Sorbitol is a sugar alcohol with some helpful characteristics—but it can make some people distinctly unwell. It’s easily digestible for most people because they have the right microbes to break it down. Others, however, can suffer each time they eat foods that contain sorbitol.
Found naturally in some foods, especially stone fruits such as peaches and avocados, sorbitol is also synthesized and added to food and dental products for sweetness. It’s a polyol—the “P” in FODMAP, which stands for fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols.
