Question about dextrose and malto-dextrin

[Ernie Sty]

Someone wrote the following to me:

"Dextrose is not metabolizable. That means it doesn't trigger the insulin
push. That means for both diabetics and Atkins folks, it doesn't really do
anything. It's carb, but so is fiber: they don't count."

Is that true? I very much doubt it, but I need a source to back me up...
or if I am wrong, I need to know that.

[Kabah Wabah]

I believe dextrose is a full fledged sugar, calories, carbs and everything.

Ernie Sty wrote:
> Someone wrote the following to me:
>
> "Dextrose is not metabolizable. That means it doesn't trigger the insulin
> push. That means for both diabetics and Atkins folks, it doesn't really do
> anything. It's carb, but so is fiber: they don't count."
>
> Is that true? I very much doubt it, but I need a source to back me up...
> or if I am wrong, I need to know that.
>
>
>

[Jon Jacobs]

Dextrose is included in packets of saccarin, yet it is considered zero
calaries.

Jon

"Kabah Wabah" > wrote in message
...
> I believe dextrose is a full fledged sugar, calories, carbs and
everything.
>
> Ernie Sty wrote:
> > Someone wrote the following to me:
> >
> > "Dextrose is not metabolizable. That means it doesn't trigger the
insulin
> > push. That means for both diabetics and Atkins folks, it doesn't really
do
> > anything. It's carb, but so is fiber: they don't count."
> >
> > Is that true? I very much doubt it, but I need a source to back me
up...
> > or if I am wrong, I need to know that.
> >
> >
> >
>

[DJ Delorie]

"Ernie Sty" > writes:
> "Dextrose is not metabolizable. That means it doesn't trigger the insulin
> push. That means for both diabetics and Atkins folks, it doesn't really do
> anything. It's carb, but so is fiber: they don't count."

Dextrose is glucose - the penultimate sugar. It's as carby as it
gets, and it's the same type of sugar that flows around in your
bloodstream causing all those insulin spikes.

Maltodextrin is a glucose polymer - IIRC a chain of three glucose
molecules, easily broken down into pure glucose.

Perhaps they were talking about *dextrin*, also known as starch gum?

[kc]

"Ernie Sty" > wrote in message
...
> Someone wrote the following to me:
>
> "Dextrose is not metabolizable. That means it doesn't trigger the insulin
> push. That means for both diabetics and Atkins folks, it doesn't really do
> anything. It's carb, but so is fiber: they don't count."
>
> Is that true? I very much doubt it, but I need a source to back me up...
> or if I am wrong, I need to know that.

i don't know about dextrose, but maltodextrin has a very high glycemic index
of 150. that's higher than almost any other type of sugar. probably best
to stay away from it.

-kelly

[Ernie Sty]

It is labeled as zero, but the label is not correct. The FDA allows them to
cheat a little.

"Jon Jacobs" > wrote in message
...
> Dextrose is included in packets of saccarin, yet it is considered zero
> calaries.
>
> Jon
>
> "Kabah Wabah" > wrote in message
> ...
> > I believe dextrose is a full fledged sugar, calories, carbs and
> everything.
> >
> > Ernie Sty wrote:
> > > Someone wrote the following to me:
> > >
> > > "Dextrose is not metabolizable. That means it doesn't trigger the
> insulin
> > > push. That means for both diabetics and Atkins folks, it doesn't
really
> do
> > > anything. It's carb, but so is fiber: they don't count."
> > >
> > > Is that true? I very much doubt it, but I need a source to back me
> up...
> > > or if I am wrong, I need to know that.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
>
>

[Bob]

Prove it.


"Ernie Sty" > wrote in message
...
> It is labeled as zero, but the label is not correct. The FDA allows them
to
> cheat a little.

[jamie]

Jon Jacobs > wrote:
> Dextrose is included in packets of saccarin, yet it is considered zero
> calaries.

Anything less than 5 calories per serving is legally allowed to be called
zero. The one gram of dextrose in a saccharin packet has 4 calories, but
it labelled zero.

--
jamie )

"There's a seeker born every minute."

[jamie]

Ernie Sty > wrote:
> Someone wrote the following to me:
>
> "Dextrose is not metabolizable. That means it doesn't trigger the insulin
> push. That means for both diabetics and Atkins folks, it doesn't really do
> anything. It's carb, but so is fiber: they don't count."
>
> Is that true? I very much doubt it, but I need a source to back me up...
> or if I am wrong, I need to know that.

It's bullcrap. Corn syrup is mostly dextrose.

--
jamie )

"There's a seeker born every minute."

[jamie]

Bob > wrote:
> Prove it.

Read the labelling laws at the FDA website.

> "Ernie Sty" > wrote in message
> ...
>> It is labeled as zero, but the label is not correct. The FDA allows them
> to
>> cheat a little.
>
>


--
jamie )

"There's a seeker born every minute."

[Bobo Bonobo?]

"kc" > wrote in message >...
> "Ernie Sty" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Someone wrote the following to me:
> >
> > "Dextrose is not metabolizable. That means it doesn't trigger the insulin
> > push. That means for both diabetics and Atkins folks, it doesn't really do
> > anything. It's carb, but so is fiber: they don't count."

Dextrose is just another name for glucose.
> >
> > Is that true? I very much doubt it, but I need a source to back me up...
> > or if I am wrong, I need to know that.
>
> i don't know about dextrose, but maltodextrin has a very high glycemic index
> of 150. that's higher than almost any other type of sugar. probably best
> to stay away from it.

No, it does not. You are confusing maltodextrin with maltose.
>
> -kelly

--Bryan 198/149/152/155

[kc]

"Bobo Bonobo?" > wrote in message
om...

>
> No, it does not. You are confusing maltodextrin with maltose.
> >

really? that's weird, here's what's listed on the SouthBeach website:

SUGARS GI
Fructose 32
Lactose 65
Honey 83
High-fructose corn syrup 89
Sucrose 92
Glucose 137
Maltodextrin 150
Maltose 150


if the formatting sticks at all, you'll see Maltodextrin listed with a GI of
150.

i'll look for another GI list to confirm this. where do you get your info?

-kelly

[kc]

"kc" > wrote in message
...
>
> i'll look for another GI list to confirm this. where do you get your
info?


here's another: http://www.nutri-fit-health.com/con-qt-glycemic.html

and another: http://www.steviva.com/giindex.html#sugars

though i suppose they all could be wrong.

-kelly

[Jon Jacobs]

> Dextrose is just another name for glucose.
No, it is not. Chemically, destrose has 10 carbon atoms per molecule.
Glucose and Fructose are two varieties of hexose - 6 carbon atoms per
molecule.

If the body metabolizes destrose, it probably has to convert it to glucose
first, but it is not the same thing as glucose.

Jon

[Bob]

All sugars must be converted to a monosaccharide (glucose) before it can be
absorbed---that's why the tips of our villi in our proximal small intestine
contain enzymes that break disaccharides into monosaccharides---and why this
"maltose is bad" theory from the South Beach Diet is so silly. The enzyme
maltase does it for maltose, lactase does it for lactose (glucose and
galactose) and sucrase does it for sucrose (glucose and fructose.)


"Jon Jacobs" > wrote in message
...
> > Dextrose is just another name for glucose.
> No, it is not. Chemically, destrose has 10 carbon atoms per molecule.
> Glucose and Fructose are two varieties of hexose - 6 carbon atoms per
> molecule.
>
> If the body metabolizes destrose, it probably has to convert it to glucose
> first, but it is not the same thing as glucose.
>
> Jon
>
>

[DJ Delorie]

> > Dextrose is just another name for glucose.

"Jon Jacobs" > writes:
> No, it is not. Chemically, destrose has 10 carbon atoms per molecule.
> Glucose and Fructose are two varieties of hexose - 6 carbon atoms per
> molecule.

If I look up "Dextrose" in the Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, and
it says "See D-Glucose".

I look up "Glucose" and it also says "See D-Glucose".

So I look up "D-Glucose" and it says C6 H12 O6.

So, Dextrose is just another name for glucose, and it does not have 10
carbons per molecule.

[Kabah Wabah]

DJ Delorie wrote:
>>>Dextrose is just another name for glucose.
>>
>
> "Jon Jacobs" > writes:
>
>>No, it is not. Chemically, destrose has 10 carbon atoms per molecule.
>>Glucose and Fructose are two varieties of hexose - 6 carbon atoms per
>>molecule.
>
>
> If I look up "Dextrose" in the Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, and
> it says "See D-Glucose".
>
> I look up "Glucose" and it also says "See D-Glucose".
>
> So I look up "D-Glucose" and it says C6 H12 O6.
>
> So, Dextrose is just another name for glucose, and it does not have 10
> carbons per molecule.

Does that make me right then when I said, "I believe dextrose is a full
fledged sugar, calories, carbs and everything"?

[DJ Delorie]

Kabah Wabah > writes:
> Does that make me right then when I said, "I believe dextrose is a
> full fledged sugar, calories, carbs and everything"?

Yup, like I said a few days ago. Dextrose *is* glucose, and is the
penultimate carb.

[Jon Jacobs]

> If I look up "Dextrose" in the Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, and
> it says "See D-Glucose".
>
> I look up "Glucose" and it also says "See D-Glucose".
>
> So I look up "D-Glucose" and it says C6 H12 O6.
>
> So, Dextrose is just another name for glucose, and it does not have 10
> carbons per molecule.

My bad. "Dext" means right, "Deca" means ten. (I'm getting old). Dextrose is
the right-oriented version of glucose, where Levulose is the left-oriented
version of glucose.

In ordinary chemistry Dextrose or D-Glucose is the the same as Levulose, or
L-Glucose. BIOLOGICALLY they are very different. The body does not use the
D-version, and must convert it to its mirror image if it is to use it.

Sorry about the confusion.

These subtle differences in molecular symmetry are meaningless in ordinary
chemistry, but all-important in biochemistry.

Jon

[DJ Delorie]

"Jon Jacobs" > writes:
> My bad. "Dext" means right, "Deca" means ten. (I'm getting old). Dextrose is
> the right-oriented version of glucose, where Levulose is the left-oriented
> version of glucose.

Levulose is another name for D-fructose.

[Jean M.]

"Jon Jacobs" > wrote:

>My bad. "Dext" means right, "Deca" means ten. (I'm getting old). Dextrose is
>the right-oriented version of glucose, where Levulose is the left-oriented
>version of glucose.

Wouldn't that be Sinisterlose? ;-)

[Ernie Sty]

(Top-posting for consistency) I can't prove it or disprove it because I
can't find specific info on this issue on the FDA's web site, but I am
working on it.

"Bob" > wrote in message
news:wsXUb.108807$U%5.561015@attbi_s03...
> Prove it.
>
>
> "Ernie Sty" > wrote in message
> ...
> > It is labeled as zero, but the label is not correct. The FDA allows
them
> to
> > cheat a little.
>
>

[Ernie Sty]

"kc" > wrote in message
...
>
> "kc" > wrote in message
> ...
> >
> > i'll look for another GI list to confirm this. where do you get your
> info?
>
>
> here's another: http://www.nutri-fit-health.com/con-qt-glycemic.html
>
> and another: http://www.steviva.com/giindex.html#sugars
>
> though i suppose they all could be wrong.
>
> -kelly


I suspect they may be, but I am not sure. I always thought maltose was a
complex sugar that took longer to break down in the digestive system than
simpler sugars like sucrose and glucose, which would give it a lower
glycemic index if that is correct.

[PJx]

On Mon, 9 Feb 2004 11:56:06 -0600, "Ernie Sty" >
wrote:

>
>"kc" > wrote in message
...
>>
>> "kc" > wrote in message
>> ...
>> >
>> > i'll look for another GI list to confirm this. where do you get your
>> info?
>>
>>
>> here's another: http://www.nutri-fit-health.com/con-qt-glycemic.html
>>
>> and another: http://www.steviva.com/giindex.html#sugars
>>
>> though i suppose they all could be wrong.
>>
>> -kelly
>
>
>I suspect they may be, but I am not sure. I always thought maltose was a
>complex sugar that took longer to break down in the digestive system than
>simpler sugars like sucrose and glucose, which would give it a lower
>glycemic index if that is correct.
>

Ernie, I think Kelly was being a tad sarcastic. I don't think they
are all wrong and neither does Kelly.
So you can believe the sites that Kelly posted.

PJ

[David Harmon]

On 08 Feb 2004 20:51:22 -0500 in alt.support.diet.low-carb, DJ Delorie
> was alleged to have written:
>
>Yup, like I said a few days ago. Dextrose *is* glucose, and is the
>penultimate carb.

So then, what is the ultimate?

[DJ Delorie]

David Harmon > writes:
> So then, what is the ultimate?

Chocolate, of course ;-)