I have never been a gum fan, I think people chewing gum look like cows chewing their cud, however, when I am dieting I need something tasty, something sweet, something to hold me over and I turn to gum.
I tend to pop a piece in my mouth after eating and chew it for a short while then out it goes. I would never ever consider attending a meeting with a piece of gum in my mouth.
I like Dentyne Fire, spicy cinnamon and buy it by the big 10 pack at Smart and Final, but they were out last time I went so I bought a big box of this: Dentyne Pure.
What a miserable mistake that was! First, the texture was very soft and almost non-existent, like it was a marshmallow about to dissolve.
But the big problem?
Holy cow! Here I am weighing and measuring all my food and enjoying my little machine of a body when along comes this disastrous excuse of a gum, I should have been more careful.
In countries such as Australia, Canada, Norway, Mexico and New Zealand, Maltitol carries a mandatory warning such as "Excessive consumption may have a laxative effect." In the United States, it is a generally recognized as safe (GRAS) substance, with a recommendation of a warning about its laxative potential when consumed at levels above 100 grams per day.
I spent the afternoon burping and dealing with a great deal of gas (do you really want the details?) When I got home, feeling pretty lousy, I thought it must be the gum because I was very sure of every other item that went into my mouth.
Still, I popped one more piece in my mouth the next day just to see what one tiny piece would do, and I waited. It didn't take long, this is evil stuff!
Here are the ingredients in case you cannot read the back of the box (one of 8 I have left).
DENTYNE PURE MINT WITH HERBAL ACCENTS NATURALLY AND ARTIFICIALLY FLAVORED
INGREDIENTS: MALTITOL, GUM BASE, SORBITOL, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVORING (*INCLUDING A BLEND OF NATURAL BOTANICAL EXTRACTS), MALTITOL SYRUP, ERYTHRITOL; LESS THAN 2% OF: ACESULFAME POTASSIUM, ASPARTAME, BLUE 1, CANDELILLA WAX, GELATIN, GLYCERIN, SOY LECITHIN, SUCRALOSE, TITANIUM DIOXIDE (COLOR), XYLITOL AND YELLOW 5.
PHENYLKETONURICS: CONTAINS PHENYLALANINE
*Neutralizes bad breath odors caused by bacteria and food.
PHENYLKETONURICS: CONTAINS PHENYLALANINE
*Neutralizes bad breath odors caused by bacteria and food.
The gum I used to eat also has maltitol in it, but it is not the first ingredient, Sorbitol is. I know sorbitol is also a sugar alcohol that can have laxative effects, but for some reason it doesn't affect me like the maltitol does.
I wanted to bring this up, as so often we suffer through things like this not knowing what caused it, many people wouldn't even think that a couple pieces of gum could do something like this, evil little things.
If you suffer through gastrointestinal distress out of the blue one day, check your gum!