Many years ago, when I was apparently very stupid, I used to chew sugar-free gum by the pack and drink milk smoothies and lattes, laced with artificial sweeteners. I couldn't figure out why I was experiencing "explosive" diarrhea alternating with constipation. After all, I was eating low-sugar, low-fat and low calorie. It was quite by accident that a friend mentioned that he had similar digestive symptoms, caused by mannitol, another artificial sweetener, and dairy. I didn't waste any time eliminating the dairy first. There was some improvement but not enough. Then I eliminated the artificial sweeteners and the awful symptoms simply vanished. It was like going through withdrawal giving up my artificial sweeteners and dairy smoothies and lattes. It's been 8 eight years since I gave these up. The only time I've experienced those "explosive" problems is when I've accidentally gotten into something with those ingredients. Let me tell you read: ingredients labels very carefully.
