Does Xylitol Cause Tumors?

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You’ve probably heard about the concerns about xylitol causing digestive upset, but have you heard about xylitol possiby causing tumors?

It’s true–some have claimed this. Scary stuff for sure.

Cup of xylitol

It’s frightening when something you eat and enjoy (especially when you think it’s healthy) gets demonized. It’s enough to make you want to throw in the towel on healthy eating.

Like when I heard about stevia causing all sorts of issues and needed to dig in to find out about stevia safety.

Or when a study came out connecting erythritol and heart disease.

Well, here’s another one.

Since switching our family over to low carb sweeteners, I’ve been concerned on and off about their safety.

I’m a natural-minded gal and really want my and my family’s food to be as clean as possible, but when battling candida, you do what you have to do.

Now we don’t use saccharin or Nutrasweet, but we do use stevia and xylitol and a few others, and since I have a bit of a sweet tooth, I started looking into the safety of those sweeteners to figure out what the truth is about them and their impact on our health.

There are many low carb sweeteners on the market, but many of them come with challenges, with quite a few of those being concerns about how safe they are.

Now, some of the concerns are valid.

But some, I think are not.

For this post, we’ll mainly stick to the concerns about whether or not xylitol causes tumors, however, and hopefully we’ll deal with other sweetener concerns later.

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Sweeteners I Don’t Use:

saccharin (however there is now evidence that it actually have some health benefits!)
sucralose (Splenda)
acesulfame potassium
Nutrasweet
agave
honey (except for as a natural allergy remedy)
refined sugar

Sweeteners I Use:

stevia
xylitol
erythritol (in lesser proportions)
allulose
coconut sugar (occasionally)
raw honey
jerusalem artichoke (haven’t done much with this)
lo han guo (I don’t use this often either)
sucanat (very occasionally)

cup of xylitol on a table

Does Xylitol Cause Tumors?

One of the concerns I have heard several times is that xylitol has been found to cause tumors.

“There is some concern that extremely high doses for long periods of time (more than three years) can cause tumors.”

“Although some animal studies have shown tumor growth resulting from high doses of xylitol over long periods, more research is needed.” Sources: 12, 3

I spent literally hours on this — and at first, found very little information to back any of this up.

Just dead ends, lack of source citations, and articles missing from the internet.

Finally — (finally!), however, I found some helpful information.

Before looking at the “evidence” that xylitol causes tumors, let’s look at this first.

Evidence that Xylitol Does NOT Cause Tumors

In this study by Sato, Wang, and van Eys, lab rats with various pre-existing liver tumors received a 10% IV solution of Xylitol at the rate of 2 g per kg body weight. The researchers found the hepatocellular carcinoma was markedly deficient in the ability to synthesize acid-insoluble glycogen and glycoprotein from xylitol. (source)

What this means is that researchers found that (on pre-existing tumors) the xylitol caused significantly less harm than ordinary table sugar. Note that the tumors were pre-existing ones. So they were not caused by xylitol. However, in comparison to sugar, the tumors didn’t grow as fast.

Evidence that Xylitol Causes Tumors

The only sources that I have seen citing this issue of xylitol are the following:

1. The Natural Medicines Database

To quote this source, xylitol is

“POSSIBLY UNSAFE …when used orally in very high doses, long-term. There is some concern that very high doses for extended periods of use can induce tumor growth (6815,6820). However, this effect has not yet been demonstrated in humans.”

with the following references given.

6815: Lee B, Sue D. Xylitol for prevention of dental caries. DICP 1989;23:691-2.

6820: Crapo PA. Use of alternative sweeteners in diabetic diet. Diabetes Care 1988;11:174-82.”

I couldn’t locate the source of the first reference.  There are references to it on the internet, but I can’t find the publication (if it exists) itself.

The second one is a 1988 review by Phillis Crapo, RD entitled, “Use of Alternative Sweeteners in Diabetic Diet”

In 1988 a registered dietician (RD), Phillis Crapo, wrote a scholarly review of many-many articles titled, “Use of alternative sweeteners in diabetic diet”. In her review she made the following statement (that WebMD probably refers to):

“However, chronic intake of xylitol in animals has been shown to be associated with tumor induction and other pathology. Consequently, use of xylitol is currently curtailed in the United States, and no recommendation concerning its use can be made.” p. 177

There is, however, no source referred to that supports this statement.

Of course, looking at this claim, one really needs to ask the following questions about Ms. Crapo’s statement:

What does “chronic” mean?

What amount of xylitol is being eaten?

What are the “other pathology(ies)” that she refers to?

What animals were involved in this?

I assume that this is the “source” the WebMD and RxList are referring to.

Also, it is important to keep in mind that WebMD and RxList cross-syndicate, so they may be using each other as a source.

However, this second source is interesting.

2.  Mice Bladder Tumors and Xylitol

In summary, male mice eating a diet consisting of 10-20% xylitol developed bladder stones. (source)

Some of the mice that developed bladder stones also had bladder inflammation and benign and malignant tumors. Female mice developed no unusual symptoms, and neither did male mice fed xylitol as 2% of their diet.”

Things to note about this study:

Only the male mice had issues with the xylitol.  Why is that?

No similar effects were seen in the 2, 10, and 20% females, 2%
xylitol males, or the 20% sucrose group.

Important to note here is that we are seeing a correlation about bladder stones.  And “some” of the mice had benign and malignant tumors.” (source)

Also of note is the fact that female mice showed an increase in tumors when fed a diet comprised of 20% sucrose. (source)

Questions I’m Asking:

How many is “some”?  Is that 1 or 2 mice?  or 3?  Is that really a correlation?

Why was this affect only on the male mice and not the female?

We are also not mice. Xylitol causes a lot of problems for dogs, but humans can eat it. Would xylitol have the same effect on humans as on mice?

How much xylitol were the mice being fed? If you translate the amounts of xylitol used in the study to a human diet, 200 – 400 calories out of a 2,000 calorie diet would need to be xylitol (that’s 21 – 42  teaspoons, or 7 – 14 tablespoons).

That’s a lot of xylitol, and it’s being eaten for a long time.

So this is equivalent to an adult eating about 3/4 of a cup of xylitol, every day, for 16 weeks straight.

I know that I for sure don’t do that — even with my sweet tooth.

Additionally, if you read all of the research, at 20% of diet, there did not appear to be an increase in tumors in rats, rabbits or dogs (this is an interesting study since dogs are not supposed to do well with xylitol at all), however other effects are noted in some cases.

So — as with many things, I think we have to make our own decisions about this.

Does xylitol cause tumors?

Or is it just a false scare tactic?

Conclusion

My stance on sweeteners is this.

Everything should be in moderation. It’s not a good idea to eat too much meat, too much fruit, too many grain, too much salt…even too much water can damage your kidneys.

In our family, we primarily use pure stevia extract as our sweetener of choice. There is some concern in various articles about stevia (that it caused infertility, DNA damage, hypoglycemia, and more), but I did a bunch of research on the safety of stevia and think that it is, in fact, very safe.

If possible, we would use natural honey or coconut sugar perhaps as our main sweetener, but the glycemic load is too much for us, and since we suffer from candida or other carbohydrate intolerance issues, we simply can’t.

We blend sweeteners.

For example, for any sweet recipe, I try to break it up into equivalent sweetness amounts of stevia, xylitol, and erythritol, or some combination of those.  In fact, doing this even helps those who don’t like stevia to really like the taste of stevia.

If any one sweetener turns out to be a problem, then automatically we’ve diluted our exposure.

You can blend up your own mix, or you can buy the sweeteners pre-blended, like this brand.

Also, we try to move away from treats and towards more veggies and other whole foods — but I still have a sweet tooth I like having treats.

So–does xylitol cause tumors?

It seems to do so in male mice eating a 20% of diet fed for 16 weeks (that’s a LOT of xylitol!), but in female mice it appears not to, and in other animals it appears not to.

But for me, I am still going to eat xylitol.

I’m not worried about it.

I do, however, recommend using xylitol derived from birch (if possible), as opposed to corn, or at least one that is derived from non-GMO corn.

This is one brand that I like and use.

I Recommend
Micro Ingredients Organic Xylitol - 5 pounds

Micro Ingredients Organic Xylitol - 5 pounds

This organic, non GMO xylitol from pure birch is a great value per pound over most other brands and is a USA product. Xylitol is a 1:1 substitute for sugar that doesn't cause tooth decay and doesn't feed candida. 

How about you?  Do you use xylitol?

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58 Comments

    1. I LOVE that. Do you mean straight or mixed with erythritol? I have been using Lakanto a lot – if you use code wholenewmom you can get 20% off your order. We love their products!

  1. Thank you for the article! You answered my question. Xylitol is in the toothpaste I use for my 2 year old. It is also in the candy I give him after brushing his teeth. I was wondering what is so good about xylitol. It’s obviously better than white sugar but from now on I would not let the baby have too much toothpaste nor the after-brushing-teeth candies. He loves them too much.

    1. You are so welcome! Awwwww—so nice to hear from you. Hugs from across the world :). Interesting that they have after brushing candies…in addition to the xylitol in the toothpaste?

      It is supposed to prevent caries so in that sense it’s helpful. For some it causes intestinal distress so that’s one of the main concerns. Again, so nice to connect!

  2. I SO appreciate the research you do! I don’t use xylitol because I’ve found that whatever I make with it tastes like it. I made brownies with it once, and all I tasted was the xylitol. I have used Gentle Sweet, and I liked that. I don’t make sweets much any more because then I just eat too much, and I don’t want to take the time to prepare more food anyway. I chew cinnamon gum and eat cinnamon mints sweetened with xylitol, and I like those a lot. I figure they’re good for my teeth, also.

    1. Thank you! I think it’s always best to mix sweeteners. I personally do xylitol and stevia always. And we LOVE xylitol gum. We get it in bulk to save money :).

  3. Great list here on toxic substances Great list here Adrienne!

    I totally agree with what you say about Xylitol. Dogs can get really sick
    from Xylitol. It’s in so many products on the market.

    Thanks again for a great list.
    Mark

    1. Thanks! Sorry I don’t allow self promotion on my platform but I appreciate the compliment (had to delete your link).

  4. I just want to put my own experience out there since my mother started panicking about my Xylitol usage after linking me to that Dr. Axe article.

    I occasionally use xylitol in baking as hubby and I hate the aftertaste of Stevia. So far I haven’t had any side-effects from consuming it (the corn kind). Again, I only use this occasionally when I want to bake something that calls for sugar – maybe once or twice a week. I think I will keep using it at least until I run out. Just my experience 🙂

  5. I´ve been using the Xyla sweetner for a month. I add 2 teaspoons to my morning coffee. And I´ve also been having daily morning diarrhea for the same amount of time. Yep, finally found out the culprit and still deciding what to do with the rest of my canister.
    So I´m a bit concerned about Xylitol now. I wouldn´t say it causes tumors (it seems there is no hard evidence for this), but it looks like more research is definitely needed.

    1. Many say that if you eat too much xylitol it can lead to diarrhea. Others say that if you work up your body can deal with it. Hope that helps.

    2. Very interesting article. In efforts to get my sugar down, I bought some xylitol and Xythritol…very interesting article. In efforts to get my sugar down, I bought some xylitol and zythritol…. About 3 to 4 days into my Stevia/xylitol in my teas about three maybe 4 teaspoons a day… It totally inflamed my entire digestive tract severely. I was in excruciating pain! Bottom line… It can totally rip up your guts! Did my research on it and found both of these products are processed with types of Industrial chemical. They are not natural! The body does not recognize them as something helpful as evidenced by the diarrhea and intestinal damage Of these 2 Products.

      Dr.Axe … Listed here below

      Another concern that I have with xylitol is the industrialization process that is used to manufacture it. Currently, most xylitol is produced by “hydrogenating” xylose; a chemical process that treats a compound with hydrogen usually with a catalyst such as nickel. (5) There are two major problems with this process.

      First, the fact that xylitol is “hydrogenated” should raise some concerns because hydrogenated foods are known to cause: (6)

      Alzheimer’s Disease
      Behavioral irritability and aggression
      Cancer
      Diabetes
      Obesity
      Liver dysfunction
      Major depressive disorder… Listed here below

      This is from “natural news”

      Xylitol is a processed sugar. After being hydrogenated and having toxic chemicals added to xylan from corn or other plant material, and then removed, you get xylitol.
      Perhaps in the smallest amounts possible once maybe twice a day you can get away with it. But after my experience taking away 3 to 4 teaspoons a day throughout the day literally incapacitated me and I ended up at the doctors office and excruciating pain. Word to the wise! Our bodies are all different… But it is a hydrogenated product process with industrial chemicals… Dear God… Use it in such minute amounts… And then you will have to ask yourself is this really worth playing Russian roulette with Body in my life… Thank you for letting me share.

      1. Hello there. I appreciate your leaving this information. Xylitol is something that needs more study / information. As for the sources that you left, the information that Dr. Axe cites is missing important information. He is citing information regarding hydrogenated fats. I am not aware of information on hydrogenated sugars.

        As for “natural news”, his information isn’t accurate either. Sometimes a company can use toxic chemicals in the processing of xylitol but that is not always the case. I have looked into this and I don’t buy from companies that do this. That being said, I don’t eat tons of xylitol. Stevia is my main sweetener.

        Yes, some people have digestive issues w/ xylitol. And others do not. But I want my readers to have accurate information about things as much as possible. I hope that helps. Please feel free to respond or ask more questions. Hope to see you around again!

        1. Xylotol is great to heal gum infections ,existing small decays and prevention of tooth decay. Has been study as helpful on the process of halting angiogenesis in tumours and more.

  6. So today I went to my doctor, who is a naturopath, for my annual and interestingly enough we had a conversation about xylitol as I am low carb (and loving it by the way). She had told me about a study done in Japan recently involving xylitol.

    It seems Japan had high rates of cancers and suddenly saw a decline in the cancer rate. It was determined that the decline was due to gum and mint manufacturers starting to use xylitol as a sweetener instead of sugars. So I would say check out some studies done in Japan for more info, I found it incredibly interesting. Blessings to all and a very Happy 2017 🙂

    1. Interesting! Thanks for sharing. What’s odd is that the Japanese don’t eat many sweets to begin with. I didn’t know that they used xylitol but they do use stevia. I will look into that.

  7. After reading some of these post it reminds me of an old saying “to much of a gd thing is a bad thing”, so my mom used to say. In all of our food choices we should try to choice whole, natural, local , sustainable & organic. Staying away fr. as much as possible refined processed food products. All these articles are wonderful informative information but God put the best whole foods out there for us to enjoy, so stay whole as much as you can. Our health is more then just food it, informative nutrition, exersize, weight control, sun light, temperance, fresh air, reducing stress, trusting in God. This is whole health because we are whole humans. If xylitol or Stevia are issues or any other sweetener use the whole food but listen to your body, we all have our sensitivities to good foods.

      1. phew sort of up to speed with above conversation… I fixed my daughters eczema through an exclusion diet doing a ‘leaky gut’ detox. We got a very good feel for the rights and wrongs… even down to exchanging the same fennel toothpaste with the fluoride version brought out the eczema. I have seen a diagram of a bucket – food in, waste out, that as it gets more toxic leads to an escalating array of symptoms starting off with low level things like sinus problems, escalating through to diabetes to a critically toxic system and cancer. Is why I believe the best cure for cancer, indeed ANYTHING is to go back to basics. See Gerson therapy, the problem is the further you let your condition slip, massaging the symptoms with prescribed drugs, the more toxic you get, and the more severe the detox you need.
        If you look at any of the ‘out there’ health diets – like paleo, or raw and vegan they all share a withdrawal from gluten or carbs and mostly dairy too, with a return to mostly veg. I have come to believe that this might be down to forcing our soil to yield more and more by poisoning it with fertilizers, insecticides and antibiotic laden muck. Then we eat the food grown on it – wheat is the most intensively grown, and cows concentrate the toxins in their milk – is that why red meat is so bad?? The UN FAO says that our soil has only 60 years more productivity in it. The manufacture of fertilizers is a hugely energy intensive process with greenhouse gasses as a by-product and is not sustainable. They said recently that hospital surfaces were healthier when the windows were open, any ecosystem from guts, to soil, to rainforests will suffer from a lack of diversity where the things we fear most can multiply without competition. Only take antibiotics if you are dying, because they will kill you anyway, especially when you’ve destroyed your immune system and a superbug comes along. Your gut relies on diversity, and many, many diseases are curable if you fix the gut biome. Mess with it at your peril. I don’t trust artificial sweeteners. Chronic pain from Xylitol. How do they test this stuff? WHO tests it? BBC prog lately did a small test on the effects of artificial sweeteners and some of the participants became borderline diabetic after only a month. Why wouldn’t they test a sweetener on it’s affects on the blood sugar?? Dieters will still become hungrier on artificial sweeteners, calories or no calories. Dogs don’t eat sugar as a rule – I think that’s why Xylitol is poisonous to them. Damn near killed me.

        1. Hi Cheryl, I agree with almost everything you are saying. I do think that the soil is a mess and I am looking at getting one or more Tower Gardens to help us have more vegetables in our lives.

          Xylitol appears to be an issue for dogs due to their metabolism and causing issues w/ their kidneys and hypoglycemia.

          Here is what I think you were referring to about the BBC? https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/51yxBQyvqpNYPT3PF0LGL3G/are-artificial-sweeteners-bad-for-me

          It was only related to saccharin and stevia, and stevia didn’t cause blood sugar levels to rise.

          and there is information in this post about how stevia (which is very natural) actually lowers blood sugar https://wholenewmom.com/is-stevia-safe-is-stevia-bad-for-you-stevia-infertility/

          Let me know if I got the BBC info wrong, but that seems to be what you were referring to. Thanks for commenting!

          1. Thanks for those articles – have book-marked them – I could only find links to the programme when I looked before, and it wasn’t live anymore. The point I am trying to make about Xylitol with dogs is that it does appear to have effects on their blood-sugar, so in the absence of tests like the they did on ‘Trust Me I’m a Doctor’ my feeling,especially as it hurt so much, was that there is probably reason to avoid Xylitol. I am pleased they think Stevia improves blood sugar levels.
            I liked what I heard about the production methods used in ‘Sweetly Stevia’ less ‘processed’ and tastes milder in comparison to the Truvia which my kids rejected owing to the artificial aftertaste. But it still has fructose in which I am suspicious about… see Dr Robert Lustig on youtube.
            I like where you are coming from, but have joined a FB group NTHEL recently, and am really scared for the future. We knew global warming would affect future generations, why we should neglect to protect them while we could, it makes no sense for it to be any less urgent, but our own generation is in peril, time is of the essence. The climatologists believe it is already too late, we have had 9 record breaking months globally, many believe exponential climate change is upon us, now.
            Food it’s production and how the soil is handled have one of the largest impacts on global warming. The excesses of the developed world, show no signs of abating, and I honestly think it’s time to start preparing for another world the likes of which none of us would have ever dreamed about; or at least only in nightmares.
            It’s a battle which requires fighting on all fronts. I am trying to use music to gain a platform to raise awareness – most people listen to music – if nothing else? If you could help by putting my songs out, whenever you feel it’s appropriate, it would be greatly appreciated. You will find them with explanations on Soundcloud/Bandcamp/CDBaby and I would especially like for you to hear my newest saddest song ‘Wake Up’ which is on youtube. (I think it sapt me out when I tried to give links)
            Thanks, Cheryl Hillier

            1. You are so welcome. I don’t buy stevias that have additives, except for the liquid versions that have fun flavors, and none of those flavorings affect blood sugar.

              I’ll take a look at your music. I too am very concerned about so many things – I have no idea how we will be around in a number of years….but I do think that the climate change issue is debatable. I am very concerned about how we have polluted the planet, but I don’t know what to make about the mixed data on the climate issues. I find it interesting that the terminology was changed from “Global Warming” to “Climate Change” so that whether the temps went up or down those stating there was a problem could still be correct. That being said, I am really really concerned about the pollution going on like chem trails, oil spills, lead issues, and Fukushima and other nuclear plants.

              Take care.

  8. Is the source xylitol made from gmo corn or from birch tree?
    If gmo corn thats an issue worth looking into as far as tumors go.
    I use birch xylitol.

    1. Sorry but I don’t understand your question. I recommend birch and use birch, but have read that corn might be more sustainable. The one I linked to is birch.

  9. (Link deleted by Whole New Mom due to it not working anymore.)

    Not that the above is a scientific site…but they reference Natural News, which I love for FOOD reports only. Mike Adams needs to stick to food instead of branching out like he’s doing… Anyway, I digress…
    Adrienne, I forgot about this blog post until now. (above) I think I might be ditching xylitol altogether. I only use birch but reading through the comments here and rereading old blogs and wandering the internet… I need to clearly find something else to flavor my kids’ tooth powder with that’s safer. I want to keep it dry… and don’t want to leave honey on their teeth…
    Maybe I just need to teach my kids to suck it up and brush.

    Xylitol the new high fructose corn syrup???? Yikes! Read the above article!

    1. Hi Kimberly.

      Yes, I read that post a long time ago. I know people’s thoughts on things can change (mine have on certain things), but one thing I find complicated is that Shane Ellison is quoted on Natural News and on Crunchy Betty’s site as saying that xylitol will rip your insides to shreds, but then I found this on his blog:

      https://thepeopleschemist.com/how-to-get-your-sweet-fix-without-suffering-from-sugar-toxicity-safe-sweets-for-diabetics-and-everyone-else/

      From that article:

      Safe alternatives to artificial sweeteners are abundant: erythritol, agave, xylitol and luo han guo.??Choosing which natural sweetener to use depends on which one tastes best to you.

      So what does he really think about it?

      Then after stating that it will rip up your insides, he states that there have been very few studies on it, so how does he know this ripping is going on?

      I’m not saying I’m not open to ditching it, but this isn’t adding up.

      1. Yes… and if you eat to much watermelon you’ll be running to the bathroom as well. I’m not condoning the effects of xylitol…but as far as diabetics and the blood sugar issue. Birch xylitol may be great for them…but the rest of the crap is not. Do you see the misleading info that made it’s way around the net?
        Also, xylitol in corn form MAY be fine for diabetics and their blood sugar, as may the others he mentions… the side effect is running to the bathroom.
        FYI, Shane mentions xylitol but doesn’t do a long workup of it…or any of the subs he recommends. He is showing the danger of white sugar. He offered substitutes and I think he should’ve extended the article to go into which is best…
        Anyway, I’m going to leave this right here and mosey. Thanks for the article.

        1. Hi again, Kimberly.

          I don’t know what “crap” you are referring to. What misleading information are you referring to?

          If you read more online, and talk to people who use it, xylitol typically is fine for most people in moderate amounts. Running to the bathroom is not a typical side effect for someone who does that. As for Shane, he says that xylitol is a safe sweetener in that article so he was not just pointing out the dangers of white sugar, he specifically mentions xylitol as a safe alternative.

          Again, I am totally open to being shown that I am wrong, and someday perhaps I will not use xylitol anymore, but I don’t see the things that you are pointing out in the sources that you are sharing. Please do not just “leave this” if you think you can show me where I am wrong b/c I don’t want to give my readers false information. Thanks.

  10. The xylitol on the market is grossly made from sugar beets…. True xylitol is BIRCH XYLITOL, made from birch. This crap on the market is no better than white sugar.
    I can appreciate the article here but would live to see a deeper delve into what xylitol is vs. what birch xylitol is.

    I imagine your readers would like a more jam packed article with the history.
    Also, beware of stevia on the market shelves…that has been compromised as well. What you think you’re getting is NOT always what you’re getting nor want.
    Stevia from the plant is best.
    Also, not sure why you don’t use RAW local-to-you honey. Healling, healthy and safe.
    Good luck and God bless!

    1. Thanks for your comment. Interestingly, I just did some more research into xylitol types yesterday and it even seems like the corn might be the better option. I don’t see anything about it being made from sugar beets. Seems that xylitol made from birch is less sustainable than that made from corn.

      I’m not sure what history you are talking about…I felt the post was already quite long, but could possibly do another one. Are you thinking the background of xylitol?

      As for honey, I love it, but as I mentioned in the post, I have candida and just can’t handle it. Thanks!

      1. OH frick… yes corn.. not sugar beets. WTH, sorry about that! I was rereading the post before I hit send…and I had JUST confirmed it was corn… right? and hit send…Hubby asked me a question and never went back to edit. I am really sorry for that. CORN…
        Okay, that cleared up, The xylitol from CORN is no better than the white sugar from sugar beets is what I meant to say. For the claimed properties of xylitol to ring true, healing, etc… you need it in food form or made from Birch.
        I was suggesting putting up the history of birch xylitol and market xylitol so people understood where it comes from. I already knew this, so reading your article… I question whether anything is claimed to cause tumors is worth the risk. Remember when they said that Coke caused cancer in rats in the 80’s and now those of us that are fully informed it does that and so much more!
        I just think a more thorough write-up on xylitol with showing the differences might be in order.. or a link for further reading may suffice. Either way, thanks for the heads up….had not heard about the tumor rumor (<–that's funny, right there!)
        I'll stick with Birch as it's healing to teeth and bones and comes from nature with minimal processing. Corn has repeatedly been shown to have less and less worth other than feed for our livestock and such.

        1. I didn’t post this stating that I think the tumor claim is accurate. I think there are a lot of holes here and I laid them out. Only males? Mice only? How many are we talking about? It’s not clear to me – it’s just a suggestion. A maybe. You can do that about anything.

          Of course if I do more on xylitol I will link the posts. This was just something that really caught my attention.

          I’m confused about your statement about birch being more minimally processed. There are several sources out there that talk about this but I don’t see how the birch is more minimally processed – do you have information about that?

          1. NO no no, I didn’t mean to imply that you were in support or stated you found the claim accurate. My point was more that… every time the gov or a study HINTS on something being a cause of something… but then sales go crazy, they drop the warning. They warned about Coke…sales went huge…they stopped bringing attention to the warnings… and what happened is people that researched into the product found it to be even more damaging than originally was claimed.

            I don’t have actual reports showing a step by step of how Birch is processed…but talked to an herbalist and a holistic nutritionalist…they both recommended and explained that (without details of course.) Then I read multiple articles through herbal websites… close your eyes and pick one, really.. lol… and stumbled upon the difference of birch vs. market xylitol… I was recommended Birch…didn’t realize it all wasn’t from Birch…
            I will try to find some articles that I read… it’s been like 6 months so forgive me if it takes a bit. I research everything…try to organize…and then end up with hundreds of folders on my desktop… try to organize them… and well, with 4 kids (2 special needs) and a disabled husband… not everything gets organized the best.

            1. Thanks for the clarification. I don’t think that’s the case with this at all. I had to really dig and dig to even find this information, when it’s pretty easy to find studies about saccharin and sucralose, etc. I bet that almost no one has ever even read about xylitol and tumors. It’s just not “out there” and has a small mention only in rxlist and WebMD. I just brought it up b/c I see some people asking about it and wanted to set the record straight.

              I did just post a reply to a comment showing 2 sites talking about xylitol processing that you could look at.

              I have organizational challenges as well. Some of the reasons you cite are the same here. My kids have special needs too – one more than the other. Take care and do the best you can.

          2. I am NOT a fan of the Wiki websites but in my search results it was the first to pop up and caught my eye. Notice how they explain “xylitol” and it’s meaning…referring to wood. How does corn fit into that picture. Also, the xylitol in all the processed products is from corn…not from birch – Corn xylitol doesn’t heal like this site (below) states. Only xylitol from birch and naturally in foods is healing and good. Wiki makes me crazy. Our government has yet again did a bait and switch… People see xylitol, assume it’s coming from the natural source of Birch…and later find out it’s being made with corn?? That doesn’t sit well with me. Xylitol is not supposed to come from corn…
            https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xylitol

            The reason I shared this was to show the misleading layout of xylitol…

            1. I don’t see where it says that only birch xylitol heals – where do you see that? I didn’t see a misleading issue either. Please do clarify.

          3. Reread the article under Health Benefits.

            I’m just going to let this lie. I tried to gently educate but I seem to be confusing the situation.

            Thanks for the article.

            1. I’m sorry, Kimberly, but I just reread the Wikipedia article again and birch is only mentioned in one place and it’s not in the Health Benefits section. The comparisons there are between xylitol and other polyols and fluoride treatments (which I would prefer not to do). If you can clarify and copy the sentence(s) you are referring to that would be very helpful. Thanks.

  11. I have not use Xylitol except for toothpaste ingredient as Dr. Jonathan Wright, MD/ND, who is the head of a local clinic here in Seattle and has a radio show, had been asked about Xylitol as a baking/sweetener ingredient a few times. He recommended stevia or particularly vanilla stevia but he said there were some contradictory studies about Xylitol so preferred to not use it in mass quantities like in baking. So that is what we do-use honey for our granddaughter and vanilla stevia if needed.

    1. I would be interested in what contradictory studies he is referring to. I love stevia, however, and it’s what I use most of the time.

      1. Xylitol is mainly made from corn, gmo or not, corn does contain forms of gluten, it is processed with chemicals, Birch or corn Xylitol is processed with chemicals and makes something sweet from corn coba, or a birch tree, just like HFCS is a processed sweetner that comes from something not necessarily sweet, just not calorie free. There is nothing natural about taking corn cobs or a birch tree and turning them in to something sweet.. It not only kills bad and good candida, it kills good bacteria, which can lead to overgrowth of bad bacteria and bad yeast. I will choose to refrain. I do believe everyone is ultimately unique and something that bothers me, may not bother you, but I also know most of the destruction with leaky gut isn’t noted by the sufferer, The only way to know would to be to do the gut bacteria test and then withdrawl and add, then follow up with another test several months later, diet itself being unchanged and review the results. Ubiome.com is one of those services available for microbiome testing. I do live an active life, though painful and busy, I chase 5 grandchildren 4 and under, I help care for inlaws that both have dementia along with having active relationships with all my children. I work 24 hours a week also…at 53, retirement is not in the picture, but someday, relief of dementia inlaws and working a highly stressful job will hopefully allow me to go into remission. Till then, Eastern and Western medicine are my best friends. An excellent read is No Grain, No Pain by Dr. Peter Osborne. I also follow Dr. Amy Meyers.

        1. Hi Janna.

          I read a little more about the processing of xylitol. Perhaps the information was incorrect, but it said that corn xylitol is made by processing with HCl. I don’t have an issue with that. And the birch is made with sulfuric acid. Again, I don’t really have an issue with that, but that being said, if what I read was correct, then I might prefer a non GMO corn xylitol as it seems to be more sustainable. Can you share how you think xylitol kills good bacteria? Interestingly this study seems to show that it might have a positive effect on gut health. Interested in your thoughts. I hope you continue to be able to improve. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3876090/ I really like Amy Meyers, by the way.

        2. I’ve read that Birch xylitol had healing effects… Do you have a reference. I use it in my tooth powder and have seen great healing…however I do have a plethora of healing herbs and clays in the tooth powder… In relation to the rest of the mix, very little Birch xylitol.

          I guess I’m having a brain fog here… Birch xylitol not sustainable… How so? This may be in reply to the reply of your reply… Sorry if THAT was confusing. My Saturday is not very organized today… typos, sentences missing words… ugh.. If you’re scratching your head at my reply to your reply… just smile and move along. Hugs!

    1. I would only be concerned about if it is GMO or not and what the natural flavors are. As of now, they told me that they are non GMO and that their natural flavors are truly natural.

  12. I have autoimmune disease which like candida has everything to do with gut health. I understand that xylato is that as sugar alcohols ferment in the gut, they do cause excessive gas and encourage growth of bad bacteria. I do use stevia, nothing else and rarely. I do love using dates and date paste as a sugar substitue, I use palm sugar also as it has a low glycemic index compared to other forms of sugar.

    1. Almost everything has to do with gut health, you know? I have an AI condition as well – in fact, I think that seasonal allergies are the same so really so many do have this. However, I don’t think that all sugar alcohols do this for sure. In fact, Donna Gates, who is one of the foremost experts in gut health, sells a sweetener that is mostly erythritol. Dates and date paste are really high in glycemic index – do they do OK for your gut? They feed candida big time. I wish I could eat them!

      There is a gut health course on this post that you might be interested in: https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/candida-symptoms-explained/

      Thanks for commenting!

      1. I use dates sparingly and they are high in fiber which does slow down the breakdown in the gut. There are a few places to look for information. As a registered nurse of 28 years and an avid reader on the subject I do spend several hours a day studying to improve my health as I have psoriatic arthritis, raynaud’s syndrome, fibromyagia, and other associated conditions. I will agree to disagree on this one. Anything that can affect the gut to make excessive foul gas, increased mucous production and speed gut empyting wants out for a good reason and even small amounts are capable of damaging the gut lining, permeating the membrane and causing breakdown.

        1. I wish the fiber offset things for me – but sadly, they don’t. I’m very open to dumping xylitol, but hope I don’t have to. That being said, I don’t use it that often – some days I have none at all and I don’t have any speed gut emptying from it. From what I have read it affects different people differently.

          As for the Dr. Axe article, I have met him and think he is very sharp, but his information on xylitol in laxatives I do think is incorrect. I haven’t read tons of labels, but I have never seen xylitol in a laxative.

          That being said, I do think that it’s best not to eat it to excess. Thanks for dialoguing! Have you looked at the AIP diet?

          1. Yes, for several years, I am gluten free and keep to 1 serving of grain or less a day. I don’t eat much with sugar as it feed inflammation, so not much with palm sugar either. I eat only organic and grass fed, free range and limit overall meat intake. So I consider myself AIP overall. I do a lot of supplementation including tumeric/curcumin for pain relief. I use CBD as an anti inflammatory also. I have Hashimoto’s and asthma as additional conditions I am always managing in this. I am also positive for the autoimmune gene. My father was specialized as a physician in immunology and allergy, he died of ALS. I have a sybling with RA and one with lupus. I have several nephews with autoimmune disease, a daughter with fibro and one with chronic fatigue who luckily benefit from me raising them well. Unfortunately, I already had 4 beautiful children before my father became ill more than 20 years ago. I have a fabulous ingrative medicine specialist MD that embraces addressing all sources of inflammation. and encourages alternative medicine. I do medicate with Western medicine, just finished 9 months of abx (antibiotics) for TB. I practice as an advice nurse, thankfully an option that isolates me from direct patient care which I embraced before autimmune diagnosis due to severe back pain that turned out to be ankalosing spodilytis.

            1. Wow you have a lot going on. Are you off nightshades? I found some of them to be a real problem for me. And some nuts as well. I am almost completely off grain – sometimes I never eat it for months on end.

          2. Sugar alcohols aren’t artificial sweetnners, they are extracted from cellulose and shouldn’t be in the same group as sintetized sweetnners (as Dr, Axe does). Xylitol in particular can be found in everything mainly because it’s alkaline and neutralize mouth acids and prevents caries.
            They can disturb a sensitive stomach and when eaten in excessive amounts can have laxative effects but it is not used in laxatives..

            I think it’s safe in conservative amounts. I’d rather use coconut sugar or raw cane sugar but I’m not a big fan of sweets sometimes just adding fruit either whole or blended is enough.

            1. Thanks, Ana. I agree with you. I think that people think that sugar alcohols are artificial b/c there is more processing involved than with honey for example. I wish I weren’t a fan of sweets, and I need to watch fruit intake due to candida, but I am doing way better than I ever did before. Thanks for commenting.

  13. My dog got hold of a chewable tablet sweetened with Zylitol and this tiny amount nearly killed her – can’t think why it should be so dangerous for dogs, but I can’t tolerate it, gives me terrible stomach pains. It’s meant to be really good for your teeth, so we have it in our toothpaste…

    1. Hi Cheryl, from what I have read it causes hypoglycemia in dogs and liver failure but that experts to not completely understand why. I used to have toothpaste with xylitol as well. I have heard of swishing w/ xylitol too.

    2. Thank you for sharing ! Both Products Zythritol/Xylitol totally ripped up my guts… So much so it inflamed my entire digestive system my colon! It took a week or more and I would wake up in the a.m. with excruciating pain when I needed to go to the bathroom! Just think… The “entire” digestive system was ripped to shreds. Took a long while to settle down… Never… Ever again!