Weight Loss Gum???

Not sure if any of you read about this in your morning papers, but I thought it was interesting and pretty thought provoking.. Apparently there is this gum, sugar free and made with sorbitol that causes involuntarily (at least up until now), weight loss.. The paper didn't publish the name of the gum, but with sorbitol being it's ingredient I can't imagine it would be difficult to find, wouldn't all gum with the same ingredient cause the same reaction? I have to think that there's a slightly universal amount of sugar or sugar substitute that is added to a stick of gum.. Anyway, I guess there are two cases, a male and a female, with no connection to each other, who both happen to have a fixation with chewing 18-20 sticks of gum a day. Over time both developed gastrointestinal problems and began to loose mass quanties of weight.. The woman, 21 and 114lbs, had abdominal pains lasting 8 months and lost 24 pounds.. The man, 46, developed diarrhea and bloating and lost 48 lbs over a year, a fifth of his body weight.. Neither changed their diets, or increased their exercise.. Wild, that just chewing gum could make that impact, but I guess it was documented previously that sorbitol could cause gastrointestinal problems..

The BIGGEST problem with all of this? The article was published in a British medical journal on Saturday, and already it's becoming an increasingly hot topic on websites supporting anorexia and other eating disorders, and is looking like it might become the next diet craze..

Now, being morbidly obese, I have to admit that a part of me thought, wow, I gotta git me somma that! lol!! Only for about 2 seconds though.. I know there are people who do basically the same thing by ingesting laxatives.. But would it not make them less 'guilty' of that type of purging if they were simply eating a few sticks of gum?? A part of me thinks that this gum should be pulled from the market, or at least it's producers should be forced to switch to another ingredient that doesn't cause so many problems.. Some would say that the people who are abusing the gum are mainly (hopefully), adults and should be responsible for themselves.. But if these adults are sick enough to starve themselves, couldn't it also be possible that they are unable to make a proper, healthy decision for themselves?

Ah, I could go on and on.. I'd love to hear what other people think about it, and I'm hoping there will be more articles on this subject in the future..

On a much lighter note, one of my best friends and myself are taking a shopping trip today.. I wish it were sunnier, but fun will be had nonetheless.. It's this little shop with all kinds of neat little things about half an hour away.. Should be fun. :-)