A lot of protein powder companies build their brands around being a sweet tooth substitute, or “healthy” alternative to sweets.

BUT, what they don’t tell you is how the sugar alcohols they use to sweeten+favor the protein powders can wreak havoc on your gut if you have a FODMAP intolerance to sugar alcohols.

If you don’t know what a FODMAP is, FODMAP stands for 👉🏽Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides and Polyols.

They are short chain carbohydrates that are rapidly fermented and can be poorly absorbed.

Sugar alcohols like xylitol, sorbitol, erythritol, and even coconut sugar, because coconut is high FODMAP, fall under Polyols.

If you have a FODMAP intolerance to sugar alcohols, then your body is not able to digest them, and this causes inflammation, irritation, bloating, gas, and diarrhea in the GI ”gut”.

FODMAPs draw water into the small intestine, which causes bloating and inflammation, they then pass to the large intestine where bacteria feed on the undigested carbs, this causes gas and leads to diarrhea.

What this feels like for you is extreme GI distress like something is tearing apart your insides.

So that protein powder you thought was a healthy alternative to your sweet tooth, is actually not so healthy and is disrupting your gut microbiome.

I recently had an experience with this last year when I decided to venture away from my carefully selected, regular stevia and sucralose flavored protein powders and try the brand shown in this photo 👆🏽 which uses the sugar alcohol xylitol as the main sweetener to make the variety of flavors it promotes.

I normally have a very healthy gut and bowel movements, but then, for about a month, I started to have bloating and diarrhea and I felt awful. I thought maybe it was stress and could not figure out what was tearing apart my insides.

Then I realized that it must be the new protein powder I was using. I eliminated it, and sure enough, the protein powder was the culprit.

This protein powder and its sugar alcohols upset my gut so much that it took about a month for my body to recover and get back to normal.

Choose your protein powders carefully and know that you are actually better off consuming organic raw sugar, organic local honey, or maple syrup because your body will be able to digest it and it won’t destroy your gut.

If you want to learn more information like this, in my group coaching program Midlife Muscles & Macros, we have weekly trainings to help you learn and level up your health+fitness.

Midlife Muscles & Macros opens for enrollment in February. Get on the waitlist >> HERE and get a discount when pre-sale opens!