Something smells corny

Thanks to a friend’s question last night I started researching Xylitol and to my surprise my favorite brand is made from corn and worse yet comes from a manufacturing plant in China. As I type my mouth is agape and I am appalled. It seems to me that anything made from cooked down corn be it from a corn cob or the kernels is potentially full of unbound glutamate and that means it is rich in excitotoxins and not good for anyone but can be downright dangerous to people who are sensitive to MSG.

Perhaps you didn’t know that Xylitol was traditionally from birch trees and is a naturally occurring sugar with 40% less calories than typical cane sugar and a much lower glycemic index (7) thus making it safe for diabetics. Because it has only 5 carbon atoms versus the normal 6 it inhibits bacterial growth and thus has been found valuable in dentistry to help stop rampant decay much like fluoride but much safer in my opinion. It has been used in Europe for decades but really only found some popularity in the USA in the last decade when it was promoted by companies like XClear at dental conventions and online as a nasal spray for chronic sinus infections. I think it is a great sweetener because it is useful in dentistry and it tastes great and looks just like sugar but lacks the calories of sugar. BUT, I have a problem with corn derived products.

Let me count the problems I have with it. Corn is one of the most genetically modified crops that American farmers grow. If you boil corn down you hydrolyze it and create free glutamate. Corn is a common allergen and corn crops if not rotated totally deplete the earth they are grown on and massive erosion occurs (I have experienced it with my own eyes). High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) is in almost any packaged food you buy and is known to be a link in our food chain that may cause obesity and a host of other problems for the consumer. Even Ethanol production presents numerous problems not first of which is pollution of our air. Corn fed to animals creates meat that is unhealthy for human consumption and sickens animals who are ruminates and not meant to eat grains or corn. Did I say something smells corny? Well there is no way Xylitol needs to.

Xylitol is originally from birch trees and my sweetener will from now on be from birch trees. It will contain no excipients and it will not come from China. I highly recommend Xylitol as a sweetener.  I even use it in my morning tooth powder (baking soda, Xylitol and Celtic Sea Salt) because of its antibacterial qualities. However, do not buy the brands that are coming to us in giant poison filled containers from China. Look for “Made in the USA” and check its source to be sure it comes from organic birch trees and not the ubiquitous kernel or cob of corn.