Side Effects of Xylitol

With a name like that it is no wonder that many people might be a bit skeptical and think that it might have lots of side effects, The truth is that xylitol has only a few minor and mostly gastrointestinal side effects and only when consumed in large quantities. According to the available literature the main side effects of xylitol are diarrhea and bloating.

Does that mean that if you eat xylitol or products containing it that you will experience these symptoms? No definitely no. You will experience these side effects only if you consume it in a quantity greater than the one your body can tolerate, this quantity is also referred as the "laxation threshold" in some articles.

"So, how much is too much?". I would lie if I told you that I can give you a precise number that will apply to everyone since different people can have different tolerance levels. However, the quantities that you need to benefit from xylitol use (about 6grams per day) are usually well tolerated by most people. Additionally, if you consume it regularly, your body will adapt and your laxation threshold will increase.

"So thats it, just these two side effects?" Basically yes, however there are a few reports for some other ones but in many cases these are mostly from either animal studies or when xylitol is used completely different (eg. intravenously), you can read more about these in this article.

As I have mentioned earlier, xylitol is used in various products such as chewing gums. Other products that contain xylitol include toothpaste, nasal spays, chocolate, mints, lollipops, candy, jams and even chocolate. All these products tend to be more expensive compared to the equivalent products containing sugar or other commercial sweeteners due to xylitol's higher price.

So you may be asking yourself "Is it worth it?"
In my opinion yes it is worth it for various reasons. First of all, as I said xylitol is a natural sweetener, and although there are not any hard evidence against artificial ones I tend to avoid them just to stay on the safe side. Sugar might be natural but it provides lots of empty calories and can have a negative effect on various aspects of our health.

Xylitol on the other hand is natural, contains 40% fewer calories compared to sugar, is diabetic friendly since it has a low glycemic index and has a number of other benefits.

"So what are those benefits you keep talking about?"
The primary benefit of xylitol is that it is tooth friendly and that it can protect our teeth from tooth decay. It accomplishes this by "fighting" that cause dental caries. Additionally, according to some published studies it can also help restore the damage caused by these bacteria.
Other benefits that are mentioned in the available literature include the fact that it can prevent ear infections, it can help increase bone mass density and that it can control the growth of candida albicans. Please note that the last few mentioned benefits aren't as well established as xylitol's tooth decay fighting properties.