Xylitol, Gum Nabbit!

I've been looking for ways to build tooth enamel. In addition to reducing dietary sugar and limiting intake to forms of whole food, I heard of the WWII research around xylitol. I'm not sure if this has been repeated since then, but obviously the economics of corporate pharmaceuticals would work against that, so inclined to look historically as being more objective.

The most common product I find for 'Xylitol Gum' is from Pur. Looking at the label, seems an awful lot of chemicals I don't recognize. I stopped using regular chewing gum long before I became 'ingredient aware', so never looked into these before. What is necessary to make chewing gum "work", are there more natural ingredients that should be expected?

Pur shows: xylitol, gum base, gum arabic, natural flavors, carnauba wax, tocopherols

I flat out avoid "natural flavours" in all food, as if it was something good they would list it and I'm not interested in anyone protecting trade secrets like that unless it is for a unique miracle product.

Any other brands/sources for xylitol gum to reccommend?

How about delivery platforms? I bought the Pur mints as they didn't include "natural flavours", but there are of course other chemical looking ingredients. Seems the mints aren't as aggressively distributed around the teeth and 100% of everything ends up in the digestive tract as opposed to much of the gum being spat out. Has anyone broken down how this affects performance, at least hypothetically?

Does xylitol in general help out teeth just through digestion? Are there guides on natural, whole food sources and the impacts they are likely to have?

I've used the gum.  What I think I understand about Xylitol is that it is derived from Birch tree sap.
I've read that it is a kind of sugar that the cavity-causing bacteria prefer, but they suffocate from eating it.
I have not heard of it being used for rebuilding enamel, but I would love for that to be possible and will research now.

Perhaps tapping Birch trees and using the sap directly could work?
I often chew on pitch from Pine trees.  It is good for temporarily filling the cavity pockets and getting food debris out of there.  It feels very antibacterial - I wish I had started much earlier.

George Ingles wrote:I've used the gum.  What I think I understand about Xylitol is that it is derived from Birch tree sap.
I've read that it is a kind of sugar that the cavity-causing bacteria prefer, but they suffocate from eating it.
I have not heard of it being used for rebuilding enamel, but I would love for that to be possible and will research now.

Perhaps tapping Birch trees and using the sap directly could work?
I often chew on pitch from Pine trees.  It is good for temporarily filling the cavity pockets and getting food debris out of there.  It feels very antibacterial - I wish I had started much earlier.

I believe the WWII research came from Finland. Likely, a reduction in cavity-causing bacteria among the population would show up in a study as a comparative increase in tooth enamel, without showing any specific "building" from lower amounts, but I don't recall specifics mentioned on that data.

I do tap and drink birch sap when I have access around that time of year, but have found out that it is highly volatile and does not last beyond the short spring sap season. I'll see if I have time to experiment with freezing some this year.

Any links to good info on Pine pitch, procurement and/or usage?

Would getting xylitol from fruits and vegetables be a better choice?

Coydon Wallham wrote:[Any links to good info on Pine pitch, procurement and/or usage?

There's quite a good thread here about sourcing various gums and how to proecess them for chewing.

Just a quick FYI  xylitol aka birch sugar is deadly to dogs even in small amounts.

Anne Miller wrote:Would getting xylitol from fruits and vegetables be a better choice?

I believe we're doing permaculture here, so it depends...

Normally I source all aspects of my health from direct natural sources, diet and exercise, as much as is practical. In this case my teeth have suffered acute injury in the past and been subject to the systemic neglect of conventional dentistry for decades, so I am willing to 'stack the deck' a little with artificial or highly processed sourcing. Still, good to keep more natural sources in mind.

A brief inquiry shows that fruits & veggies that do have xylitol have it in "low amounts". This table shows at the top of my results:


I'll have to track down numbers for birch sap for comparison. I thought for a second "Lamb's Lettuce" might be the same as lamb's quarters, but unfortunately no. Will have to see about seeds and appropriateness for my climate. Also, "Yellow Plum" doesn't sound like the local wild plum that grows around here.

I'll have to focus on maximizing my Raspberry foraging going forward, and hope the mosquitoes don't take it from my blood faster than I can fill my stomach. Last year I also found for the first time ever an actual fruit on the wild strawberries that I've noticed are very common, not sure if there is a dearth of production from conditions or if wildlife are normally that efficient at harvesting that I don't notice any.

That's some interesting information via those links posted above.  
I hadn't done any research into the benefits of tree gums and their specific particular uses, aside from some famous examples like Frankincense and Myrrh/Guggulu.  
I get my Pine pitch from the tree by the Horse pasture fence -- I don't think that is much help to you, sorry.
I will say that there are some consistencies in the pitch I prefer.  I like the stuff that has been drying on the tree awhile and has a gummy consistency.  The already-crystalized pitch works okay too.  The fresh pitch is too sticky to work with easily, for me.

Good reminder about Raspberries- lots of Calcium there!  I will remember to gather leaves for tea this year!
Did you boil down the Birch sap or use it fresh?  I would think maybe it keeps better once reduced, but I don't have experience.