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Juices are often included in clear-liquid regimens for acute or chronic diarrhea in young children, despite an association between apple juice and chronic nonspecific diarrhea (which results from carbohydrate malabsorption). Hyams and colleagues questioned how frequently carbohydrate malabsorption occurs after the ingestion of other fruit juices and whether sorbitol, a natural sugar alcohol, also has a role in malabsorption.
The investigators studied 20 children under three years of age: seven with a three-month history of chronic nonspecific diarrhea and 13 healthy controls. Breath hydrogen was measured to detect carbohydrate malabsorption after ingestion of pear, apple, and grape juices and a 2 percent sorbitol solution. In addition, the a…