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You may be asking "What is Xylitol?" Xylitol is a natural sweetener. Many people think that Xylitol is an artificial sweetener, mostly because it sounds like one! The fact of the matter is that Xylitol is a safe and natural sweetener that is found in many of the foods we already eat. We use no other sweeteners in our gum. Xylitol tastes great and has many significant health benefits from preventing cavities and tooth decay, to helping with ear infections.

Xylitol is recognized by many as one of the best kept secrets in natural sweeteners. The reason you don't see xylitol in many mainstream products is simple: This high quality ingredient is expensive. Some products promote the fact that they contain Xylitol, but if you read the fine print, they use very little Xylitol, and they use it in conjunction with countless other artificial sweeteners that you cannot pronounce.

Our gum is sweetened with 100% xylitol. Please find some of the excerpts from a variety of well respected sources on the merits and effectiveness of xylitol consumption. There are many other publications, studies, and references available as well.

From California Dental Association.

What is xylitol?
Xylitol is a natural sugar alcohol that helps prevents cavities. You may recognize other sugar alcohols used in sugarless products, such as mannitol and sorbitol. Xylitol is the sugar alcohol that shows the greatest promise for cavity prevention. It is equal in sweetness and volume to sugar and the granular form can be used in many of the ways that sugar is used, including to sweeten cereals and hot beverages and for baking (except when sugar is needed for yeast to rise).

How does xylitol prevent cavities?
Xylitol inhibits the growth of the bacteria that cause cavities. It does this because these bacteria (Streptococcus mutans) cannot utilize xylitol to grow. Over time with xylitol use, the quality of the bacteria in the mouth changes and fewer and fewer decay-causing bacteria survive on tooth surfaces. Less plaque forms and the level of acids attacking the tooth surface is lowered.
Studies show that Streptococcus mutans is passed from parents to their newborn children, thus beginning the growth of these decay-producing bacteria in the child. Regular use of xylitol by mothers has been demonstrated to significantly reduce this bacterial transmission, resulting in fewer cavities for the child.

What products contain xylitol and how do I find them?
Xylitol is found most often in chewing gum and mints. You must look at the list of ingredients to know if a product contains xylitol. Generally, for the amount of xylitol to be at decay-preventing levels, it must be listed as the first ingredient. Health food stores can be a good resource for xylitol containing products. Additionally, several companies provide xylitol products for distribution over the Internet.

How often must I use xylitol for it to be effective?
Xylitol gum or mints used 3-5 times daily, for a total intake of 5 grams, is considered optimal. Because frequency and duration of exposure is important, gum should be chewed for approximately 5 minutes and mints should be allowed to dissolve. As xylitol is digested slowly in the large intestine, it acts much like fiber and large amounts can lead to soft stools or have a laxative effect. However, the amounts suggested for cavity reduction are far lower than those typically producing unwelcome results.

Has xylitol been evaluated for safety?
Xylitol has been approved for safety by a number of agencies, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the World Health Organization's Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives and the European Union's Scientific Committee for Food.

Xylitol has been shown to have decay-preventive qualities, especially for people at moderate to high risk for decay, when used as part of an overall strategy for decay reduction that also includes a healthy diet and good home care. Consult your CDA dentist to help you determine if xylitol use would be beneficial for you.

Here is what many other respected sources have to say about Xylitol:

Xylitol has the same sweetness and bulk as sucrose with 40% less calories and no aftertaste. In fact, Xylitol is the sweetest of all bulk sugar substitutes. Plus, it has a very pleasant cooling sensation when it dissolves in the mouth making Xylitol a great partner in applications with mint and citrus flavors.

Clinically Proven

In scientific studies over more than 30 years, dental researchers have pointed to a naturally occurring sweetener, Xylitol, as a key ingredient in the fight against tooth decay. Found in natural sources, such as fruits and vegetables, Xylitol is a familiar sweetener in sugar-free products such as chewing gum. Xylitol not only adds a pleasant taste, but also reduces the incidence of tooth decay. Xylitol is a low-glycaemic sweetener and is metabolized independently of insulin. Xylitol does not cause the sharp increase in blood sugar level or the associated serum insulin response, which is usually seen following consumption of other carbohydrates. Thus, Xylitol can be recommended as a sugar-free sweetener suitable for diabetics as well as for the general population seeking a healthier lifestyle.

How Xylitol Fights Tooth Decay

Clinical studies conducted in populations with both high and low cavity incidence show that supplementing a normal diet with regular consumption of xylitol (e.g. sweetened chewing gum > 2 times/day) is of clear benefit to the teeth.

When carbohydrate or sugars are consumed acid is produced in the mouth and the pH drops rapidly below pH 5.7, causing demineralization of tooth enamel and potential cavities. Since xylitol is a five-carbon polyol, oral bacteria do not metabolize it and therefore no acid is produced. When xylitol products are used the pH balance in the oral cavity is quickly returned to a safe level above pH 5.7, minimizing the erosion of enamel and enhancing the remineralization process. The pleasant sweetness also stimulates saliva flow, which helps to rinse away excess sugar residues and neutralize any acids that have been formed.

When xylitol is consumed habitually for several months, the mutans streptococci are shed from plaque to the saliva. Although high numbers may still be found in saliva, they are less virulent and do not adhere as tightly to the teeth, and this means acid attack is not occurring at the tooth surface.

In conclusion, xylitol is both non-cariogenic in that it does not contribute to caries formation and is cariostatic because it prevents or reduces the incidence of new caries. Xylitol actually reduces the amount of plaque and the number of mutans streptococci in plaque. No other sugar substitute has been shown to function in this way.

Xylitol is right here, inside, already. Our bodies produce up to 15 grams of xylitol from other food sources using established energy pathways. Xylitol is not a strange or artificial substance, but a normal part of everyday metabolism. Xylitol is widely distributed throughout nature in small amounts. Some of the best sources are fruits, berries, mushrooms lettuce, hardwoods, and corn cobs. One cup of raspberries contains less than one gram of xylitol. Chewing is a natural process and chewing gums provide some exercise lacking in a refined diet. If chewing is uncomfortable, xylitol mints or candies can also stimulate saliva, the natural tooth protector.

Because xylitol naturally keeps bacteria from settling on sensitive tissue in the ears, nose, mouth, and throat, it is ideal for prevention of common problems experienced by children and adults alike. Often bacteria really begins working in our mouths shortly after we eat, consuming sugars and producing acids which create dental caries and tooth decay, leaving a cavity close to the gums in the enamel of the tooth. Simply using chewing gum not only with xylitol, but with xylitol as the leading ingredient prevents bacteria from eating at the teeth, keeping your teeth safe between brushes and flosses.

We may not know how much sugar is in everything we eat. Think about breakfast cereal, which is one of the most common breakfast foods for both children and adults. In the rare circumstance a cereal does not contain sugar, we may add it or have sugar in our coffee and tea instead. For the entire day that sugar in our mouths is preyed upon acid-producing bacteria. Even a xylitol natural sweetener will provide the preventative power your mouth needs throughout the day.

XYLITOL and Ear Infections
Since the major cause of ear infections is Strep pneumo, a species of bacteria closely related to Strep mutans, perhaps xylitol would prove effective in preventing ear infections. Researchers from Finland tested this hypothesis and published the results of their investigation in the British Medical Journal (November 1996).

The study included 306 children in day care nurseries, most of whom had a history of repeated ear infections. Half of the children chewed xylitol-sweetened gum (2 pieces, 5 times a day -- after all meals and snacks); the other half chewed ordinary gum at the same frequency. During the 2 months of the study, 21% of the regular gum chewers, but only 12% of the xylitol group, had one or more ear infections. Gum chewing by itself, by promoting swallowing and thus clearance of the middle ear, probably prevents some ear infections. The sugar in the regular-sugar-sweetened gum may have offset this effect by promoting bacterial growth in the children who chewed this ordinary gum. By contrast, in this study, xylitol dropped the incidence of ear infections by almost half!

Here is an abstract from M. Uhari et al., "Xylitol in Preventing Acute Otitis Media," Vaccine, 2000 Dec 8;19 Suppl 1:S144-7

Xylitol is a polyol sugar alcohol and is referred to as birch sugar, because it can be produced from birch. Natural sources of xylitol include plums, strawberries, raspberries and rowan berries. Xylitol inhibits the growth of Streptococcus pneumoniae and it inhibits the attachment of both pneumococci and Haemophilus influenzae on the nasopharyngeal cells. In two clinical trials xylitol was found efficient to prevent the development of acute otitis media with a daily dose of 8.4-10 g of xylitol given in five divided doses. The efficacy in these 2-3 months follow-up trials was approximately 40% when chewing gum was used and approximately 30% with xylitol syrup. The need to use antimicrobials reduced markedly when using xylitol. In a high-risk group of children with tympanostomy tubes xylitol was ineffective in preventing otitis. Xylitol appears to be an attractive alternative to prevent acute otitis media. A more practical frequency of doses should be found before its use can be widely recommended.

Many more links and studies can be found online, or can be provided by our staff.

The excerpts referenced above are the opinions and findings of individuals, companies, and organizations with no affiliation to ElimiTaste gum and Inhale Solutions, Inc. This is simply a sampling of public information on the merits of Xylitol. Many more resources are available on the topic of Xylitol on the world wide web, and from your medical and dental professionals.

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