Dr. Fitness says “Beware” of your intake of Sorbitol and do not go on a “Sorbitol Diet.” An article in this week’s 
(BMJ) warns of the dangers of excess sorbitol intake. The warning comes after doctors came across two patients who had chronic diarrhea, abdominal pain and dangerously excessive weight loss. After lengthy investigations which could not identify why the patients were losing so much weight and had chronic diarrhea and pains, a detailed analysis of eating habits put the problem down to eating too much chewing gum with Sorbitol.
Sorbitol is a laxative which is poorly absorbed by the small intestine. Sorbitol, or glucitol, is a sugar alcohol which our bodies metabolize slowly. Sorbitol can be found in cough syrups, sugar free mints, chewing gum, diet foods, diet drinks and ice creams. Sorbitol occurs naturally in some stone fruits and berries from trees of the Sorbus genus. Apples and pears also have natural amounts of sorbitol.
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Thank you for letting people know about sorbitol. I’m quite familiar with it, as I have been on a low carb diet for most of the last 3 years to help manage my PCOS and weight. Sorbitol is a common sugar substitute in many ready-to-eat low carb and sugar free foods and snacks, including those made for diabetics, and I found out that way how unpleasant too much sorbitol can be for one’s GI tract. Nowadays I don’t consume any sugar substitutes at all – if I want something sweet, I simply turn to fruit or something that contains only limited amounts of natural sugars.
My eldery mother had a more seriously run-in with sorbitol, after switching to FiberChoice Weight Management tablets (which lists sorbitol as the second ingredient after vegetable fiber) instead of the Sugar Free Metamucil (which uses aspartame) she had been using. Not only did she have bad diarrhea, she was unable to eat anything without considerable stomach upset, gas, bloating and more diarrhea for several days. Seeing she’s eldery, such a bad reaction to sorbitol could have easy lead to dehydration and other more serious health problems. So now she knows to avoid sorbitol whenever she can.