Xylitol what is it health benefits

This is great. I only chew gum that is sweetened with Xylitol. The dental bennies. Thank you for all your research — I feel like I can make a much better decision about it now! Food for thought: The Medical industry and Dental Industry also think it was safe to put amalgam mercury in your mouth and floride in your water.

It does seem like a very good alternative to sugar from my research. If you ever look at how cane sugar is made, it is very questionable if you can call it natural. Same with beet sugar.

If you get down to it, honey is likely the only real natural sugar, with maple syrup making a second. Stivia, now matter what they mix it with, always tastes bitter to me. I have thrown out too many things trying to use it.

Xylitol is a sugar alcohol, not a prebiotic. Interesting article. Thank-you for this. How should I substitute? These substitutions are not an exact science, unfortunately. I was just wondering how much xylitol would you use in a toothpaste application? I have made some with bentonite clay, baking soda coconut oil and peppermint E.

I should also grind it, as your article suggests? Thank you! You can always add more. Good luck! Yes, xylitol is a prebiotic.

Here is a journal article you might be interested in regarding xylitol as a prebiotic. If you think about it, many prebiotics often initially cause gas and other intestinal problems particularly when the bowl pH is abnormal.

This is one of the symptoms that probiotics are necessary. There is quite a bit of research out there on this and it could be a very lengthy post to explain it all. But I do hope some of this info gets you off on the right start in terms of researching xylitol as a prebiotic. You can get xylitol at many health food stores or online. Furthermore, there was no loss of stress and strain resistance upon xylitol supplementation compared to sham operated animals; while elasticity was maintained.

Diets between the groups were isocaloric [ 66 ]. In the case of trabecular bone volume, trabecular number and trabecular separation this was not different from the non-arthritic rats [ 67 ]. These observations can partially be explained by an increased bone formation activity induced by xylitol and a diminished bone resorption activity.

Tibia density and ash weight in both xylitol groups were significantly different from diabetic rats fed the unsupplemented diet but similar to unsupplemented healthy rats. This was similar for tibia and femur stress tolerance and for histomorphometric assessed tibia trabecular bone volume; both xylitol groups were significantly different from diabetic rats fed the unsupplemented diet but similar to unsupplemented healthy rats [ 68 ].

The conversion of isoflavones to equol has been suggested to be responsible for their positive effects on bone health [ 69 ], whether dietary xylitol plus isoflavonoids exert a favorable effect on bone health remains, however, to be studied [ 33 ]. The ability of xylitol to positively influence bone health is in line with its prebiotic properties.

Being undigestible but fermented in the colon, leads to a production of short-chain fatty acids and a reduction in pH of the digesta. This improves the solubility and absorption of minerals such as calcium. Furthermore, it has been shown in mice that butyrate stimulates bone formation via regulatory T cell-dependent mechanisms [ 70 ] thus linking the butyrogenic effect of xylitol [ 18 ] to bone health.

These observations are, however, all in animals. Human studies are required to validate these benefits. As the first line of defense against foreign compounds and potential pathogenic micro-organisms, the body has physicochemical barriers such as the skin and mucous membranes.

As mentioned above, xylitol may beneficially affect the skin barrier function, and as will be discussed below, xylitol also improves mucous membrane function; especially in the oropharynx.

Below these barriers, the body relies on the immune system which can roughly be divided into a non-specific, fast-working, innate immunity and highly specific, but slower reacting, acquired immunity [ 71 ].

Xylitol may exert its effects on the immune system indirectly by prebiotic effect as discussed above or directly by influencing host e. Xylitol has been found to potentiate immune responses mainly in animal models.

A single 0. Furthermore, antibody titers to keyhole limpet hemocyanin KHL and Mycobacterium butyricum injected at day 5 were higher at day 12 post-hatching compared to animals that received glucose [ 73 ]; indicating an improved acquired immune response development in chicks. The effect of xylitol on innate immunity has been studied in rats.

Likewise, the strength of the oxidative burst per neutrophil was Anti-bacterial effects of xylitol have been well documented especially against oral [ 75 ] and respiratory pathogens [ 19 ]; see also earlier sections. However, only a few studies have investigated its effect on viral infections. Human respiratory syncytial virus hRSV is the most common cause of bronchiolitis and pneumonia in infants. There is a need for prophylactic and therapeutic strategies to control hRSV infection.

The results indicate an improved innate immune response but nevertheless combined with a reduced inflammatory response to hRSV infection. Mortality in mice infected with influenza A virus H1N1 could not be influenced by prophylactic oral application of xylitol or red ginseng.

However, combining the two remarkably reduced mortality. The studies discussed above indicate that xylitol may have anti-inflammatory effects on skin by improving the epithelial tight junctions and thus limiting the leakage of microbial and other foreign components into the host. It has been further shown that 0. It can be hypothesized that this reduced inflammatory response contributes to improved skin barrier function.

In animal models, xylitol has been observed to stimulate innate and acquired immunity; mainly against bacterial infectious agents. For viral infections, results are less conclusive. Also, the anti-inflammatory effects of xylitol are somewhat inconclusive and based on animal studies.

Information on the potential effects on human inflammatory responses is lacking. Overweight and obesity are an increasing health risk not only in affluent countries but increasingly also in developing countries. Strategies to aid consumers with weight management are thus very welcome and xylitol may play a role here.

A potential mechanism by which xylitol could contribute to weight management and reduced energy intake is through the induction of satiety. In addition to weight management, there may also be a benefit in counteracting the consequences of overweight and obesity, commonly referred to as metabolic syndrome; insulin resistance, high serum cholesterol and hyperlipidemia [ 79 ].

An obvious contribution of xylitol to weight management is through the replacement of sucrose. The caloric value of sucrose is 3. As xylitol is equisweet to sucrose, replacing sucrose with xylitol will reduce the caloric value of a particular food while maintaining taste.

In confectionery, xylitol will also contribute the same bulk as sucrose. Whether this will contribute to long-term weight loss is uncertain. These factors regulate lipid metabolism and storage and may have caused a miniaturization of adipocytes, lipolysis, and liver fatty acid oxidation [ 7 ]. Bodyweight gain was, however, similar to the control animals but less than the healthy animals [ 80 ].

A one-year study with 91 obese subjects suggests an inverse relation between xylitol consumption and weight loss; a high intake of xylitol would predict for a small weight loss.

People in the two lower quartiles had a 5. Whether this is just a correlation or an actual causality remains to be determined. Nasogastric administration of 50 g xylitol in mL water to 10 obese and 10 lean volunteers after an 8 h fasting, induced an increase in cholecystokinin CCK and glucagon-like peptide-1 GLP-1 compared to water alone [ 82 ]; both are indicated as satiation hormones.

This was associated with an increased time to gastric emptying in both groups as compared to the control water. However, subjective feelings of appetite were not influenced compared to the water control [ 82 ]. Similarly, an earlier study indicated that 25 g xylitol in yogurt for 10 days had no influence on reported fullness in 16 healthy lean adults.

However, the combination of Interestingly, clinical studies have reported that a single dose of 30 g xylitol in mL water resulted in a change in gastric emptying half-time from This delay in gastric emptying was associated with increased plasma motilin [ 84 ].

Motilin is involved in the regulation of small intestinal motility [ 85 ]. After ingestion of 25 g of xylitol in 50 mL water by ten healthy volunteers, the gastric emptying halftime was increased from 58 min to 91 min compared to the water only control as well as the 25 g glucose comparator in a crossover study. Food intake after xylitol preloading was reduced from water control to kcal [ 86 ].

Similar observations were made by King and co-workers [ 83 ] who observed that during a ten-day ingestion of yogurt containing 25 g of xylitol, 90 min prior to lunch, reduced the combined caloric intake by This difference did, however, not reach statistical significance compared to control.

Xylitol, although having a similar sweetness as sucrose and glucose, has different molecular properties and thus does not lead to an increase in blood glucose or insulin levels [ 83 ]. Carbohydrate and lipid oxidation were not observed to be influenced when eight healthy non-obese males consumed a single dose of 25 g xylitol after an overnight fast [ 87 ]. In a study with 10 obese and 10 lean, non-diabetic volunteers; nasogastric administration of 50 g xylitol in mL water after an 8 h fasting, resulted in a small but significant increase in serum glucose after administrations of xylitol compared with placebo.

The authors hypothesized that this could be due to a decrease in plasma glucose over time after placebo intake rather than an increase in plasma glucose after xylitol intake [ 82 ]. However, the small increase is in line with earlier reports [ 87 ] and can be explained by the normal metabolism of absorbed xylitol to glucose by the liver [ 7 ]. A differential lipidemic response between healthy and type 2 diabetic animal models and humans has been suggested [ 91 ].

While there is some indication for improved short-term weight loss in animal models, the long-term data in humans is inconclusive. There is some indication that xylitol may influence satiety hormones and gastric emptying in humans. Whether this translates into an effect on weight management remains to be determined.

The benefit of xylitol on metabolic health; in addition to the benefit of the mere replacement of sucrose, remains to be determined in humans. Although there are indications for reduced LDL-cholesterol with xylitol consumption, this would need to be confirmed with lower dietary doses in humans as well as the effect of xylitol on serum triglycerides.

The dental health benefits of xylitol are well established [ 3 ]. Here, we have highlighted that xylitol also has other potential health benefits, Figure 3.

Many of these are related to oral-pharyngeal health. Changes in the respiratory microbiota are associated with positive effects on respiratory infections, sinusitis, and acute otitis media. Also, the immune function modulating effects of xylitol may contribute to the reduction in respiratory-related infections.

Furthermore, topical or oral administration of xylitol seems to have anti-inflammatory effects on immune function and could be beneficial in controlling for example skin inflammation. As a non-digestible, non-absorbed, selectively fermentable carbohydrate, xylitol also exhibits the characteristics of prebiotics.

Xylitol consumption is associated with changes in microbiota composition and metabolic activity, and influences bowel and immune function, and positively influences bone health. Being a low caloric sweetener, xylitol may contribute to weight management; but also by stimulating satiety and contributing to improved serum cholesterol levels. Finally, the topical application of xylitol is associated with improved skin moisture and improved skin barrier. Summary of non-dental health benefits of xylitol.

Arrow thickness indicates the level of documentation. Thin arrows indicate only in vitro or animal data, while thick arrows indicate some level of human data. There are thus many opportunities for additional health benefits of xylitol. However, a limitation is that many of these novel health end-points are mainly based on in vitro and animal studies, and limited human intervention studies. This is helpful for the exploration of new health targets and for their mechanistic understanding.

There is, therefore, a rationale and especially a need to investigate the feasibility of these potential health benefits in humans.

The purpose of the current review was to focus on xylitol. However, it may be relevant to place this into the perspective of other sugar alcohols; without embarking on an in-depth review. Inhaled mannitol may improve some lung functions in cystic fibrosis patients as indicated in a recent Cochrane review [ 92 ].

Some polyols, such e. For improving bowel function, lactitol appears to be the sugar alcohol of choice [ 95 ]. Mannitol can work as an antioxidant and protect hyaluronic acid in the skin [ 96 ]. Lactitol has been reported to stimulate secretory IgA production [ 97 ]. Erythritol causes no increase in blood serum glucose level [ 82 ]. While sorbitol and erythritol have been shown to reduce glucose absorption from the intestine and improve muscular glucose absorption ex vivo [ 98 , 99 , ].

Thus, while other sugar alcohols have multiple potential beneficial health effects, xylitol seems to be the more versatile or more investigated one. Conceptualization, A. The authors declare no other conflict of interest. National Center for Biotechnology Information , U. Journal List Nutrients v. Published online Aug 6. Krista Salli , Markus J. Lehtinen , Kirsti Tiihonen , and Arthur C. Author information Article notes Copyright and License information Disclaimer.

Received Jun 24; Accepted Jul This article has been cited by other articles in PMC. Abstract Xylitol has been widely documented to have dental health benefits, such as reducing the risk for dental caries.

Keywords: sugar alcohol, prebiotic, bowel function, immune function, respiratory tract infections, otitis media, sinusitis, weight management, satiety, bone health. Introduction Xylitol is a five-carbon sugar alcohol C 5 H 12 O 5 , Figure 1 with a molecular weight of Open in a separate window. Figure 1. Skin 2. Skin Introduction The skin acts as a barrier between the body and its surrounding environment.

Figure 2. Xylitol Benefits to Skin Xylitol mM for 2 h has been observed, in an epidermal-equivalent skin model, to improve lipid fluidity in the uppermost layer of the stratum granulosum.

Conclusions Topical exposure of the skin with xylitol has thus been shown to reduce skin moisture loss. Digestive Tract 3. Introduction The digestive tract can be largely divided into the stomach, small intestine, and large intestine colon. A review found that high concentrations of erythritol are more effective at reducing oral plaque than both xylitol and sorbitol. However, xylitol is more effective than erythritol at lower concentrations. A range of erythritol sweeteners is available to purchase online.

Stevia is natural sweetener that manufacturers extract from the stevia plant. Stevia extract is available in granular and liquid forms. Purified leaf extract is — times sweeter than sugar. Stevia extract sweetening products are available to purchase online. Agave nectar is a syrup that manufacturers extract from the agave plant and use as a sugar substitute in some drinks and foods.

However, agave nectar mainly contains fructose, which bacteria in the mouth can break down into the acids that cause tooth decay. Many agave nectar products are available to purchase online.

Xylitol is a reduced-calorie sugar substitute similar in sweetness to table sugar. Xylitol also has a low GI, which makes it an attractive alternative to sugar for people wishing to lose weight and those with diabetes. Some research also suggests that xylitol has antibacterial properties that can help prevent tooth decay, gum disease, and ear infections.

However, further research into the potential health benefits of xylitol is needed. Erythritol is a popular artificial sweetener that is also a sugar alcohol. Manufacturers add a synthetic type of this chemical to diet foods and….

Ear infections are the most common reason parents take children to the doctors. MNT explains ear infections and how to treat them. To choose the best toothpaste, people need to consider a range of factors. These include fluoride content and whether or not the American Dental….

Agave is a succulent plant which produces a naturally sweet nectar. People with diabetes need to find replacements for sugar or limit intake. Is agave…. Stevia is a popular sugar substitute that is to times sweeter than table sugar yet has few calories.

It is considered to have potential health…. What are the health benefits of xylitol? Different vehicles are used for delivering the xylitol into the human body, but chewing gums occupy a leading position. The present review is devoted to comprehensive analyses of the positive and negative effects of this polyol on human health. Abstract Many diseases, including caries, chronic inflammatory diseases, diabetes, and obesity, are associated with uncontrolled sugar consumption.