I've enjoyed most of the aspartame free gums sweetened with xylitol that I've tried. This one tastes pretty good; the citrus flavour is good. The gum is a little "chewy", ie. it takes more effort than others I've chewed. I've only seen it in one store.
Having tried the eXcitemint version, I thought to try their Pomegranate Mint flavoured gum. This is a sugarfree, xylitol-sweetened gum. The mint in this one is much more mellow (which I prefer), and the pomegranate is interesting, though the flavour disappears quickly, leaving just the mint. I find this gum to be quite stiff compared to the Spry brand ones, not as chewable. Overall, I think the Spry ones are much superior.
I've enjoyed and use xylitol gum these days, xylitol is a natural sweetener that promotes dental health. I've seen this brand before, and thought to try it finally. This is the mint version (eXcitemint), a combination of Spearmint and Wintergreen, which are flavours I don't care for (they also have separate Spearmint and Peppermint versions, the only other one I might like is Pomegranate). The ingredients look good, a short list, xylitol, gum base, natural flavors, gum arabic, white tea extract, carnauba wax, tocopherols. Overall, this gum's flavour lasted longer than other xylitol (that would be good if I really liked the flavour), and it chewed well. My mouth felt fresh and clean, similar to other xylitol gums. Think I might try the Pomegranate.
I've seen chocolate and candy by the Korean company Lotte for sale in various Chinese supermarkets, but never their Xylitol gum (which has been around since 1997, but likely mostly in Asia). I picked this up from a Korean supermarket. Their packaging is all in Korean, but what I can make of it, it has 60% xylitol content. Xylitol has been shown to promote dental health, one of the reasons I've recently switched to this kind of gum (another being to avoid chemical sweeteners, which seem to be in all gums these days). This is a bag of gum, less convenient than the small plastic tub, but probably less packaging. It was about $5.
What does Original flavour Lotte Xylitol Gum taste like? From their Website, they also have Lime and Mint, Mint, and Blueberry Mint flavours, available in Asia; these could be interesting. This one tastes of mint, though not a very strong mint.
I had been looking for at least an alternative to commercial mouthwashes for a while, I didn't like how harsh most of them are, and really don't like the taste of a lot of them, I could stand the soft mint versions, but I recently read about a study that indicated that most commercial mouthwashes with high alcohol content, that is to say more than 25%, may increase your chance to get oral cancer. So there was the impetus that lead me down the road to try to make my own mouthwash. Couple this with my recent interest in the mouth-friendly sugar xylitol, and I knew that I would make my own xylitol mouthwash. What flavour to make, would be the next question. This recipe originally called for fresh rosemary leaves, but I don't really care for the taste of rosemary (add 1 teaspoon). This made a somewhat interesting mouthwash, a very soft mint coupled with the anise flavour. I think I might add 2 teaspoons of xylitol next time, for a little more sweetness. Also, the mouthwash went cloudy about the time I had consumed half of it, though it didn't affect the flavour (I have read that tincture of myrrh, a natural preservative, will protect against this (add 1 teaspoon). I'm still looking for my ultimate flavour, next time I might try lemon oil, but this will do in the meantime.
Homemade Mint Anise Xylitol MouthwashPut the water along with the mint leaves and anise seeds into a pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature. Strain herb water through a paper coffee filter or cheesecloth into a glass jar or bottle. Add xylitol and stir to dissolve completely.
I found a pack of 100 pieces of Spry xylitol gum at Essence of Life in Kensington Market. They also had Spry's Green Tea and Spearmint flavours. A far better deal than buying individual packs of 10 pieces, at $10 (I've seen the individual packs from $1.29 to about $2). Less convenient for carrying around, but for stashing in your desk drawer, it's great.
While in the Korean supermarket again, I bought another package of xylitol gum, which I thought was Lotte's, but, while it shares a similar packaging format (all in Korean, unfortunately, with no English label sticker), and, as far as I can tell, a similar xylitol content (76% as opposed to 75% for Lotte), the main difference is that these gum pieces are coloured apple green. Not much difference in taste or effectiveness, either. And, again, a similar price (about $2.40). Though, this was the last bottle available, that I could see. I think I prefer the Spry ones, but these are not bad.
Having enjoyed my first testings of the more healthful xylitol gum (xylitol is a sugar that promotes dental health, and is also a more healthy sugar than sucrose, and definitely better than any of the fake sugars or chemical sweeteners), I found this chewing gum in the Korean supermarket and decided to try it. It is mostly xylitol (if I'm not reading it wrong, and most of the packaging is in Korean, which I can not read, the xylitol content is at 75%), in a chewing gum base, with apple mint flavouring. The apple mint flavour is okay, it tastes more like what I would call green apple flavouring, though it has the freshness of mint. This is also much cheaper than the other Spry xylitol gum, $2.39 for 36 pieces (as opposed to $3.60, or even double that for other brands). So far, these are good, but I would prefer the citrus flavour of the Spry rather than the apple mint.
This is another flavour available from Spry in its sugar-free Xylitol-based gum line. The natural green tea flavour is strong and not bitter tasting, and seems to last a fair amount of time. I think, though, that I prefer the Citrus one better (which kind of smells like Juicy Fruit). I wonder if there are any additional health benefits from the green tea.
I found this relatively cheap gum ($1 for 10 pieces) with the xylitol sweetener in it that I have been investigating. This one has fresh fruit flavour, read citrus; there is also Cinnamon and Peppermint versions. It tastes pretty good. I am becoming a convert to this sweetener.
I have been looking for a replacement breath-freshening gum (up till now I preferred Arm & Hammer's Whitening gum, which, while having some of these bad sugars, was better than the alternatives, and, while I could never find a good source for it, now I can't find it at all), it seems that most if not all gums these days contain aspartame and other artificial sweeteners, which I will avoid, because I'm not at all convinced of the safeness of them; in fact, from what I've read, aspartame could be the cause of lots of health problems in many individuals. I came across this brand, they have a gum as well (more expensive), this is their mint (which, despite being called Xylichews, are not chewy at all, they are hard and seem like they even could chip a tooth!).
Xylitol, as I have discovered on the 'Net, is a sugar alcohol found in the fibres of many fruits and vegetables (such as birch, raspberries, plums and corn), that has less calories than sucrose, virtually no aftertaste, and is advertised as safe for diabetics and individuals with hyperglycemia. It is also a "tooth friendly" sugar, with a plaque-reducing effect, and an ability to attract and "starve" bacteria in the mouth. The box also has a claim on it, that Xylichews fights dry mouth. So, it appears to be a good alternative to other breath-freshener gums out there (with their suspect sugar substitutes).
The two flavours I got where raspberry and chocolate, both have fairly good flavour, though I think that the raspberry tastes a little better; the fakeness of the flavour is better in the raspberry, in other words. It seems to freshen my mouth after a meal, though I have to wait for any long term positive effects on my teeth (which would be great!). I think that I have found a good alternative to standard breath-freshener gums and will continue to use them.
