If You Chew Gum

You're Using The Diet Sweeteners

Most all gum these days contain the sugar alcohols.

Ask Dr. Hull

Hi Dr. Hull. I'm trying to avoid the artificial sweeteners, particularly aspartame and Splenda, so I am buying more products with sorbitol, xylitol, and the other sugar alcohols.

I chew a lot of gum, and they market these sweeteners as safe.

What is your view on sorbitol? Is it safe or just as bad as aspartame?

Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

From Dr. Hull

I am actually asked this A LOT. So, to answer your question, I wouldn't use it as my choice. I don’t use any added sweetness, but if you do, I'd use stevia, unprocessed sugar, or saccharin.

Yes, I said saccharin. You can read about the history of saccharin in my books to understand why it is a better choice, especially if you are diabetic or chew gum.

Unprocessed sugar from sugar cane is a good choice to avoid chemical sweeteners.

I am not a fan of sugar alcohols because they have been extracted from their natural sources in the lab, and they can cause stomach issues.

Sugar alcohols are extracted from food sugars and they aren’t as dangerous as the chemical sweeteners, but they are not 100% natural either because have been isolated in the lab.

This tears up your stomach, and some people report that they feel like they just ate glass.

It's Neither Sugar Nor Alcohol

Part of the sugar alcohols' chemical structure resembles sugar and part is similar to alcohol - hence, sugar alcohol. So, to complicate matters, these sweeteners are neither sugars nor alcohols.

Sugar alcohols fall into a "grey area" in the sweetener arena because they are actually carbohydrates (starches) more than they are sugars. They are typically used cup-for-cup in the same amount as refined sugar, but they each vary in sweetness, ranging from half as sweet to as sweet as sugar.

So, this makes them if-y in my book, and whether they are right for you depends upon your individual circumstances.

Using too many sugar alcohols can cause stomach issues.

Sorbitol

Sorbitol is readily converted in the body to fructose and glucose.

The problem with this sweetener is that it is slowly absorbed in the intestines and can produce a laxative or gaseous effect, and it can affect blood sugar levels more than the other sugar alcohols. So it may not be the best choice for diabetics.

Sorbitol is a simple carb that is 60 percent as sweet as sucrose. Excessive consumption of more than 50 to 80 grams a day may have a laxative effect.

It is called a nutritive sweetener because it actually has four calories in every gram, just like table sugar. Sorbitol is found naturally in fruits and is an ingredient in many sugar-free gums, sugar-free breath mints and dietetic candies.

What people don't know is sorbitol is also produced by your body!

Too much sorbitol in your cells can cause damage, though. Diabetic retinopathy and neuropathy may be related to too much sorbitol in the cells of the eyes and nerves, but not enough research has been done on this.

Avoid These

The grey area sweeteners that cause stomach issues are:

• Fructose

• Fruit Juice Concentrate

• Juice Concentrate

• Sugar alcohols (Polyols)

• Isomalt

  • Lactitol

  • Malitol

  • Mannitol

  • Sorbitol

  • Xylitol

• Turbinado® Sugar

Word Of Caution

Using sugar alcohols can lead to diarrhea.

Here is a word of caution if you have IBS or similar health issues: some foods contain sugars that are absorbed slowly, such as fructose in fruit juice and sorbitol in low-calorie sweets. Through a process called osmosis, unabsorbed sugars hold onto water in the intestines, which sometimes leads to diarrhea and stomach cramping.

By reading your labels, people with chronic non-infectious diarrhea can easily avoid fruit juice, fructose and sorbitol to see if this eliminates the problem.

So you decide if you want to use sorbitol, but make sure not to use too much. Especially if you chew gum all day long.

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