# Sorbitol



## Angry Canadian Girl (Dec 1, 2010)

Hello! I have been trying to trace my problems with chronic D to a food I may have been eating. Basically about once a week, almost like clockwork to the day, I would have a really bad purge of diarrhea and then it would be fine again for another week. I am talking watery, urgent diarrhea that I had to get to a bathroom for immdiately. I quit eating just about everything for a couple of months but I have been slowly adding many things back. So far I still have pain and cramping often but no diarrhea yet. The only thing I have not gone back to ingesting is sorbitol. I ingested it rather frequently in the form of chewing gum. I would say multiple pieces a day plus diet drinks ect. The only other things that seems to trigger a lot of pain is fruit. I am curious if there is a connection and if anyone else found sorbitol to be a big problem.


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## january17 (Aug 18, 2010)

For what it's worth, I never had IBS-D but when I had IBS-C symptoms, I used to eat apples every day and drink a lot of apple juice to help move things along. If it worked for constipation, I can't imagine what it would do to someone with IBS-D.


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Sorbitol is known to cause diarrhea/loosen up stools, the amount varies, but IBSers seem more sensitive than most people to this effect.Several fruits contain sorbitol (which can cause gas as well as diarrhea, and some people get pain with small increases in gas level). Apples, pears, cherries, peaches, plums (and other similar fruits, there is a reason prunes are and old timey treatment for constipation) are the fruits that tend to have sorbitol. If you do OK with cooked fruits rather than raw, dried, or juice it may be the sorbitol. Some people have problems with fructose as well, but with that you would probably notice most soft drinks are a problem if they have high fructose corn syrup rather than sugar.


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## crstar (Jun 29, 2009)

sorbitol, sugar alcohols & the like r known to cause diarrhea................so many people think that if it isn't listed as sugar, it's ok to eat...........but there is alot of research out there that says differently............& anything that raises blood glucose, also raises insulin levels..............insulin is an inflammatory hormone...........i know that things like zylitol & many sugar substitutes r not suppose to raise blood glucose, but in someone who is sensitive, as i am, they do raise glucose levels..........the only way to fnd this out is to closely monitor glucose at many x's a day..............it can also b an allergic reaction in ur body.............so many things we eat & consume in this day & age, we may have been consuming for yrs or decades............well, many thingscan b an allergen to us, but until we have serious problems with whatever it is, we keep on eating them...........we r told they r better for u, but the fact is, if it has to b processed, then it's no longer natural...........& once u have an allergic reaction to something, it's pretty hard to go bad to what it was b 4 the whole thing started...........cmt........


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## Jackmat (Jun 13, 2005)

Its strange that it happens once a week.It seems that you've done some good detective work, so keep away from the fruits Kathleen mentioned - and definitely give up chewing gum and soft drinks.My sorbitol tolerance increased significantly after a month of going without wheat.


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## thePIXEL (Nov 10, 2010)

This is interesting. May try and cut out chewing gum. I chew it regularly because of not being able to eat often especially if I'm out and about and the staleness from your guts starts to make your breath smell







I will check if mints contain it, maybe that can be an alternative.


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## Angry Canadian Girl (Dec 1, 2010)

It may be worth it to try it Pixel because although I still have a lot of pain and sometimes gas, the diarrhea has been gone for 3 months now. I am back to eating just about anything I once did prior except for artificial sweetners and fruit. I still eat a couple of pieces a day, one usually being a banana but no more than that. There seems to be a lot of conflicting information on "safe" fruits for fructose/sorbitol malabsorbtion. I have read some places that berries are fine, then some places say they aren't. Same with melons. I have just decided to quit eating most of it if it is going to hurt that bad. I find Beano seems to help my tummy aches a bit. Maybe it is all just a coincidence it stopped but I am hoping there is a connection. I am hoping to hear others have had success excluding sorbitol.


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## faze action (Aug 6, 2009)

Angry Canadian Girl said:


> There seems to be a lot of conflicting information on "safe" fruits for fructose/sorbitol malabsorbtion. I have read some places that berries are fine, then some places say they aren't. Same with melons.


I agree. Lots of conflicting info out there in cyberspace. I am really looking forward to talking with my doctor about this next week because it's a bit confounding when you're trying to figure things out for yourself. I've settled at just eliminating all fruit (among other things) for the time being.I think that, for sorbitol, "stone fruits" (cherries, etc) are considered to be the most problematic though...


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

I think all the berries are OK in terms of just sorbitol, but some berries have some fructose, so a lot depends on where you draw the line.Toebes's site has cranberries as OK, but strawberries and raspberries as a try a small amount after you are stable on the diet to see how much, if at all you tolerate them.Many things can be like that, low enough that people who aren't too sensitive to gas level amounts may tolerate a small amount at least once in awhile, but some people are sensitive enough that they still have problems even if generally safe. So a lot of things end up on some lists but not others depending on how sensitive the person writing the list is, or where someone draws the line (do you include things that bother everyone with the problem or the things that may only bother 5-10% of people, especially when the diet is pretty restricted to start with).


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## Angry Canadian Girl (Dec 1, 2010)

Kathleen M. said:


> I think all the berries are OK in terms of just sorbitol, but some berries have some fructose, so a lot depends on where you draw the line.Toebes's site has cranberries as OK, but strawberries and raspberries as a try a small amount after you are stable on the diet to see how much, if at all you tolerate them.Many things can be like that, low enough that people who aren't too sensitive to gas level amounts may tolerate a small amount at least once in awhile, but some people are sensitive enough that they still have problems even if generally safe. So a lot of things end up on some lists but not others depending on how sensitive the person writing the list is, or where someone draws the line (do you include things that bother everyone with the problem or the things that may only bother 5-10% of people, especially when the diet is pretty restricted to start with).


Thank you Kathleen. I will have to try adding in a few berries to see if my stomach can acts up. I love fruit and am very disappointed that it causes me grief. I have "Angry Tummy" today, aka pain and gurgling so I will be sticking to a banana and orange a day for a while. I think my main sorce of sorbitol was the gum because I chewed quite a bit and have daily since I quit smoking 3 years ago! Has anyone had any luck with glucose powder to ease their trouble with fruit?


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