What is Sorbitol?

One night a couple of weeks ago I ate about 20 Kirkland Vitamin C with sorbitol as the main ingredient. I nearly crapped myself and spent the majority of the night crapping my brains out. Sorbitol is definitely the best laxative I have ever unintentionally consumed. Now, when I eat between 5-10 vitamin c tablets, I don't crap myself, but I have gas all night and often times it's so violent that I'm awoken. Luckily, no odor, but both me and my wife are a little tired of the sleep disruption.

To 'popcorn': Stevia is a best natural sweetener (no cal), but I don't know of any commercial drink maker using it. You can find good info on stevia online.

Why are artificial sweeteners put in so many products when people are allergic to them? I used to live on artificial sweeteners until my doctor took me off of them when I was pregnant and NutraSweet was first being introduced to the US. When I tried to eat them again I got such severe headaches that no medicine would stop and they lasted for days. So many people are consuming these sweeteners and not knowing why they have headaches and other problems. I can't be the only one. Why doesn't the government do something about it.

Apparently sorbitol is in the Hylo-forte eye drops I am taking and they make me feel dizzy. Is it the sorbitol? I now know that it is in crab sticks and they make me ill.

@popcorn: I do not remember the name, but there is a company in the U.S. that uses honey as its sweetener because it is targeted at people with digestive issues. Last I had checked, there were no preservatives either, so you knew exactly what you were drinking. They do not offer any mainstream flavors, but the ones they have sounded good.

Sorbitol is carrageenan. It's the same stuff. Look it up and find out. This is a very dangerous algae. They are both like poison.

@literally45-- If you're a diabetic, you need to consume sweetened snacks in moderation even when they're made with sugar alcohols like sorbitol and xylitol.

I actually don't think that you're having issues due to sorbitol. You are probably eating too much as you also mentioned.

Don't forget that diabetic snacks like cookies and chocolates also have carbohydrates in them. Everything we eat is eventually turned into glucose in our body. So even though you are not technically eating sugar with these foods, they will raise your blood glucose to some degree.

So eat in moderation and check your blood sugar levels before and after eating a new food to see how it affects you.

@anon159621-- That's right.

Something else I learned recently is that sugar alcohol has nothing to do with alcohol. Sugar alcohol is a carbohydrate. So sorbitol is a carbohydrate.

I know sorbitol isn't supposed to affect blood sugar. But I swear, whenever I eat diabetic snacks and candies with sorbitol in it, my sugar goes up.

I don't know if I end up eating too much because it's sugar-free or if my body actually metabolizes sorbitol faster than it's supposed to.

I try to avoid foods with sorbitol in them for this reason, although this is getting harder and harder to do. It's in many foods now, it's sort of replacing sugar and corn syrup. But I just don't react well to it. And not just sorbitol, but I react badly to all sugar alcohol additives.

You need to add Potassium Phosphate.

I use sorbitol as a laxative. It is found in peaches, pears, apples, and prunes. Sometimes, I will eat a few apples a day to keep myself regular, but if I am suffering from constipation already, I will buy the laxative.

Sorbital works by drawing water into the large intestine. This stimulates the bowels to move.

You can either buy the laxative in pill form like I do or you can make use of the natural sorbitol found in prune juice, which many people use as a laxative. Be careful when drinking prune juice, though, because too much of it will give you gas and diarrhea.

@orangey03 - I like candy sweetened with either sorbitol or isomalt. To me, they taste about the same, so as long as the package does not say “contains aspartame,” I will probably eat it.

Isomalt has some calories, but only about half as many as sugar. You won’t find it in diet sodas because of this. Like sorbitol, isomalt is used in some toothpastes, because it is safe for your teeth.

Isomalt is used in two of my favorite hard candies. Sugar-Free Lifesavers and Sugar-Free Sunkist Candy are both sweetened with it. I eat these at my desk when my mouth gets bored and I don’t want to eat anything fattening.

I prefer sorbitol to aspartame, because it doesn’t make me feel as bad. I had been drinking diet soft drinks sweetened with aspartame, and I felt fatigued and just generally awful. When I stopped drinking them, my condition improved. I had read that aspartame was bad for you, and now I believe it.

Sorbitol is an ingredient in several sugar-free hard candies that I eat when the craving for a soda hits me. Since sucking on a candy takes longer than drinking a soda, yet it continually provides your mouth with flavor, it keeps me from wanting aspartame-laden drinks. I am careful not to eat too many of them, however, because I know that they can cause diarrhea.

So sorbitol is what gives imitation crab that slightly sweet flavor! I guess I thought the surimi was naturally sweet. Well, at least I know now that it doesn’t contain any added sugar, and this slow-metabolizing stuff will be less likely to make me hyper.

That perfect hint of sweetness in the crab is what makes it taste good with a cucumber and saltines. The subtle hint of sorbitol blends perfectly with the fishy taste. The cucumber adds a coolness to the mix, and the saltines make for a salty/sweet combination.

Sorbitol is one of the sweeteners used that has a lot of controversy surrounding it. While it may be technically safe, it can certainly cause a lot of stomach issues for those that use it.

If you find yourself bloated and suffering from stomach cramps after eating things like ice cream and prepared cake mixes you may be having a reaction to the sorbitol in the products.

Sorbitol reactions are mild in most people, and usually will go away in a few hours.

If you experience excessive itching, develop hives or someone close to you has a seizure when they have no known history of such things, make sure to mention to the doctor what has been ate and drank. Severe sorbitol reactions are not unheard of.

When it comes to calorie reduced sodas, or those that are calorie-free I think we really don't have much choice but to drink chemicals like sorbitol. While I personally don't have a problem drinking anything with sorbitol in it, my best friend has to avoid most artificial sweeteners because they wreak havoc on her digestive track. It is really a shame that she can't just enjoy a soda without so many problems.

Has anyone found a drink that tastes sweet but lacks fructose corn syrup or any artificial sweeteners?

I would like to try something a bit healthier that tastes great, without having to ingest more chemicals. If it tastes great to me, I'll pass it on to my friend.

Sorbitol is actually sometimes used for soap making. Originally, the recipe for homemade soap requires regular sugar, glycerin and alcohol but some people prefer to use sorbitol instead of the sugar.

I'm not sure of the exact reason but perhaps it makes the mixture more uniform. I am planning on making some glycerin soap soon. I might replace the sugar with sorbitol this time to see how it comes out.

To FernValley: Look up "Dangers of Aspartame." You might well change your mind.

Sorbitol is neither a monosaccharide nor disaccharide. That's because it's not a sugar, but rather a polyol or sugar alcohol.

I try to avoid sorbitol sweeteners because I have Irritable bowel syndrome, however things like aspartame and stevia sweeteners do not give me trouble.

Could you add whether it is a monosaccharide or disaccharide as this could prove to be helpful info for many people. For example how would a monosaccharide differ to a disaccharide when added to yeast and the amount of CO2 respired then recorded to see whether different sugars will effect yeast respiration.