How does the sugar alcohol sorbitol aid bowel regularity in plums and prunes?
It draws water into the bowel, which softens the stool and stimulates peristalsis.
Sorbitol is classified as a sugar alcohol that the human body digests very slowly. When this compound travels through the digestive tract and reaches the large intestine, its osmotic properties cause it to pull water into the bowel lumen. This influx of liquid serves a dual purpose: it ensures the stool becomes adequately softened, preventing it from becoming hard and difficult to pass, and simultaneously it acts as a stimulant for peristalsis. Peristalsis is the necessary wave-like muscular contraction of the intestinal walls that propels digested material and waste efficiently along the colon for elimination. This mechanism, combined with the bulk provided by dietary fiber, makes plums and especially prunes highly effective natural laxatives for managing occasional irregularity.
