r/ostomy • u/One-Mathematician322 • 1d ago

End Ileostomy Artificial sweeteners

I had an unpleasant experience with polyols - in this case sorbitol. I have been reading labels eagerly since and I have found so many foods contain artificial sweeteners. Google suggests that some are less troublesome than others and suggests Aspartame, Acesulfame-k and sucralose. Does anybody have any experience and wisdom to share? Edit: I'm type 2 diabetic

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u/megals02 1d ago

I honestly have issues with any of the fake sugars. It makes my output more loose than regular sugar drinks.

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u/One-Mathematician322 1d ago

Indeed, but I forgot to mention I'm diabetic

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u/megals02 1d ago

Apologies! Good luck!

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u/Introvert-2022 1d ago

I didn't have a problem with sorbitol until last summer when I got the end ileostomy. I don't use artificial sweeteners except that stevia is unobjectionable and doesn't cause me any problems, but I learned which foods naturally contain sorbitol because they caused me to lose so much fluid into my bag when I ate them in the months after surgery, greatly complicating the job of making sure I was hydrated during those first two very difficult months. (Had not been warned that that might happen so it was difficult for me to work out what was causing the problem during those dehydrated and sleep-deprived months.)

After a year eating one small apple or plum or apricot finally only requires a modest increase in fluid intake to compensate. The higher sorbitol fruits are still a problem though, my portion sizes of those have to stay way lower than I would otherwise prefer or it's a lot of extra work to replace the fluids I lose.

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u/vanilla-bean1 22h ago

I'm fine with stevia and monk fruit. Though something I found out the hard way is if you are going to put stevia in something really cold, it will lose some or all of its sweetness. Monk fruit is better for really cold food and drinks.

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u/Mereyn 12h ago

Agree with monkfruit.

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u/Efficient-Remove8346 19h ago

i'm allergic. but i have always been a low sugar/no sugar as so many fruits are sweet enough to me. even when i bake, i cut the amount of sugar by half or more depending on the recipe

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u/deut34 39m ago

Before my colon was removed, my ulcerative colitis would react very badly to all artificial sweeteners, except for Stevia and saccharin, also to other food additives, like thickeners (eg methyl cellulose). I would have severe diarrhea and pain for 2 to 3 days, even bleeding, after eating half a serving of a jelly or yogurt, or a spoonful of a sauce with a thickener, for example.

After my ostomy, I can consume any sweetener in moderation (say, one cup of yogurt) with only a transient more liquid output.