Dr. David Williams

Dr. David Williams is a clinician, researcher, world traveler, author, publisher and entrepreneur. Known for his independence and down-to-earth personality, he also has a hard-earned reputation as one of the world's leading authorities in natural healing. Often years ahead of the conventional medical establishment, he has traveled worldwide to locate, evaluate, formulate and announce proven treatments and cures for practically every major health concern today.

Until 1985, Dr. Williams operated the largest non-invasive alternative medical practice in central Texas. At that time, he sold his clinic and devoted his full energy to informing others through his newsletter ALTERNATIVES about medical treatments and therapies from around the world. Fifteen years later, ALTERNATIVES has become America's longest running newsletter devoted to alternative medicine. Dr. Williams continues to inform over 250,000 subscribers about the most promising new therapies from around the world, reliable sources where they can be obtained, and clear guidelines for using them safely.

Motivated by his philosophy that the body's innate healing capabilities need to be supported with sound natural therapies, Dr. Williams travels the globe in search of highly effective herbal cures and treatments that have been used in remote parts of the world for centuries.   Dr. Williams has written on Xylitol in Alternatives.  To order the issue in which he discusses Xylitol, please call 1-800-718-8293 and ask for Volume 6, number 21, March, 1997.  Phillips Health, LLC charges $5 per copy. To receive Dr. Williams' free e-letter, go to http://www.drdavidwilliams.com/registration/signup.aspx?source=WALT.  

The following is an excerpt from Alternatives, March 1997, Vol. 6, No. 21

Xylitol-Good News for Gum Chewers

   Researchers in Finland have been working with a natural sweetener called xylitol for the last 20 years. xylitol is a compound naturally found in certain vegetables, strawberries, raspberries, plums and jute, as well as various hardwood trees like birch. When used as a sweetener in chewing gum it becomes a powerful tool to fight against dental cavities and plaque formation. It may even help prevent problems like sinus infections, bronchitis, pneumonia and middle ear infections.

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A Gum That Actually Prevents Tooth Decay

   Xylitol is an unusual compound in many respects. Unlike sucrose (table sugar) and fructose (fruit sugar), xylitol doesn't create an acid environment in your mouth when used to sweeten gum or foods. When the pH in your mouth becomes acidic from sugary foods, the enamel on your teeth erodes, leading to tooth decay.
   Furthermore, sugar and artificial sweeteners are fermented by plaque-forming organisms in your mouth, and become food for bone-destroying bacteria. These plaque-forming bacteria are incapable of fermenting xylitol; in fact, when they ingest xylitol, their growth and ability to produce plaque becomes impaired. Also unlike table sugar, xylitol has a more complex chemical structure which doesn't trigger the release of insulin from the pancreas. This makes xylitol an ideal sweetener for diabetics.
   Studies performed in numerous countries around the world have verified these tremendous advantages of chewing xylitol-sweetened gum for five minutes following snacks and meals. Regardless of their age, people using the gum can stop the development of dental caries, reduce plaque formation leading to tooth and gum disease, and prevent certain nasopharyix bacterial infections.

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It Fights Most Mouth and Throat Infections

   Xylitol helps reduce dental caries by inhibiting the growth of the bacteria, Streptococcus mutans. While this form of bacteria is commonly associated with dental caries, it has also been linked to bronchial infections, pneumonia, sinusitis and middle ear infections, which has become the most common medical complaint in children.
   Xylitol-laced gum is an excellent tool for knocking out infections that start in the mouth and throat. Adults and children old enough to chew gum can easily saturate the gums and oral cavity with bacteria-killing xylitol simply by chewing the gum for five to 10 minutes several times daily.
Researchers at the University of Oulu, in Finland recently had 306 Finnish children from 11 day-care nurseries chew gum sweetened with either sucrose (table sugar) or xylitol. The average age of the children was five years, and most had been selected because they had a history of recurrent acute otitis media (middle ear infections).
   At the end of two months, the group chewing xylitol-sweetened gum had a 40 percent reduction in the incidence of middle ear infections when compared to those chewing sucrose sweetened gum.
(BMJ 96;9313[7066]:1180-4.)
   Based on the above study, the researchers now believe that gum sweetened with xylitol may be a simple way to treat or prevent recurrent sinus infections and even some of the more serious throat and lung infections.
   This can have a tremendous impact on the health of children in particular. Recurrent middle ear infections are the number-one reason for children's visits to doctors. They are also the reason for millions of prescriptions of antibiotics, thousands of surgeries to the ear drum to allow drainage, and many other questionable procedures. Based on these new findings, many of these problems could be totally eliminated through the regular use of xylitol-sweetened chewing gum. Strangely, this research has been almost totally overlooked in the United States.

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It's a Matter of Awareness

   In Finland, massive health education programs have been used to educate the public on the enormous benefits using xylitol gum regularly. In 1977, only 12 percent of the population between the ages of 12 and 18 used xylitol gum. In 1991, 64 percent of the males and 81 percent of the females in this group were regularly chewing the gum.
(Caries Res 96,30[11.34-9.)
   Most gum manufacturers in this country, however, rely mainly on sorbitol as a sweetener to lower their costs. Sorbitol reportedly doesn't promote the formation of dental caries and is preferred over sucrose, but xylitol is far more effective than either. Unlike other sweeteners, the safety of xylitol has never really been much of a question.