Inositol

Inositol

Inositol

What is it:

Inositol is a naturally occurring sugar alcohol that plays a crucial role in various cellular functions. Inositol can be produced for use in food through several methods, including extraction from natural sources like fruits, grains, and nuts, or through a fermentation process using bacteria. This compound is commonly utilized in the food industry as a nutrient supplement (commonly sold as myo-inositol and D-Chiro inositol) and in products such as energy drinks, nutritional bars, and infant formulas.

Rating:

Inositol is a naturally occurring sugar alcohol that plays a crucial role in various cellular functions. Inositol can be produced for use in food through several methods, including extraction from natural sources like fruits, grains, and nuts, or through a fermentation process using bacteria. This compound is commonly utilized in the food industry as a nutrient supplement (commonly sold as myo-inositol and D-Chiro inositol) and in products such as energy drinks, nutritional bars, and infant formulas.

Resources:

  1. Safety of oral inositol (review)
  2. Inositol as a safe treatment in PCOS (systematic reviews)
  3. [Potential applications of inositol in psychiatry](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9169302/#:~:text=These results suggest that inositol,or ECT-induced cognitive impairment.) (clinical trials)
  4. Beneficial effects of inositol on glucose homeostasis (systematic review and meta-analysis)

How we rate ingredients

Health is like a bank account, certain ingredients make a deposit into your health bank, meaning they add to
your health. Certain ingredients withdraw from your health bank. We want health promoting ingredients in our diet. To keep things simple, we rate ingredients on a green, yellow, red scale:

Clean

It is naturally occurring in food and has no harmful effects on the body. It is real food. It is health promoting.

Caution

It goes into one or more of the below categories

  • It is not naturally occurring in food but doesn’t have data showing it has a harmful effect on the body (additives like Gellan Gum)
  • It is naturally occurring but can have some harmful effects on the body (added sugars, oils, gums etc.)

We Avoid

It is known to have a harmful effect on the body (ex. All food colorings, Natural Flavors, MSG, Potassium bromate, aspartame, artificial flavors)

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