生物谷报道：1月12日，《英国医学杂志》（BMJ）刊登报告，警告无糖香口珠内含的甜味剂山梨糖醇（Sorbitol，或E420）可能引致体重大幅下降、腹痛及腹泻。
据《英国医学期刊》刊登的报告称，一块无糖香口胶含1.25克山梨糖醇，每天吃至少4块或8粒无糖香口珠，便可能引致轻微肠胃问题，出现腹胀及肠胃抽筋。
报告参考一名21岁女病人及一名46岁男病人的病例，前者每天吃15块无糖香口胶，吸收约18至20克山梨糖醇；后者则每天吃20块无糖香口胶及最多200克糖果，吸收约30克山梨糖醇。前者持续8个月出现腹痛及腹泻，51.8公斤的体重下跌11公斤，至体重过轻；后者则持续1年受腹痛、腹胀、胃气胀及严重腹泻折磨，体重下跌22公斤。
据介绍，医学界早于20多年前已证实山梨糖醇难被人体吸收，或会引起上述不良副作用，美国食品及药物管理局（FDA）现时将标准订在每天50克，即约50块无糖香口胶或约100粒无糖香口珠。但发出报告的医生表示，每天吸收20克以上便可能引致腹泻及体重下降，并警告大众不要借无糖香口胶减肥。 （来源：信息时报）
生物谷推荐原始出处：
BMJ 2008;336:96-97 (12 January), doi:10.1136/bmj.39280.657350.BE
Practice
Lesson of the Week
Severe weight loss caused by chewing gum
Juergen Bauditz, consultant1, Kristina Norman, nutrition scientist1, Henrik Biering, junior doctor1, Herbert Lochs, head of department1, Matthias Pirlich, consultant1
1 Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Endocrinology, Charité Universitätsmedizin, 10117 Berlin, Germany
Correspondence to: J Bauditz juergen.bauditz@charite.de
Sorbitol intake should be considered in patients with bowel problems, chronic diarrhoea, and weight loss
About 10-20% of adults and adolescents are estimated to have symptoms related to functional bowel disorders, resulting in high healthcare costs.1 We report two cases of chronic diarrhoea and substantial weight loss in which extensive investigations had been performed previously. However, final diagnosis was only established after precise evaluation of eating habits, which showed habitual ingestion of sorbitol, a widely used sweetener in food products which has laxative properties.
Case reports
Case 1
A 21 year old woman had experienced diarrhoea and diffuse abdominal pain for eight months. She had four to 12 bowel movements with watery stools daily. She was initially suspected to have infectious colitis. However, as clinical investigation suggested no clear diagnosis and diarrhoea persisted, she was transferred to our department for further evaluation. At that time she had lost 11 kg and weighed 40.8 kg (body mass index 16.6). Laboratory analysis showed hypoalbuminaemia (albumin 30.7, normal range 33-50 g/l; total . . . [Full text of this article]
