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Glycerol - The Sweetener that doesn't Sweeten Your Life

Submitted by Stella Morgan on November 18, 2010

Glycerol Sweetener Uses

Sweet foods are very popular across the globe. Most meals are incomplete without a sweet desert that follows the initial meal. In ancient times, sweet dishes used to be made using naturally sweet products, particularly with different types of fruits. Fruits contain sugar and are also a great source of nutrition. Fruits contain a variety of vitamins and minerals and are often sources of dietary fiber as well.


This form of natural sweetening is healthy as it provides the body with plenty of nutrients along with sugar.

Modern diets contain lots of refined sugar. Refined sugar is essentially the sugar that has been processed out of sugarcane or other such sources. While sugarcane itself contains many different nutrients, the sugar obtained from it is only useful for its sugar content and nothing else, therefore providing the individual with no additional nutrition.


Thus, most modern sweet dishes contain plenty of sugar with no additional nutrition. This is dangerous to the individual because excessive sugar consumption can be harmful. Sweets are also known to be addictive and are often craved to the point where an individual might be secretly consuming the sweets.


Many doctors believe that it is the modern trend to consume refined sugar that is to blame for the rapidly increasing number of diabetes cases in the world. Diabetes is a condition where the body is not able to maintain its blood sugar levels because the muscles and tissues of the body are unable to absorb sugar from the blood effectively. Diabetics often need to avoid sugar completely or consume small quantities of sugar along with medications to control the problem.


An individual who is consuming too much sugar must cut back on this for the sake of his or her health. One may therefore seek alternative sources of sweetness that do not contain sugar. Artificial sweeteners come with their own raft of problems. Some studies suggest that artificial sweeteners are carcinogenic in the long run. Diabetics are a risk group for developing problems associated with the long term use of artificial sweeteners.

In such a situation an individual might use a glycerol sweetener. Glycerol is often used by food processing units as a substance that ensures that food does not dry. Glycerol is a sugar substitute that has a sweet taste which is why a glycerol sweetener is often suggested. Consumption of glycerol sweetener is considered to be less harmful to an individual when compared with other artificial sweeteners. Glycerol sweetener has a sweet taste without actually containing any sugar in it. It is even suggested that glycerol may be beneficial to an individual’s health. This is a debatable point as glycerol only improves an individual’s performance during exercise. This is done by increasing blood volume. Many people therefore use glycerol as a performance enhancing substance. Glycerol is used in many different substances such as soap and is a widely used product. Glycerol sweetener is usually made out of a vegetable source and this is referred to as vegetable glycerol or vegetable glycerol sweetener. In order to avoid glycerol side effects and glycerol dangers it is necessary to consume it is limited and controlled amounts.

Also known as glycerin, glycerol is essentially a thick, colorless liquid that has a rather sweet taste. It is highly regarded and widely used in the manufacture of beauty products because of its features as a humectant, meaning that it pulls moisture to the skin. One of the features of glycerin is the fact that it is able to dissolve in water and alcohol, but not in oils. It also has a rather high boiling point while there are also a number of substances that are able to dissolve into glycerin much easier than they do in water or even alcohol. Studies on the substance also show that it is highly ‘agroscopic’ – meaning that it absorbs water from the air very easily and thereby has a very dehydrating effect on the skin. If you were to place a single drop of glycerin on your tongue, you will notice the development of a blister on your tongue.

In order to treat any rough skin conditions you can create a simple face pack by mixing glycerin, honey and water in equal quantities and add a little oatmeal up until the liquid thickens enough to make a mask  that can be spread  over the dry skin for a period of about 20 minutes. Glycerin can also help substantially in the treatment of frizzy and curly hair. All that is required is to run a little amount of glycerin through your hair and it will draw out the excessive moisture from the hair, making it more responsive to brushing.  In a dietary respect, glycerin is very commonly used in the confectionery and baking industry in order to help soften the icing that is used on cakes as well as adding a certain amount of sweetness to the overall preparation. Some of the other benefits of this hugely popular substance is the fact that it is very frequently used as a cleaning agent in the dish detergent and laundry industry as well as cleaning oil based paint from used paintbrushes. The biggest advantage that glycerol has in the cosmetics arena is the fact that it does not cause any reaction in even the most sensitive of skin types. Vegetable glycerin is also very commonly used in the pharmaceutical industry and regularly incorporated into the production of medicines used to treat conditions like eczema, psoriasis and fungal infections.

The most prominent symptom of too much glycerin in the system is the presence of wrinkles as the skin loses moisture and elasticity while a person continues to age. Consuming even modest amounts of glycerol can lead to dizziness, nausea, headaches, and diarrhea. It can also cause serious damage to the red blood cells when injected intravenously and should only be used when specifically recommended by a doctor.

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