Xylitol! The Rising Dog KILLER!
Think of the following text as two people speaking to one another:
My dog is in the clinic again!!
“What happened this time?”
He ingested some Xylitol trough my chewing gum pack
“"Chilly tool"? What is that, some chilly flavored gum?”
Not chilly tool, xylitol! Don't you know what xylitol is? Let me explain to you why xylitol is a rising concern for dog owners all around the world!
Xylitol is an artificial sweetener, it’s part sugar part alcohol, it’s very used as a sucrase AKA the sugar that we buy at the supermarket alternative, so in chewing gum, toothpaste, deserts, drinks, and any other product that you want to replace sugar with a healthier alternative…
“Why is it healthier?”
Xylitol is just as sweet has sucrase with only two-thirds of the calories that sucrase has, and it also has a slower absorption rate, so it’s lower on the glycemic index.
“Glycemic Index? What is that?”
Glycemic index AKA GI is the index that rates foods based on the spike in glucose people get 2 hours after eating them. Higher GI means a higher spike in blood glucose while lower GI means a lower spike in blood glucose.
“Ok, now I’m not understanding.. what is glucose? First, you talk about Xylitol than you talk about sucrase and now you talk about glucose…”
Well, glucose AKA dextrose is a simple sugar AKA monosaccharide, it’s what your cells like to use as energy, other monosaccharides are fructose and galactose.
“Wait…What about lactose and sucrose, aren’t those sugars too?”
Yes, they are, but they are not monosaccharides, they can either be disaccharides, if they are built from 2 monosaccharides, like lactose and maltose, or polysaccharides, if they are built from more than 2 monosaccharides.
“What about xylitol? Is it a monosaccharide, disaccharide or polysaccharide?”
None of them! Xylitol is a sugar alcohol, he is a derived from sugar industrially, to be more specific he is derived from a polysaccharide named Xylan.
“Ok, so if you put up xylitol against glucose in the Glycemic Index what do we get?”
What we get is that glucose has a GI of 100, while xylitol has a GI of only 12, so it has a much slower release. GI list
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“Wooow, what can we use xylitol for?”
Since xylitol has a lower GI, lower calories and the same sweetness has sucrase we can use it for diabetic diets, diets that should consist of slow digesting sugars, low GI foods.
Xylitol also has a great side benefit, bacteria can’t utilize it, so we can prevent caries and ear infections with it.
“Ear infections? Am I supposed to put xylitol on my ears?”
No, your ears are connected to your nasopharynx through the eustachian tube, and your nasopharynx is connected to your mouth, by starving the bacteria in your mouth with xylitol you can, to some degree, prevent ear infections.
“So, xylitol is amazing, why is your dog having problems with it?”
It’s not just my dog, ALL DOGS have the same problem!!
Xylitol in humans is absorbed in 3 to 4 hours whereas in dogs it only takes 30 minutes to be absorbed and metabolized in the liver.
Now, if it is absorbed in 30 minutes your blood glucose levels should spike right after eating xylitol.
When blood glucose levels spike what usually happens, if you are healthy, is that your body releases insulin to lower that blood glucose level back to normal levels.
“Insulin? Isn't that the thing that my grandmother is always talking about”
I should start charging you for this physiology classes...
Insulin is the hormone that your body releases in order to lower your blood glucose levels, it tells your body that you have a surplus of energy making the body go “full power” synthesizing new molecules and repairing itself, and it also makes your cells “open up” to nutrients.
So, when you release a high amount of insulin from your pancreas your body goes into “full power” and consumes much more energy making your blood glucose levels decrease, normally it would reestablish the normal blood glucose levels, but in the case of dogs that ate xylitol, insulin is released 7 times more than it should, making it so it decreases blood glucose levels by too much so the animal becomes hypoglycemic.
“Hypowhat? That sounds like a superhero name”
No, it’s not a superhero, it’s the fancy medical term for low levels of blood glucose.
“Ok… so it’s not a superhero, but what is so bad about that hypostuff? Wouldn’t lower blood glucose just make you weaker?”
Hypoglycemia …. You really need a notebook to start writing down all these fancy terms.
Yes, it would make you weaker, but if it is too low, which is the case when xylitol is given to dogs, it can also make you collapse, lose your coordination aka becoming ataxic, lethargic, blind and enter a coma.
Also, xylitol is hepatotoxic to dogs!
“Ok, that one is easy hepato means liver and toxic is just toxic… but why is it hepatoxic? Isn’t insulin released from the pancreas?”
Yes, insulin is released from the pancreas, but xylitol is metabolized into glucose in the liver, which is the monosaccharide that the body likes to use for energy.
There are 2 mechanisms for this hepatotoxicity to happen, I won’t go into much detail but let’s just say one of them causes lack of energy, trough ATP, ADP, and phosphorus depletion, making the liver fail his normal functions, and the other is by creating reactive oxygen species that damage liver cells.
“I’m really sorry, is your dog getting better? What treatment are they giving to poor old Peanut?”
When I first came to the clinic they tried to provoke the vomit.
They tried to contact the chewing gum brand to know the amount of xylitol Peanut consumed, but the brand didn’t call back, maybe it’s because it’s a weekend!
They are using 0.3g per chewing gum piece, this number was just to know how much xyilitol Peanut consumed, luckily I’m a huge chewing gum fanatic and the pack was almost over, if poor Peanut actually consumed more xylitol he would have to be given continuous dextrose and some liver protection and the prognosis would be poor, he might have even died because of acute liver failure, but since it was not a huge amount of xylitol, he only needed small amounts of dextrose, and he will be right back home chewing is favorite toy again!
“When is Peanut coming home?”
The minimum amount of hours to be hospitalized because of xylitol is around 72, so let’s just wait and see…
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“Is xylitol only dangerous to dogs, or are there more species that shouldn’t eat xylitol?”
Yes, there are more: bunnies, baboons, cows, and goats show a greater release of insulin than they should have when xylitol is consumed!
“Has the numbers of dogs exposed annually to xylitol been increasing?”
Yes, according to some localized studies just between 2002 and 2015 the number has increased from 2 to more than 4000!! Xylitol Is being more and more used in our society, even ear drops are starting to have xylitol, this is a rising concern, not only for dog owners but also for veterinaries!
“Anything else you think I should know about xylitol?”
Xylitol can also be in the food ingredients with the name of E967.
Hyperglycemia can also happen when dogs consume xylitol, this may be because of the Somogyi phenomenon, which is basically when glucose blood levels drop to extreme levels glucagon, cortisol, epinephrine and other hormones are released to bring the blood glucose levels up, mainly by consuming the person fat stores and muscle tissues.
Some studies are being conducted to show if it increases bone density and they are showing promising results.
Xylitol can also provide greater absorption of vitamin C giving your immune system an overall boost!
Another good sweetener is Stevia, and it's a natural one whereas xylitol is industrially derived!
"I'm going to start using either xylitol or stevia for all of these health benefits, but I'm keeping it away from my dog!
Even though I’m explaining this to you, you should always do your own research, I’m just a random guy on the internet, you should always seek your medical knowledge from a medic!
Sources:
My main source of knowledge is the degree I’m taking – Veterinary medicine in UEvora, I could name my teachers, but I would forget someone, also my father and brother, both MD.
You can check more of my posts here:
- How Antibiotics are KILLING People indirectly
- Inflammation, the Good, the Bad and the Ugly!!
- Your Best Friend Named FEVER!! - Same comedic format as this one
Special thanks to the whole @steemstem community for giving me a place to express my scientific knowledge and opinions! More than a community centered around science it's also a community of friends!
Anyone that likes science should join @steemstem's discord, trust me you will learn a lot! And hopefully teach a lot too to our community!
This is a test comment, notify @kryzsec on discord if there are any errors please.
Being A SteemStem Member
Thank you for your vote!
Great to read, comprehensive and well researched as always! :)
Keep it up! :)
Thanks!! I could have gone deeper into the issue, but i was afraid of ppl getting bored when they read it
We have that problem i the U.S allot. One of the biggest problems is peanutbutter. I usually buy it in bulk and check well the distributor just changed the components and if I had not been as paranoid as I am and checked I would have had 35 pounds of deadly peanut butter for my dogs. A lot of people would not check something they buy regularly, I am jut glad I noticed it.
Yeah, it's a rising global problem, and most ppl don't even know about it!! i hope that soon ppl will know xylitol is toxic just like they know chocolate is toxic
nods thing is a lot of rescues know tis but it is not always labelled openly ... The answer really is to stay away from all the processed crap ...
Excelente artigo.. Fiquei com a duvida se só se aplica aos cães devido ao seu metabolismo, ou também a outros animais.. Já para mim parece me uma excelente alternativa ao açucar.. Mas preocupa me que esta informação não seja amplamente divulgada.. E bem vindo ;) escrevo em português porque vasculhei o perfil e li a introdução :) muito boa por sinal. Abraço
Além de cães nao se pode dar xilitol a :Coelhos, baboinos, vacas e cabras, o resto penso que pode comer xilitol á vontade
Obrigado, sim estás sempre a vontade para comentar em portugues, nasci em Portugal, mais especificamente no Alentejo e vivo por cá, msm com este frio de rachar ossos que neste momento está xD
Bem, parece que saltei essa parte à frente 😮 fica registado ;) em relação à temperatura, se está um frio de rachar no Alentejo, imagina aqui no norte 😨
Nem quero imaginar xD!Se a comunidade tuga continuar a aumentar temos de organizar ai um discord para todos!
Já temos uma sala no telegram e no discord para começar a encher ;) já anda por aqui muito tuga, é uma questão de juntar o pessoal para trocar ideias
Qual é o discord já agora?
Ainda só estamos lá 2, mas se conheceres mais tugas que andem por aqui meio perdidos passa-lhes este link https://discord.gg/xwmkw76 vamos encher a sala ;)
Good job I'm not a dog as I'm always having sweeteners haha!
Using Wikipedia as references though??? Your teachers would be ashamed of you, what happened to PubMed ;) Haha I kid, Wikipedia is life :D
How do you get into the SteemStem discord btw? I heard it's in a subsection of PAL? Because I'm already in the PAL discord...
I put wiki up there as references because even though i'm writing something i know a lot about, i always like to double check my own knowledge, sometimes my brain goes AFK after all xD
Steemstem's discord i think i did this right... first time i'm inviting someone, if you are not able to join tell me
OMG!! I should get my chewing gums away from my dog!! I didn't know it can be so harmful for our poor friends!!
Very informative article for once more!! Great job!! :))
Thanks! And yes you should, and also try to spread the information, I do this posts, not for the STEEM but because I want to spread the information about it, even though less sick dogs mean fewer clients for me, I prefer to be poorer and see healthy animals :)
My next post is already in the oven!
haha :) Sure! I've already spread the information to family and friends!
I'm looking forward to your next post!! :))
Thats a great article mate. U got a new follower! Whats your name on discord i would look to ask u something.
Teutonium
I love the passion @teutonium..
It's all about passion, passions for SCIENCE !! If you like science you should 110% join Steemstem's discord chat, we talk about science all day long
Thanks for reading, you are welcome to come and comment anytime!!
Thank you @teutonium..I appreciate it homez..
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Awesome post! 😃 very informative
Thanks soo much!!! i checked some of your poetry, it's really good , even though i'm not much of a poet xD
Then check out the philosophy 😁😋