Friday, January 11, 2008

Chewing gum weight loss - warning


"Too much "sugar-free" chewing gum can lead to severe weight loss and diarrhoea, doctors warn."

- BBC
One 21-year old woman had suffered with diarrhoea and stomach pain for eight months and had undergone a raft of tests before doctors realised her chewing gum habit was to blame.

She lost more than one and a half stones (11kg) in that time and was underweight.

In a second case a man was admitted to hospital after losing three and a half stones (22kg) over a year and suffering diarrhoea.

Dr Juergen Bauditz, from the Department of Gastroenterology at Charite University Hospital in Berlin, said 5-20g of sorbitol would be enough to cause minor stomach problems such as bloating and cramps but more than 20g could cause diarrhoea and, as these cases showed, severe weight loss.






No comments:

Followers