[sirdarksol]

Originally Posted by disgruntled

what do you mean by will use up their sugar in a short time?

I think what happens is that something in the xylitol triggers the sugar sensor in a dog's body. The body then produces insulin. This part is normal. The problem is that the body "reads" xylitol as being lots and lots of sugar, causing the body to produce a lot of insulin. The insulin causes/allows the body to use the sugar that is floating in the bloodstream. The quantities of insulin in the dog's body basically send it into near-instant diabetic shock.

In checking some info on what I typed above, I also discovered something interesting that would explain why artificial sweeteners cause the body to store fat. A dog's reaction to xylitol shows that at least some of these chemicals are close enough to sugar to trigger the release of insulin. In turn, insulin triggers fat cells to store energy in the form of triglycerides.