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Xylitol is known as a bad bacteria killer in human's mouth. But I am curious about one thing.

Does xylitol kill all kinds of bacteria regardless of good or bad?

If so, Does xylitol kill bad bacteria more than good ones at least in human's mouth?

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    $\begingroup$ Toxic compounds do not differentiate between good or bad. $\endgroup$ – AliceD♦ Jul 28 '16 at 12:09
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Xylitol does not kill any bacteria.

Xylitol is a sugar alcohol that bacteria happen to not be able to use as an energy source. In the absence of other sugars, bacterial growth slows. Therefore, its antimicrobial mechanism is bacteriostatic rather than bactericidal.

No antibiotic exists, or will ever exist, that kills or inhibits all kinds of bacteria.

One thing xylitol can kill is a dog – keep xylitol-containing products such as gum well out of their reach.

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  • $\begingroup$ Your answer is punctual, thanks. It does not kill bacteria directly. But does xylitol make all bad bacteria starving while it doesn't much affect to good bacteria? To understand my question, vice versa, if there's much sugar in human body, which bacteria grow faster, bad bacteria or good bacteria? $\endgroup$ – Solek Jul 29 '16 at 7:30
  • $\begingroup$ In one study, using xylitol-sweetened chewing gum reduced levels of the bad bacteria by 27-75%, while it had no effect on the friendly bacteria. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3434645 $\endgroup$ – Solek Jul 29 '16 at 8:30

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