Sorbitol

Sorbitol is a sugar alcohol found naturally in some fruits and used as a sweetener, humectant, and pharmaceutical ingredient. It is less sweet than sucrose and is slowly absorbed in the small intestine.

Sugar alcohol: A carbohydrate-derived compound in which a sugar’s carbonyl group is reduced to an alcohol group. Sorbitol belongs to this chemical family, also called polyols.
Sugar substitute: A substance used in place of sugar to provide sweetness, often with different energy or metabolic effects. Sorbitol replaces some sucrose in foods, though it is less sweet and still supplies energy.
FODMAP: A fermentable short-chain carbohydrate that may be poorly absorbed and provoke digestive symptoms in susceptible people. Sorbitol is a polyol included among FODMAPs because it can be incompletely absorbed.
Xylitol: A five-carbon sugar alcohol used as a sweetener in foods and oral-care products. Xylitol tastes closer to sucrose and is less fermentable by cavity-causing bacteria than sorbitol.
Diabetic neuropathy: Nerve damage associated with diabetes, often causing pain, numbness, or weakness. The role of sorbitol accumulation in nerve injury remains part of research into diabetic complications.
Glucose: A six-carbon monosaccharide that serves as a major energy source in living organisms. Cells produce sorbitol by reducing glucose’s aldehyde group.
Sugar-free gum: Chewing gum sweetened without sucrose or other conventional sugars. Sorbitol is a common bulk sweetener in sugar-free gum.
Osmotic diarrhea: Diarrhea caused when unabsorbed solutes retain water in the intestine. Unabsorbed sorbitol can draw water into the bowel and produce this effect.
Mannitol: A sugar alcohol used as a sweetener, pharmaceutical excipient, and osmotic agent. Mannitol is a close structural relative of sorbitol but is absorbed and used differently.
Diabetic nephropathy: Kidney damage caused by diabetes that can progress to chronic kidney disease. Investigations of the polyol pathway consider whether sorbitol contributes to damage in kidney tissue.

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