Erythritol, a widely used sugar substitute found in many low-carb and sugar-free products, may not be as harmless as once believed. New research from the University of Colorado Boulder reveals that even small amounts of erythritol can harm brain blood vessel cells, promoting constriction, clotting, and inflammation—all of which may raise the risk of stroke.
The authors caution that their study was a laboratory study, conducted on cells, and larger studies in people are needed.
Ok, nice to know, moving on.
There are other studies using humans, see https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/erythritol-cardiovascular-events
This sugar substitute is going to be the asbestos of sweeteners in the next few decades. And I find it remarkable it is in so many foods.
Awesome. Drink sugar free energy drink, have stroke.
I’ve never seen an energy drink with erythritol
I took a look at the two most famous colas and two fake colas, and the only sweeteners I was able to find were aspartame, acesulfame K, and sucralose. No sign of erythritol. I wonder if I’ve ever even seen a beverage with that stuff in it. However, I have seen bags of it sold in supermarkets, so apparently it isn’t restricted in that sense.
No sign of erythritol.
It’s significantly more common in baked goods (because it’s stable under oven temperatures) and extremely more common in “fitness” branded alternatives like low calorie yogurt, low calorie peanut butter, and so on.
aspartame
ethrthiol isnt that common, its more associated with stevia substitute, it has well known side effects of causing GI problems in sensitive people.(might be useful for constipate dpeople.)
Where I am at (Texas) I find it in many sugar free yoghurts
I’m beginning to think this must be one of those EU things. I couldn’t find a single yogurt like that in my local supermarket.
I don’t consume many sugar-free products, except Coke Zero Sugar. Not Coke Zero, but Coke Zero SUGAR. They are two separate products (which taste significantly different), and even servers in restaurants often don’t know the difference. They’ve got to be phasing out the Zero in favor of the Zero SUGAR, became ZS tastes far better.
Anyhoo, I’ve been wondering about the artificial sweetener they must be using for them, and now I’m wondering if it’s this stuff. Your post seems to indicate that I’m in the clear.
Just read the label or look it up… What the fuck is this “I’m just gonna decide on it being this way without even lifting a finger even though all the info is readily available”? If it is that sweetener you’re great proof that it does indeed damage brain cells and if not…then you’re just this dumb naturally.
Not dumb, just don’t care. One advantage to getting old is that the dangerous stuff that takes years to kill you won’t have the time to get you before you die anyway, so you can go wild. If it tastes better, I’ll drink it. It’ll kill me in 30 years? Yeah, but I’ll be dead in 20, and it tastes good, so I don’t care.
I have seen a few people who are similar to that become old; struggling for decades with damage done to their bodies when younger.
I am not judging others , just remarking the survival rate is high
Ah, yes, it must not be common just because you randomly looked at two products. This is like saying “I just looked up two of the most famous people ever and both are white so therefore it means that non-white famous people don’t exist”.
Why not just say, “Popular sugar substitute, erythritol…” in the title?
I mean we both know the answer is for clicks
Add the fucking shit to the headline: Spoiler: it’s Erythritol
Maybe the ultimate answer will turn out to be JUST EAT LESS FUCKING SUGAR.
erythritol was always a not so favored ingredient for me due to the weird cooling mouthfeel and GI effects
now if it turns out that allulose is bad for you, I’m going to be SO UPSET.
Interesting thing about most sugar substitutes is they actually kill mouth & gut microbiome.
That seems like an impressively blanket statement when there’s literally dozens of sugar substitutes that are all wildly chemically different. Insane that all of them would kill your mouth and gut microbiome even when they often work in fundamentally different ways.
Any evidence for this in Stevia or Monk Fruit?
here’s a pretty good meta-analysis I found of various studies of stevia affecting bacteria in vitro and in vivo
the conclusion this paper comes to seems to be “depends on the species and strain of bacteria”
so just like pretty much anything you eat then.
yes, but I think it warrants further study. some GI issues are related to one or just a few bacterial strains being unbalanced, so it could be extremely useful in treating gut microbiome imbalances to know which strains are negatively impacted by specific sweeteners
conversely if we found any specific sweetener to have a bacteriostatic or bactericidal effect on a strain that is pathological when overly populated (e.g. H. pylori), that could be a super easy way for some people to prevent chronic flare-ups
Erithrol is the sweetener derived from monkfruit.
Comes from corn usually
I also don’t have any studies, but I am aware of xylitol being used in toothpaste, chewing gum, etc., usually with the “assists in the prevention of tooth decay” type of tagline.
Xylitol is different from erythritol, but both are “sugar alcohols” so further study would be needed
xylitol does have beneficial affects against bacteria
I believe that is just because chewing gum increases salivation which helps keep bacteria in check
Stevia is often blended with it but only lists in the ingredients.
it’s also often blended with dextrose which is SUPER annoying if you’re trying to do specialized baking or diets
its either dextrose, or maltodextrin, which are basically sugar with extra steps.
I’ve checked store brands
www.fooducate.com/product/Sweet-Additions-Stevia/7D892B72-6914-11E1-AFF9-1231380C18FB
https://tools.myfooddata.com/nutrition-facts/373190/wt1
https://www.fooducate.com/product/Kroger-Stevia-Blend/B5C6A580-5826-11E2-A40C-1231381A0463
ETA: in the raw lists dextrose
I don’t know about baking, but avoiding random other stuff blended in is why I get my stevia as a liquid – the one I use only has water, stevia extract, and a couple of preservatives.
No. I don’t have any studies on hand, but the data that I’m aware of says that stevia is one of the small few that actually helps your gut biome. However, too high of a quantity can lead to other issues (I think related to the heart).
ethrythiol is often mixed with these two, but there are product with solely stevia in it if your interested.
I thought xylitol was good for gut biome
I always told my buddy who was dieting in college that getting fake sugar sodas isn’t the solution, it’s to stop drinking soda…
Not even that, find something healthy that scratches the itch. Your body indicates it wants energy (unless your addicted in which case its the microbiome or something), get it some berries or throw them in some water with lemon juice
I’ve found that a lot of times when I’m craving something sweet, what I actually want is water. It seems my brain associates sweetness (such as from fruit) with hydration. When I can, I’ll have some fruit. But when fruit’s unavailable, I know I just have to drink more water.
God damn it, I’ve been using this a lot. It’s almost flavorless except sweet and doesn’t take much to sweeten a large amount of water. I’ve been using the Truvia packets one in a large bottle of water with 1/8 of a teaspoon of crystalized lime or orange ( from a brewer supply co). All the other ones seem to have a chemical aftertaste to me.
Oh well, the second best time to stop is now I suppose.
You probably weren’t taking in enough to do any real damage, but even so - good idea to stop now.
I’m eyeing my waterbottle full of it right now
gonna have to dump it out, super sad, I’m almost out of crystalized lime :(
Whatever. They all taste like carcinogenic plastic side product. Enjoy your swill.
You seem personally upset about other people drinking low-sugar drinks 😂
Well, actually I’m upset that it’s harder to find good selection of regular sugar drinks. Even regular Cola and Pepsi has replaced half of it’s sugar with sweeteners and you can taste it. You have to go to a bigger market so you can find some Mexican cane sugar cola, but that has never had the same taste. Not bad, but not the same.
What even uses this stuff? I only see Acesulfam-k, Sucralose, Stevia.
Edit: i’m european.
Here in Denmark I’ve seen that substance used in gum and sugar free ice-cream.
Meh…. It’s a research from the US. Let’s wait till more reputable sources confirm the studies.
UC Boulder sends like a reputable source to me.
to all of you who worry about this stuff: do you drive? do you walk or live next to roads? do you make sure there’s a low concentration of CO2 in any room you’re in?
If not, those things are way more worrisome than any sweetener unless you chug 50 liters of soda per day.
Well shit I use it daily for my coffee and home-made milk tea. Reading all this stuff coming to light about sugar substitutes is gonna make me just go back to regular sugar or maybe coconut sugar, and I’ll just control my intake.
You can use Stevia. It’s a natural product, zero calories. There is a more expensive option in monk fruit as well. I live on Stevia. It’s easily available in groceries and stores, and reasonably priced too.
stevia is not a natural product. there is indeed a plant named stevia and it can be used as a sweetener. Stevia that you buy at the store is chemically produced and is derived through a complex process that uses petroleum based chemistry to extract the chemicals from the plant.
raw sugar has far less environmental impact than buying stevia. if you truly want a sugar alternative grow your own sugar beets. it’s literally raw sugar(sucrose).
I do use Stevia. The thing is, all the stevia products I see at the grocery store are laced with erythritol. Does the product you consume exclusively use stevia only?
not all of them, sweetleaf doesnt have any of the substitute. there are others.
So what brand is this stuff sold under so that I can speedrun that stroke?
Truvia in the US.
Here in Denmark I’ve seen nearly every sugar free ice-cream use it. There’s also a number of chewing gums too.
In America, it’s usually branded as “sugar alcohol”, and is found in many sweeteners as an additive.
Don’t the food labels go into any more detail than that?
I fucking knew it, this shit made me feel weird all the time.
Erythritol makes my entire mouth feel like it’s on fire as soon as it touches my tongue. My body did me a favor on this one.
you seem sensitive, ive taken stevia subistitute with erythiol, it never caused it. some people have gi problems with it, but it doesnt really bother me for tha tone. there are products with pure stevia in it(but warning pure is not as sweet as the substitutes though, so you might have to use more.
If you can, avoid any fake sugar. I love science, but science sugar tricking your brain that something is sweet feels wrong.
Or not. I’m not a nutritionist I don’t know anything about anything.
Actually you could be a nutritionist if you call yourself one since it’s not a legally protected term. Dietitian is the actual one that is a protected term.
Thats because it is wrong, youve hit the nail on the head. Anything that is sweet activates certain receptors on your tongue, and that stimulates the production of insulin. That insulin is then going to travel your body looking for sugars to break down. Thing is, insulin only breaks down sugars, not artificial sweeteners. So its going to break down sugars elsewhere in your body or leave free insulin in your blood. That fucks you up good and leads to diabetes.
ALL ARTIFICAL SWEETENERS ARE BAD, unless you already have diabetes.
