Prune Juice

I tried prunes and prune juice a couple of times, but it never worked. 😢

I tried prunes and prune juice a couple of times, but it never worked. 😢

In this case another laxative should be taken that will bring really a complete bowel cleansing.

I tried a full quart of prune juice this week. That contains about 42 grams of sorbitol according to the juice bottler. First I warmed it in the microwave until it was as warn as I could stand to drink right down.

Differences from the 16 ounces I took a week or two ago:

I became nauseated and could have puked if I had tried. The sick to my stomach feeling went away when the diarrhea started.

It did not seem like I had any more diarrhea than with the 16 ounce dose but it sure produced a good clean-out.

It took 45 minutes for the diarrhea to start instead of the 55 minutes.

After that it was the same deal, two repeat trips to the toilet and then dry farts, that I did not trust at first.

Barb

You had artificially sweetened processed prune juice. That's the sorbitol and that will give you diarrhea in large quantities.

Get PLAIN UNPROCESSED, preferably organic prune juice. You'll crap a storm.

But even organic prune juice should have lots of sorbitol, because that's the natural sugar of prunes.

Yes, you are correct and after some research, the sorbitol is a laxative.

We often use a cocktail for our patients who are having issues along those lines. Take an 8 ounce glass of natural prune juice and add a dose or a dose and a half of milk of mag. Stir it up and warm it up in the microwave. Restir and serve warm. It works every single time. And my patients tell me it tastes good too.

Mashie

Many sugar free gums are sweetened with about 1.2 grams of sorbitol per stick, the same active ingredient in prune juice. I wanted to see what would happen if I chewed gum and got a dose of sorbitol that way. What I got for the effort was a sore jaw from chewing about 14 sticks of gum or about 17 grams of sorbitol and a mushy movement the next day and not much else. I'm sure that if I drank the equivalent amount of prune juice, at 10.5 grams of sorbitol per cup I would have had a memorable movement. Clearly there is something else in prune juice that makes it effective for me.

Barb

Eating dried prunes works too, if you don't care for the taste of prune juice. Thats what I do. Don't care much for the juice 😜

Sorbitol isn't the only the laxative ingredient in prunes/prune juice. I haven't seen it mentioned in a number of years, but prunes apparently contain small amounts of oxyphenisatin or very similar compounds.

Oxyphenisatin is a very close relative to both bisacodyl (Dulcolax®) and phenolphthalein. It was actually used in a number of commercial laxatives (Prulet®, Lavema®) up until the early 1970's. There was significant evidence that long term use caused liver injury, and it was banned by the FDA (and most other regulatory agencies) in the early 1970's. In terms of potency, it is similar to bisacodyl, so a few milligrams is all it takes. Consequently prunes have considerable more laxative potency than the sorbitol content alone provides.

I found the follow list at: http://www.constipation-remedies-for-all.com/prune-juice-for-constipation.html

I don't have the time to format this nicely but these chemical show up on Wikipedia as laxatives or possible laxatives.

Thank Matt,

Barb

Phenolic compounds

100 grams of Prunes

100 grams of Prune Juice

Neochlorogenic acid

131 milligrams

22.5 milligrams

Chlorogenic acid

44 milligrams

19.3 milligrams

Caffeic acid

0.9 milligrams

0.3 milligrams

Coumaric acid

1.0 milligrams

0.4 milligrams

Rutin

3.3 milligrams

0.4 milligrams

When I was young, I'd have prune juice, with no effect that I remember. I tried it again, about 10 yrs. ago. It worked exactly like a bottle of magnesium citrate.

I have heard that MANITOL is also a laxative. It is also a non-sugar sweetner

Mannitol and glycerol which are hyperosmolar sugars are also used to treat cerebral edema.

Mannitol is a sugar alcohol, as is sorbitol, in fact mannitol and sorbitol are isomers. That is they have the same molecular weight and formula. The difference is the location of one of the hydroxyl (OH) groups. I suspect Sorbitol is easier to make or extract, consequently you see it used more often in consumer products, but it is doubtful there is any difference in taste or effect between ingesting equal amounts of Sorbitol and Mannitol.

I tried blending eight prunes into a quart of prune juice. The mix took took about an hour and fifteen minutes to come through and caused some sharp cramps and incredible gas that took some time to subside.

Because of the gas, I tried to flush my colon with a SSE but the gas continued. I'm not going to try that again and will stick to the prune juice. At some point I may try mixing the juice with senna tea and see if that moves the juice though faster to reduce the gas.

Barb

I've loved eating prunes since childhood. I'd eat them anytime over candy. I love stewed prunes as well as dried ones. Prune juice is great as well. I agree with Barb691, the gas they produce is a hindrance. I may have developed some resistance, inasmuch as they don't seem to have the laxative effect that some experience. The gas is about the only thing that keeps me from eating more of them or more often.

If I desire to produce a BM, "Victoria" is my besty assistant. She hangs around and is always available as needed.

I have used prune juice and prues as a laxative. Neither seems to have any effect. The juice is nasty tasting, but I like the dried prunes. I still think a good old fashioned high volume enema is the best way to go! It works fast and is very thorough, not to mention other "off label" benefits!

When I was a child and at risk of constipation, I would sometimes be given dried plums. My wife would get prune juice.

It's difficult to estimate their effect alone because my mother would also be likely to give another oral laxative (some white jelly called Lubentyl) and my mother in law, once constipation was certain, would give an enema.

Frankly it works about as well as Hawaiian Punch!!

If you want a laxative, use milk of magnesia.

It comes in several flavors Get the one that tastes the best to you,. and remember: Between the time you swallow it and the time it does it's thing you need to drink all the water you can stand!!

Lisak said

Frankly it works about as well as Hawaiian Punch!!

Prunes DO work. There have been studies on this. They aren't going to be as strong an effect as other laxatives, but it will help many people stay "regular" and gave easier times with bowel movements.

Mattheww50 gave a good explanation.

Here is another article on why:

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/12/01/ask-well-the-laxative-effect-of-prunes/?_r=0

I don't know why prunes have a bad reputation. They are dried plums. For some reason, raisins, which are dried grapes never got this bad reputation.

Yes I have & yes it does

@barb691 18 ounces chugged down warm at first try . . courage !!

From my experience, prune juice really works if you drink enough of it. Pear juice works the same way. The only downside is that it gives me gas, which means a lot of juicy toilet farting :-) You will be in the bathroom for the better part of the day, so don't make any plans.