When checking the ingredients list of packaged foods, you might run into an ingredient called vegetable glycerine and wonder what it is. Vegetable glycerine (aka glycerol or glycerine) is a sugar alcohol synthetically derived from plants, such as soybeans, coconut oil, and palm oil.
In its natural form, glycerine is actually a molecule that is produced in the body from glucose, protein, pyruvate, and other substances. The body produces it on its own so you don’t need to eat glycerine. Glycerol works to bind together triglycerides in the body, which are important for storing energy and are made up of three fatty acids that are bound together.
When you use up glycogen in the body, which is stored glucose, glycerin can be converted into glucose to fuel your body. So glycerin overall is generally considered safe up to five grams per kilogram of body weight.
Vegetable glycerine is found in many different kinds of consumer products because of its uses as a sweetener, moisturizing agent, medical aid, and preservative with properties of being nontoxic, colorless, odorless, and sweet. Products that include vegetable glycerine include food, medical ointments, soap, shampoo, toothpaste, skincare products, an even antifreeze.
One of the drawbacks of vegetable glycerine is that it is a carbohydrate and is included in many processed foods as a sweetener, so it raises blood sugar. So if you are on the keto diet, you have to be aware of this fact and monitor eating foods that contain vegetable glycerine and determine whether it is impacting your blood sugar levels and state of ketosis.
Other side effects of vegetable glycerine include fluid retention in the body, because it draws water into the intestines and body tissue. This can lead to short term weight gain from increasing water weight. It can also lead to overhydration when drinking too much water combined with increased fluid retention, causing a dilution of sodium levels in your blood, called hyponatremia. This will result in an electrolyte imbalance and cause symptoms such as muscle cramping and various other physical ailments.
Although vegetable glycerine is generally considered safe to eat, it is not technically a ketogenic ingredient and may negatively effect some people on their diets. One way to make sure you are avoiding vegetable glycerine is to eat whole, organic and unprocessed foods. This will ensure that you are avoiding synthetic ingredients in the foods that you are eating. Also make sure you are always checking the ingredients list of foods that you are purchasing at the supermarket to confirm that nothing you are eating will negatively effect your diet and health.