Slog - Comments on Say Hello to Xylitol http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/say_hello_to_xylitol Last night at the Hideout, I was talking to Jennifer Borges Foster and she interrupted me and said, "Are you drinking peach schnapps?" She smelled something on my breath. I was, in fact, drinking water. But I was chewing a piece of this--I took it out and showed her: A couple minutes later, I was talking to Brangien Davis and she said, "What do I smell? Are you drinking peach schnapps?" I showed her the gum. "Can I try it?" she said. She put it in her mouth. I told her to anticipate tropical peach, with an edge of mint.... Copyright 2008 Fri, 27 Jul 2007 14:12:07 -0800 Sat, 28 Jul 2007 13:50:56 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by meh One piece of xylitol gum wont give you the runs. However, if you replace all the sugar in a super sweet baked treat (oh, lets say something like fudge or cupcakes) with xylitol, then yes, it'll clear you right out. Um, so I've heard. (You can buy xylitol at places like PCC & Whole Foods, it's packaged just like regular granulated sugar and can be subbed in recipes 1:1. Just don't overdo it!)

]]> meh http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/say_hello_to_xylitol#c771546 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/say_hello_to_xylitol#c771546 Science Fri, 27 Jul 2007 14:28:26 -0800 Comment by Morgan I thing the name might originate from xylem which is the part of plants that carries water and nutriends from the roots to the leaves. http://www.emc.maricopa.edu/faculty/farabee/biobk/BioBookPLANTANAT.html#Xylem

]]> Morgan http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/say_hello_to_xylitol#c771551 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/say_hello_to_xylitol#c771551 Science Fri, 27 Jul 2007 14:30:33 -0800 Comment by Morgan I think the name probably originates from the term xylem which it the series of tubular cells that conducts water and nutriends from the roots to the leaves of plants.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xylem

]]> Morgan http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/say_hello_to_xylitol#c771554 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/say_hello_to_xylitol#c771554 Science Fri, 27 Jul 2007 14:33:40 -0800 Comment by morgan I can't spell. also see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xylem

]]> morgan http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/say_hello_to_xylitol#c771557 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/say_hello_to_xylitol#c771557 Science Fri, 27 Jul 2007 14:35:03 -0800 Comment by Virginia Gum is so crazy artificial it blows my mind. I mean, it's basically a dozen mispronounceable chemicals compressed into a convenient quadrilateral stick that NEVER fucking disappears. What legacy are we leaving to our children, when we're all gone and our mounds of chewed gum lie scattered across the globe?

]]> Virginia http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/say_hello_to_xylitol#c771558 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/say_hello_to_xylitol#c771558 Science Fri, 27 Jul 2007 14:36:35 -0800 Comment by keshmeshi Or smashed into the sidewalk.

]]> keshmeshi http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/say_hello_to_xylitol#c771578 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/say_hello_to_xylitol#c771578 Science Fri, 27 Jul 2007 14:51:14 -0800 Comment by kim you're my favorite.

]]> kim http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/say_hello_to_xylitol#c771595 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/say_hello_to_xylitol#c771595 Science Fri, 27 Jul 2007 15:10:38 -0800 Comment by Jez One of our dental carriers pimps this gum at our health fairs: http://www.sprydental.com/ It's tasty but the flavor doesn't last too long.

]]> Jez http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/say_hello_to_xylitol#c771600 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/say_hello_to_xylitol#c771600 Science Fri, 27 Jul 2007 15:15:17 -0800 Comment by Gum = History Umm, Virginia? Most modern gum may be artificial, but gum is not. People have been chewing gum in some form at least since Ancient Greece, and until very recently all commercial gum was made from chicle. Now they use synthetic bases because it's cheaper.

]]> Gum = History http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/say_hello_to_xylitol#c771613 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/say_hello_to_xylitol#c771613 Science Fri, 27 Jul 2007 15:35:14 -0800 Comment by Judah Things like this often remind me of an interesting item my wife and I came across while antique shopping in rural Virginia: a water cooler that advertised radium in the glass, to energize drinking water with invigorating radiation. Evidently someone noticed that radiation burns healed without scarring and decided that radiation must therefore be good for you.

They used to put radium in toothpaste. They made glow-in-the-dark radium body paint.

I am eternally skeptical of highly synthesized miracle ingredients.

]]> Judah http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/say_hello_to_xylitol#c771642 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/say_hello_to_xylitol#c771642 Science Fri, 27 Jul 2007 16:09:25 -0800 Comment by Fnarf If you would read the article, you would see that xylitol is NOT a highly synthesized miracle ingredient.

]]> Fnarf http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/say_hello_to_xylitol#c771667 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/say_hello_to_xylitol#c771667 Science Fri, 27 Jul 2007 16:52:49 -0800 Comment by Virginia @9:
ur a d0rk. 'Sides, that doesn't dismiss gum's mind-blowing qualities, nor the looming crisis of billions of smeared sticks that our progeny will be burdened with. So there.

]]> Virginia http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/say_hello_to_xylitol#c771703 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/say_hello_to_xylitol#c771703 Science Fri, 27 Jul 2007 19:33:38 -0800 Comment by zgirl I have noticed that chewing a lot olf zylitol infused gum causes my taste buds to swell and sting for 1-2 days after so I tend to lay off the stuff though I have read about it's many wonderous benefits and am suitably impressed. You may note from the label that sorbitol, aspartame and other stuff are in the gum. Back in the day when I was a kid there was always a warning label that some of the ingredients were known to cause cancer in lab rats. Has the bubble gum and food industry in America lobbied to get those warnings taken off of labels?? Somehow I don't think our food products are getting any safer judging by the press, we are just less informed. The Trident gum is also made in Mexico which has a record of importing kids candy that contains lead and other delightful suprises(an American mainstream manufactorer just got in trouble again recently for continuing to import dangerous candy). I don't want to put a negative tilt on things because I would be ever so happy to have a product that is delightfully wholesome and healthy. Trident and other gums just don't seem to be it though........

]]> zgirl http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/say_hello_to_xylitol#c771710 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/say_hello_to_xylitol#c771710 Science Fri, 27 Jul 2007 19:43:06 -0800 Comment by JakeLunden Citrusmint? Does it taste like a gulp or orange juice right after brushing your teeth? Eww.

]]> JakeLunden http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/say_hello_to_xylitol#c771749 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/say_hello_to_xylitol#c771749 Science Fri, 27 Jul 2007 22:08:12 -0800 Comment by sally he can do extensive research into xylitol but he can't manage a Books column every week? WTF?

]]> sally http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/say_hello_to_xylitol#c771819 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/say_hello_to_xylitol#c771819 Science Sat, 28 Jul 2007 09:58:19 -0800 Comment by sweet tooth birch sugar is great. it's cooling and it metabolizes much more slowly than regular sugar and most people that can't eat regular sugar for one reason or another can eat it without problems. i have seen the xylitol in health food stores, but i haven't purchased it under that name yet nor have i looked at it very closely. i assume it's straight birch sugar.

there's something about the name xylitol that i have a hard time remembering and i have been using this brand for a long time and i love it!
http://www.ultimatelife.com/CatSweet.htm

]]> sweet tooth http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/say_hello_to_xylitol#c771859 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/say_hello_to_xylitol#c771859 Science Sat, 28 Jul 2007 13:43:35 -0800 Comment by fun shaped Great posts, Christopher. More, more!
-Joshua

]]> fun shaped http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/say_hello_to_xylitol#c771860 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/say_hello_to_xylitol#c771860 Science Sat, 28 Jul 2007 13:50:56 -0800