American Council on Science and Health American Council on Science and Health
About
ACSH		 ¥ Contact
ACSH		 ¥ Support
ACSH		 ¥ My
ACSH		 ¥ Advanced
Search		  
ACSH.org   Home   . .   Health Issues   . .   News Center   . .   Publications   . .   Events   . .   FactsAndFears   .  

Health Facts And Fears

Archives >

Printer Format icon Printer Format
E-mail Information icon E-mail Information
January 11, 2008

Chew on This -- But Stop If It Causes Sudden Weight Loss!

By Ruth Kava, Ph.D., R.D.

Along the lines of "you can have too much of a good thing," a recent report in the British Medical Journal describes the result of over-consumption of sugarless gum sweetened with sorbitol, a sugar alcohol.

Two patients were seen at a Berlin hospital with perplexing symptoms -- chronic diarrhea and other bowel problems, and substantial unexplained weight loss (about 20% of normal body weight). Both patients had undergone extensive diagnostic tests without solving their problems. Then, an astute clinician asked about their usual dietary intake and discovered that the sufferers typically chewed from sixteen to twenty sticks of sorbitol-sweetened gum per day.

Sorbitol is poorly absorbed in the intestinal tract, which is why it provides fewer than the four calories per gram of regular sugar. Although this makes it a good candidate for sweetening reduced-calorie foods and beverages, it also means that it stays in the intestinal tract, attracts water and provides a substrate for bacterial action. The result: diarrhea and other bowel problems -- if too much is consumed.

The moral of the story is, of course, that moderation is key in all aspects of diet, even the supposedly harmless sugarless candies and gum. So enjoy such products -- just not too much.


Ruth Kava, Ph.D., R.D., is Director of Nutrition at the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH.org, HealthFactsAndFears.com).


Drawing of Todd Seavey


About the Editor:
Todd Seavey

is Director of Publications at ACSH and edits FactsAndFears.  His opinions are not necessarily ACSH's.

He can be reached at seavey [at] acsh.org.
Subscribe to ACSH.org RSS  FactsAndFears posts on YOUR site
Search Archives Icon for Search
Search

Icon for Browse Archives Browse Archives

Sign In Icon for Sign In

Username:

Password:

Sign In Now >>

Forget your password?

Register

Why register with ACSH?
You'll be able to:
¥ Post comments to articles
¥ Subscribe to e-bulletin
¥ Receive immediate or scheduled updates


Register Now >>

¥ (from ACSH) theScooponSmoking.org
¥ aBetterEarth.org
¥ AgBioWorld
¥ American Justice Partnership
¥ Anti-Quackery and Science Blog
¥ Anti-Quackery Ring
¥ BiomonitoringInfo.org
¥ Blogborygmi.com (Nick Gene & co.)
¥ CalorieLab
¥ The Cancer Blog
¥ CAST on transgenic animals
¥ Catallarchy (econ, etc.)
¥ Competitive Enterprise Institute
¥ ConsumerFreedom.com
¥ Debunkers.org
¥ Diet-Blog.com
¥ Dynamist/Virginia Postrel
¥ Fishscam
¥ Freakonomics
¥ GruntDoc
¥ Health Beat (medical news/research)
¥ Health Business Blog
¥ Health Intelligence Network blog
¥ In the Pipeline (drugs per Derek Lowe)
¥ Infography on Medical Care: Quacks, Quackery
¥ Institute of Ideas
¥ JunkScience.com (Steve Milloy)
¥ MedMusings
¥ National Council Against Health Fraud
¥ Overlawyered.com
¥ ParkinsonsHealth
¥ Quackbusters
¥ Quackfiles
¥ Quackfiles.blogspot.com
¥ Quackwatch
¥ James Randi, ultimate skeptic
¥ Rangel, M.D.
¥ Reason (including Seavey pieces)
¥ SAGEcrossroads.net (aging)
¥ Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine
¥ Science Media Centre
¥ Sense About Science
¥ Skeptic Magazine
¥ Skeptic Ring
¥ Skeptical Inquirer/CSICOP
¥ Spiked-Online
¥ TCS Daily (Europe)
¥ TCS Daily (U.S.)
¥ 3 Billion and Counting (malaria docu. w/Ross)
¥ Tobacco Survivors United
¥ TobaccoAnalysis blog
¥ Urban Legends per Snopes
¥ US News Best Health Heart Center
¥ US News Lung Cancer Center
¥ Volokh.com (blog on law, econ, polisci)
¥ Washington Legal Foundation
¥ WhyBiotech (Council for Biotechnology Info.)
¥ WhyQuit.com (case studies, message boards, etc.)
¥ Dr. Carl Winter (health song-parodies)
¥ aWorldConnected.org (benefits of globalization)


TO VIEW AND MAKE COMMENTS ON THE ARTICLES ABOVE (OR OTHERS), "SIGN IN" AT THE RIGHT MARGIN.

AMERICAN COUNCIL ON SCIENCE AND HEALTH  |  1995 BROADWAY, 2ND FLOOR, NEW YORK, NY 10023-5860
TELEPHONE: (212) 362-7044  |  FAX: (212) 362-4919  |  E-MAIL: GEN. ORGANIZATION MAILBOX: acsh (at) acsh.org; IND. STAFFER: [last name or last name followed by first initial]@acsh.org 

Copyright © 1997-2004 American Council on Science and Health  |  Privacy Policy  |  All Rights Reserved.

Founded in 1978, ACSH is a consumer advocacy organization directed and advised by over 350 physicians, scientists and policy advisors. ACSH promotes the use of sound, peer-reviewed science in the formation of a full  spectrum of  public health policies, including those related to food, pharmaceuticals, environmental chemicals, lifestyle factors, consumer products and terrorism preparedness and response.