Please forgive the super-outdated meme in the thread title, I am ancient and it sounded funny to me.
I eat mints. That is… a lot of mints. Specifically, my favorite are Icebreakers Cool Mint mint tins. I’ll eat them while sipping coffee or tea through the day, often going through a whole tin in a single day. Is there anything dangerous or bad about this? Or can I keep enjoying my massive mint munching mindlessly?
(I seriously doubt this’d have any impact on the answer, but I do have low kidney function.)
They have sorbitol and maltitol in them, which are sugar substitutes that often contribute to some “extreme bathroom situations” when consumed in significant amounts. Like they are often found in sugar free chocolate candies and if you eat more than 2 or 3 pieces of that candy, it “goes right through you.”
So, do you experience any gastric distress from eating whole tins of these mints?
Looking around, I found places that warn you can overdose on peppermint oil. But nobody seems to feel there’s a danger of overdosing on peppermint candy.
However it appears the artificial sweeteners used in many mint candies can have a laxative effect if consumed in large quantities.
Although the mints list aspartame as a flavoring, it’s listed far down on the ingredients, and I usually dislike that taste, but don’t taste it at all in these mints, so I think that’s not too bad and there must not be a lot in them. It also doesn’t seem to have caused me bathroom distress; if anything, eating mints seems to settle my stomach.
There are more calories in the mints than I expected when I read the back of the container, but even eating a whole tin shouldn’t give me a massive amount and right now, I’m having trouble eating, so extra calories are actually a good thing.
The only thing they contain that could even be questionable is the sugar alcohols/substitutes, because of the laxative effect. I think the OP is safe though considering I ingest 18g of sugar alcohol per day (inositol powder w/ sorbitol for extra sweetness) and it has not given me the sh*ts at all, even though it can be used as a laxative. It will be harmless to you if in the same realm of sorbitol or inositol. Considering you eat tins of mints and don’t get diarrhea, you’ll be alright or your body will adjust.
In case anyone is wondering.
I take it medicinally for its neurological effects as an anxiolytic. There have been no known side effects besides the crapping, which I am believing is a myth or I am just lucky.
