Xylitol Friend or Foe?

Heralded as an allay in the battle against tooth decay and other degenerative diseases, a closer examination shows that xylitol is not as good as you might think it is.

What is Xylitol?

Xylitol is a five-carbon sugar alcohol that is used as a sugar substitute. Xylitol is synthesized from the fibers of many fruits and vegetables, including various berries, corn husks, oats, and mushrooms. It can be extracted from corn fiber, birch, raspberries, and plums.

History of Xylitol

Xylitol was first used from birch tree's in Finland and supposedly was a better sugar for diabetics. Later it was mass produced in the United States and made from beet sugar. Now xylitol is mostly made from corn from China.

Does Xylitol Inhibit Tooth Decay?

If you believe that bacteria causes tooth decay, then you may be led to believe that xylitol inhibits tooth decay. I believe that xylitol will thwart the growth of bacteria as advertised.

But what is also true, is that white sugar, and other refined sugar's also have the same affect of inhibiting bacterial growth. And we know that other sugar's do not prevent tooth decay, so why should xylitol?

Good Sugar's, Is Xylitol One Of Them?

Originally, xylitol might have been an excellent sugar; this is because it was likely harvested in an unadulterated/unprocessed form from Finland's birch trees. This would be akin to a good quality maple syrup.

To me, a processed sugar, is a processed sugar, you cannot sugar coat it. Processed foods are almost always out of balance with life, and as such, the denatured food wreaks havocs over time on our bodies. Xylitol is a processed sugar, so it may have good special uses, but to me it should not be eaten regularly unless you like poisoning yourself.

In general, sugars that are whole and unrefined are less harmful, or not at all harmful to the body. Natural sugars are in the forms of fruits, vegetables and other naturally sweet substances.

Most sugar's are refined sugar's, meaning that have been heated excessively and purified in various ways.

The sweetener I use most often is

unheated, raw honey

Other acceptable sweeteners are unprocessed stevia, rapadura (carefully processed sugar cane) and grade b maple syrup.

Keep in mind, if you have active tooth decay and want to prevent tooth decay, you need to limit your sugar intake, regardless of if they are good sugar's or not.

Xylitol Material Safety Data Sheets

Chemical compounds of data sheets that show the testing regarding whether xylitol is safe.

The data sheet for xylitol brings up some causes for concern:

"Caution! May cause eye, skin, and respiratory tract irritation. Hygroscopic (absorbs moisture from the air). "

"Inhalation: May cause respiratory tract irritation. May be harmful if inhaled.
Chronic: No information found."

See were is says, "Chronic: No information found." this means that there are perhaps no long term health studies regarding xylitol. I do not know, but this is suspicious.

Further the MSDS continues:

The lethal oral dose for a rat was "Oral, rat: LD50 = 16500 mg/kg;" that is it took

16.5 grams of xylitol per 2.2 pounds of body weight to kill a rat 50% of the time in an experiment.

If this applied to humans,

a 150 pound person is about 68 kilograms.

1122 grams of xylitol, or 40 ounces is somewhere near a lethal dose to humans.

Finally, the worst part is this,

"Epidemiology: No information found
Teratogenicity: No information found
Reproductive Effects: No information found
Mutagenicity: No information found
Neurotoxicity: No information found"

Has xylitol never been tested for human or cellular safety?

An MSDS of a xylitol mint shows that ingestion can "CAUSE LAXATIVE EFFECTS"

Do I Recommend Xylitol?

I am opposed to the use of xylitol, and I do not recommend it. While it may be better than white sugar (I do not know for certain), it is not a whole food and it should not be regularly consumed.

#1 It is a processed sugar, and processed sugar's do have special uses, but not has a regular food source.

#2 There are safe unprocessed sugar's such as: unrefined stevia, unheated honey, grade B maple syrup and rapadura.

#3 You cannot defy the laws of nature. Sweet foods have a price, they raise your blood sugar. You can prepare sweet foods with fat and protein to reduce this effect, but you cannot stop this from happening.

#4 Studies of safety and efficacy of xylitol are questionable and not openly available for scrutiny, if they are available at all.

In my book, I quote a source about how Xylitol candy affects dogs. Learn how to prevent cavities without artificial food supplements.