"diarrhea-causing sooooorbitooool...."
Posted on 01/19/2008 2:43:02 PM PST by RGPII
A short article in a medical journal about two German patients who mysteriously lost significant amounts of weight is spurring a diet craze.
But more worrisome to doctors who work with people with eating disorders is that the cause of the mysterious weight loss -- chewing large amounts of gum containing sorbitol -- is attracting attention among eating disorder patients to prompt bouts of diarrhea.
The article was published Saturday in the British Medical Journal in a section usually reserved for unusual cases.
It was written by gastroenterologists at Berlin's Charite hospital about two patients with perplexing cases of diarrhea and unintentional weight loss. A woman, 21, complained of abdominal pain that lasted eight months. She lost more than 24 pounds from her 114-pound frame.
A 46-year-old man complained of flatulence and bloating as well as weight loss. He lost 48 pounds -- a fifth of his body weight -- in a year.
After numerous tests failed to suggest a cause for the weight loss, doctors asked the patients about their dietary habits. The woman chewed more than a dozen sticks of sugar-free gum each day, while the man had a 20-stick-a-day habit.
The diarrhea culprit was sorbitol, an artificial sweetener with known laxative properties.
"Our cases show that sorbitol consumption can cause not only chronic diarrhea and functional bowel problems, but also considerable unintended weight loss," the doctors said.
The news has boomeranged around the world, particularly among the diet-obsessed. Versions of the article have appeared on "pro anorexic" websites where people with eating disorders encourage each other's "lifestyle" with photos of gaunt bodies and arcane diet tips.
(Excerpt) Read more at canada.com ...
I first heard about this story by word of mouth and found it difficult to believe. So I researched it.
Good to know.
Not for weight loss, but to avoid the poopy pants thing.
You are right, but I don’t think it has the same effects on all people. But unfortunately, I understand what you mean.
“to prompt bouts of diarrhea. “
Yeah! That’s the way I wanna lose,er,,,loose, weight!
A large percentage of people I know who engage in sugar free items report loose stools or severe flatulance. Sorbital is bad but maltitol is even worse.
It depends what type and how much. Sucralose doesn’t seem to do it.
And now I'm going to have to see what the sodas I drink have in them, I've mainly given them up except for one every few days and go with either one of sugar or diet but there are times I need the kick. Undoubtedly I can relate to some of these products making one bloated or gaseous and worse.
I’ve heard to stay away from, if I have it correct, the sugar alcohols like xylitol and maybe that is what sorbitol is.
Also, some gums plug themselves for giving one that just brushed feel.
So, in spite of the tone of the article, I’ll need to see if I ever use any of these products.
"diarrhea-causing sooooorbitooool...."
A recent book, “The woman who swallowed a toothbrush”, by Rob Myers, M.D., refers to a bulimic woman who had been using a toothbrush to induce vomiting, then accidentally swallowed it.
But I thought it had an even more interesting tale, about a man who poisoned himself with Epsom salts. Typically, people use Epsom, magnesium salts in their bath, or a small amount mixed with water as a laxative. It is frequently used by bulimics to help them purge.
It has this effect, because magnesium salty water cannot be easily absorbed by the intestines, and instead draws moisture into them, thus achieving the laxative effect.
However, this man had bad breath, and used Epsom salts as a mouthwash. For an entire months. The small amount of Epsom salt water he swallowed in the process could be absorbed by his intestines. It was dilute enough.
So after a month, he lapsed into a coma, and despite heroic efforts, he died of magnesium poisoning.
Strangely enough, magnesium poisoning was mostly previously known to people consuming too much antacid, specifically Maalox and Mylanta, both of which contain significant amounts of magnesium.
There is a website online called quackwatch and I believe they talk of the epsom salts. Things to watch out for definitely. Thx.
Epsom salts in warm water is very good for soaking an infection out of the skin, however. Don’t ask me how it works, I have no idea of the chemistry involved, but I’ve found nothing works better to zap an infected nail, a cut, or even an embedded splinter.
I always wondered how Epsom salts worked and when and why they should be used. Thanks for the info. I’ll keep it to external use only.
I’m sure you are right, I need to study up on the situation. I think what they were writing about were whole epsom salt baths.
Yeah, great new diet plan... Crap Yourself Thin.
Somehow I doubt this one will become popular.
There is a new diet drug out that has that as one of the side effects.
I wouldn’t be afraid of Epsom salts, if properly used. Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate), magnesium citrate laxative, and milk of magnesia (magnesium hydroxide), are all “much of a muchness”.
The intestines can’t absorb very saline water, be it ordinary salt water (sodium), potassium salts (which as a supplement can have a laxative effect), or magnesium salts; so they try to dilute it by adding water, which itself creates the laxative effect. The extra salt is pumped out of the intestines before it can be absorbed.
The problem happens when you consume too much of one of these salts over a long time. The intestines *can* dilute it, so the salt is absorbed into the bloodstream. In turn, you can become seriously ill from any of them, sodium, potassium, magnesium, and many others.
The body tries to maintain a very interesting balance of salts, keeping us at something of the same salinity of sea water in ancient times. Some salts, or as we often refer to them as “minerals” in our diet, perform very specific functions.
Calcium salts, for example, are essential for nerve function, and without it, the heart will not beat. But other salts, in great quantity or as “trace minerals”, while good in the proper amounts, can be troublesome if we have too little or too much.
The salts also interact with each other in our bodies, so that if we uptake too much of one, or don’t have enough of one, it will tend to unbalance others. Some salts, like lead and arsenic, can be very dangerous in tiny amounts.
The most common cause of salt imbalance is heat exhaustion, for which some people take salt pills. This can sometimes create a problem, because the body must dissolve and dilute the salt before it can absorb it. Even a product like Gatorade needs to be cut almost 50% with water for it to be promptly absorbed by a dehydrated person.
Ironically, because our blood is saline, it is easier to drown in salt water than it is to drown in fresh water. That is because, absorption happens best when water you have swallowed or inhaled, is *closest* to your natural salinity.
This means that your body actually needs to “salt” fresh water in your stomach or lungs, before it can absorb it; but sea water is already salty, so just needs its salt level changed a little bit to be absorbed.
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