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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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”.
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
Awesome. Drink sugar free energy drink, have stroke.
I’ve never seen an energy drink with erythritol
Why not just say, “Popular sugar substitute, erythritol…” in the title?
I mean we both know the answer is for clicks
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.
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.
Add the fucking shit to the headline: Spoiler: it’s Erythritol
So what brand is this stuff sold under so that I can speedrun that stroke?
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?
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.
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.
Interesting thing about most sugar substitutes is they actually kill mouth & gut microbiome.
Any evidence for this in Stevia or Monk Fruit?
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).
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
I believe that is just because chewing gum increases salivation which helps keep bacteria in check
Erithrol is the sweetener derived from monkfruit.
Comes from corn usually
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
I thought xylitol was good for gut biome
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.
Except for those who are diabetic, why would you even choose to eat/drink “sugar-free” food with sugar substitute?That doesn’t even make any sense… Are people that stupid?
stop industrial sugar based drinks/food completely ! And I know this takes probably away more than 80% of the things you find in stores, but do people still didn’t realized that sugar is add as addictive ingredient? Some claim sugar can be as addictive as cocain…
I have seen kids drinking coke at a very young age and I can assure you, those substances are not going easy on your brain !!
https://www.mlb.com/cut4/young-fan-has-the-absolute-best-time-with-her-cotton-candy-c200177238
And peeps are just laughing and having fun while the drug kicks in… People are just dumb…
Issue is, the same people who push the narrative of “sweetener bad” are either pushing carnivore diet because “humans have canine teeth”, or think diabetic people can still eat cane sugar and/or honey.
Meth is bad, Methadone is better then meth - but is not good. People who are not trying to kick a Meth habit shouldn’t be taking Methadone.
Artificial sweeteners are a tool, but they are not without their downsides.
Oh you’re one of those “sugar is a drug” type nonsense spewers.
Might as well go all the way and say oxygen and water are drugs too.
Maybe the ultimate answer will turn out to be JUST EAT LESS FUCKING SUGAR.
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.
