), is a sugar alcohol and can be used as a substitute for sucrose. It is the product of xylose metabolism and widely exists in various plants. Can be extracted from birch, raspberry, corn and other plants. Currently, it is mainly produced in China. The sweetness of xylitol is equivalent to that of sucrose, but its calorie is only 60% of that of sucrose.

Medical use

Dentistry

Xylitol can't be decomposed by bacteria, so it is used to replace sugar in dessert to prevent tooth decay. Xylitol products are very common in Finland. Children's candy is made of xylitol instead of sucrose to protect children's dental health. In addition, there are many kinds of chewing gum, such as extra xylitol? ), xylitol is also used to provide sweetness.

diabetes

When xylitol is metabolized, it can directly enter cells without insulin, and the metabolism speed is fast, which will not cause blood sugar to rise. It is an ideal sucrose substitute for diabetic patients.

lose weight

Xylitol is as sweet as sucrose, but low in calories. Eating xylitol will not increase neutral fat in the blood, but also inhibit the synthesis of glycerol and fatty acids, so it has the effect of losing weight.

pneumonia

According to the research published by the University of Iowa in the Journal of Daily Science, xylitol can reduce the salt in the mucus layer on the respiratory tract surface of patients with fibrocyst, which is beneficial to the recovery of patients' ability to prevent lung infection. 3，4

Osteoporosis

Finnish scientists have found that xylitol can help prevent osteoporosis and increase bone density in mice.

Sorbitol

Cetyl alcohol is similar to monosaccharide in structure and can be prepared by hydrogenation of glucose. It is one of the earliest sugar alcohols allowed to be used as food additives in Japan to improve the moisture retention of food or as a thickener.