That’s odd because the following is more consistent with what I have heard for years:
“Sugar alcohols are only partially absorbed from the human small intestine. The percentage
absorbed varies with each sugar alcohol and in some cases with the presence of food. The
absorption rate is slow, variable, usually minimal and may have no significant effect on blood
glucose (2008 CPGs) and so sugar alcohols should be subtracted from the total carbohydrate
when carbohydrate counting.
The sugar alcohol not absorbed in the small bowel is fermented by colonic bacteria to produce
short chain fatty acids. These short chain fatty acids are absorbed and provide energy to the
body. In this way, lactitol, which is completely malabsorbed in humans, produces 2 kcal/g.
Because of these fermentation by-products, the consumption of large amounts of sugar
alcohols can lead to temporary abdominal discomfort such as bloating and diarrhea.”
http://www.diabetes.ca/files/for-professionals/sugar-alcohol.pdf
I didn’t have time to read through the article you posted. I am curious if they are measuring sorbital in the body or if they used radio tagged sorbitol and just looked for the tagged carbon in the blood. It would make a difference in how it affects the body.
I am familiar (personally) with the side effects of sugar alcohols, and they get tricky in measurement, because serious studies in humans would only use single portions, like “serving size 1 piece of candy”, which are unrealistic. Most people might eat half a dozen or more at one sitting, as an example.
Importantly, one of the sugar alcohols, Xylitol, is extremely toxic to dogs.
http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/xylitol.asp
It is found in food, pharmaceuticals and OTC “sugar free” products.
One of the weirder sugar substitutes, not a sugar alcohol, is Stevia, from a South American plant. Odd stuff indeed. It is so intensely sweet (300x sugar) that it can overwhelm the sweet taste buds. It also has some unexplored relationship with the bodies calcium, and may reduce the risk of osteoporosis.