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Posted 4/7/2015 12:41 PM (GMT 0)
I'm gonna be going to a concert this weekend and I wanted to have some sort of defense against germs because when I go to these things and stand in a crowd, I tend to get a cold within two days. Now that I have UC and am on the meds I'm on, I'm even more concerned about this. I've used this stuff called Halo Defense before, an oral spray, and I want to buy it again, but it has an artificial sweetener in it (xylitol in this case) and I'm not sure if that would be harmful to my gut. I mean, I wouldn't use this stuff often or anything, just once in a while for peace of mind, in small amounts. But I also don't want to risk having increased stomach problems. Do you guys know if artificial sweeteners are a no-no for UC?
Posted 4/7/2015 12:53 PM (GMT 0)
Some will say yes. Some will say no. They don't bother me.
Posted 4/7/2015 12:53 PM (GMT 0)
Yes anything that ends in -ol is supposed to be very bad! But I don't think a squirt or two is bad, just prolonged use. But I could be wrong.
Posted 4/7/2015 3:16 PM (GMT 0)
Wait, what? First time I heard about these sweeteners being a problem. In another thread here, someone said that Xylitol is the "least bad" of these sweeteners.

Do others agree?
Posted 4/7/2015 3:26 PM (GMT 0)
All sugar alcohols ending in "tol" are not good for the guts, even healthy people can have issues with them. If it were me, I wouldn't but maybe test it out before you venture out to the concert so you can get a bit of an idea as to if it will bother you or not.
Posted 4/7/2015 5:02 PM (GMT 0)
I get gas from xylitol (a sugar alcohol). It's the only sweetener in the gum I chew (spry), but for sure about 6 - 8 hours later I feel the gas starting, so I try not to chew too many pieces during the day.

It has a low glycemic index number, but it won't cause your gut harm.


q
Posted 4/7/2015 5:07 PM (GMT 0)
In one edition of Canadian Living magazine they did a whole right-up about all the sweeteners under the sun and what the risks of them all were (I posted them years ago here at HW), and they specifically said that all sugar alcohols ending in "tol" could cause diarrhea just from one piece of gum for people that generally have healthy guts...not worth the risk.
Posted 4/7/2015 5:16 PM (GMT 0)
She's used it before....if she didn't have any problems, then it's not an issue for her.

Her other option is to wear a mask...

q
Posted 4/7/2015 7:01 PM (GMT 0)
i am totally fine with xylitol. it is very good for sinus and oral health so i'm sure that's why it was added to your oral spray (the taste is just a bonus). i use an oral spray with xylitol when i have a sore throat. it just happens to be sweet, too.
Posted 4/7/2015 7:17 PM (GMT 0)
If you have used it pre UC and was fine, then perhaps you could give yourself a squirt as a test run now that you have UC just to make sure you dont get the runs from it, otherwise you could find yourself in a bad situation.

Speaking for myself, I don't think I would risk taking it.
Posted 4/7/2015 7:23 PM (GMT 0)
Any food with xylitol, sorbitol, mannitol, etc. will aggravate my symptoms. That includes sugarless gum with those listed as sweeteners. But my toothpaste has xylitol and I used to use a toothpaste with carrageenan and they never gave me any problems.

I think it is a matter how much can get absorbed into the digestive system. I think you should be OK.
Posted 4/7/2015 7:58 PM (GMT 0)

IamCurious said...
Any food with xylitol, sorbitol, mannitol, etc. will aggravate my symptoms. That includes sugarless gum with those listed as sweeteners. But my toothpaste has xylitol and I used to use a toothpaste with carrageenan and they never gave me any problems.

I think it is a matter how much can get absorbed into the digestive system. I think you should be OK.

Toothpaste has been linked to triggering crohn's disease for those very reasons from my understanding...when I was young I used to swallow a bit of toothpaste to aid with bad breath issues, that I found out later were caused by tonsil stones...which is why the toothpaste swallowing didn't help me any and probably hurt me...who knows since they suspect that it's a combination of environmental and genetics that can actually trigger IBD.
Posted 4/8/2015 3:35 AM (GMT 0)
Any of the 'tol's tend to aggravate my gut but once in a blue moon I will chew sugarless gum that has it. A piece here there doesn't seem to bother me much. But we are all different on what we can tolerate.
Posted 4/8/2015 6:55 PM (GMT 0)
Erythritol is what I use. It can be found in the US as a product called "Zero". Some facts:

In small amounts, erythritol is not supposed to cause digestive upset and diarrhea that other sugar alcohols like sorbitol and xylitol are known to cause, because erythritol is a smaller molecule and 90 percent of erythritol is absorbed in the small intestine and excreted for the most part unchanged in urine. This quality makes erythritol unique among the sugar alcohols. ...
Erythritol isn’t metabolized by oral bacteria, which means that it doesn’t contribute to tooth decay. Erythritol was approved for use as a sugar substitute in Japan in 1990. In the United States, it is classified as being Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) since 1997. It was approved in Australia and New Zealand in 1999.

It may even be an anti-oxidant see http://nutritionfacts.org/video/erythritol-may-be-a-sweet-antioxidant/
Posted 4/13/2015 2:57 PM (GMT 0)
Forgive me for taking so long to reply to you guys. Just want to thank you for the input. I used the product and it didn't seem to cause any problems...*phew!*
Posted 4/13/2015 8:36 PM (GMT 0)
I try not to consume it. I love the gum and products that contain it but I ate loads of it the year before developing UC so I will always have a negative feeling about it. I am sure it's not at all related.
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