Sorbitol with fructose and gut symptoms in eating disorders
What it found
In women with eating disorders, a drink of fructose and sorbitol brought on gut symptoms, while glucose did not.
The same drink caused symptoms in only one healthy woman.
What they found
Studies in people
Symptoms after fructose-sorbitol
The fructose and sorbitol drink provoked gut symptoms in 15 of the women with eating disorders and in one healthy woman.
Symptoms after glucose
Only one woman with an eating disorder had symptoms after the glucose drink.
Lower BMI and symptoms
Women with a body mass index of 17.5 kg/m2 or less had a greater symptom response than those with a body mass index above 17.5 kg/m2.
Breath hydrogen
Breath hydrogen responses did not differ between the women who had symptoms after fructose-sorbitol and those who did not.
Psychological scores
Psychological scores and the prevalence of functional gut disorders were similar in women with and without a symptom response to fructose-sorbitol.
What the authors conclude
“F-S, but not glucose, provokes GI symptoms in ED patients, predominantly those with low BMI.”
Also in their conclusions
- They conclude that fructose-sorbitol, but not glucose, provokes gut symptoms in patients with eating disorders, mainly those with low BMI.
- They say these findings are important in the dietary management of eating disorder patients.
How it was done
The authors wanted to see how gut symptoms and breath hydrogen change after taking fructose with sorbitol, compared with glucose, in people with eating disorders.
They monitored gut symptoms and breath hydrogen in 26 female inpatients with eating disorders for 3 hours after drinking 50 g glucose one day and 25 g fructose with 5 g sorbitol the next day, after an overnight fast. They compared the fructose-sorbitol results with those of 20 healthy women without symptoms.
What it can’t tell you
- We summarised it from the abstract only.
- This trial was small and included only women with eating disorders and healthy women, so the results may not apply to other groups.
- The trial cannot show whether avoiding fructose and sorbitol would improve symptoms over time.
Who paid
- Authors work at
- University of Sydney, Australia
The paper
- Title
- Fructose-sorbitol ingestion provokes gastrointestinal symptoms in patients with eating disorders
- Type
- Clinical trial
- Evidence
- Studies in people
- Summarised from
- Abstract only
- Cite
- Friesen N, Hansen RD, Abraham SF, Kellow JE (2009). Fructose-sorbitol ingestion provokes gastrointestinal symptoms in patients with eating disorders. World journal of gastroenterology. doi:10.3748/wjg.15.5295Free full textPubMed 19908337DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error