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Article: Chew gum to prevent ear infection.
- Article from:
- HealthFacts
- Article date:
- December 1, 1996
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1996 Center for Medical Consumers, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Chewing gum regularly has been found to prevent acute ear infection (acute otitis media) in some children. A new study randomly assigned 306 Fi ish preschool children to chew gum sweetened either with sucrose or xylitol every day. After three months, there was a 40% reduction in the incidence of acute otitis media among the children who had been chewing xylitol gum (British Medical Journal, 9 November 1996).
Xylitol is a sweetener used in a wide variety of foods. A natural substance found in plums, strawberries, and raspberries, it is often referred to as a birch sugar because it can be produced from birch trees. The sweetener has already had a demonstrable effect in ...