Working With my Sponsor and Sugar Alcohols

Last Monday I went with Jeremy to do his workout with him at the gym, and we talked about different machines for weightlifting. One of the most sought after qualities of a good machine is having individually moving parts for each arm (this is not as prevalent or necessary with leg exercises). Such a set up allows the paired muscles to work independently, which helps to force a weaker muscle to work on its own and not be coddled by the stronger of the pair. Hammer Strength equipment (a division under Life Fitness) does a good job at this, as well as produce overall quality equipment.

I have also been doing research on sugar alcohols, which are used as sweeteners in protein bars and often times in sugar free products. They have no more than 4.32 calories per gram, but are noted for having virtually no affect on glucose and insulin concentrations; meaning that blood sugar levels are not notably affected, and that there is no sugar spike. These properties keep sugar alcohols from triggering the storage of fat. This property is further shown by no notable affects to respiratory quotient from mannitol or sorbitol (two alcohol sugars), which shows no affect on metabolic rate as measured by carbon dioxide production. However, sugar alcohols are slight laxatives, and in excessive amounts can have ill effects. Despite this fact, alcohol sugars are not toxic.

Sugar alcohols are listed under carbohydrates on nutrition tables, as mandated by the FDA, but are not exactly carbohydrates. Sugar alcohols have a much lower caloric value than fats and have no nitrogen in their molecular structure like proteins, and have more similarities to carbohydrates than the fat and protein groups. Due to this they are categorized with carbohydrates, but are not carbohydrates in a more technical sense. The value to knowing this comes when selecting products (mostly protein bars) with minimal carbohydrate levels; the sugar alcohols should be largely factored out when determining the amount of carbohydrates in the product.