CNN: Zero-calorie sweetener (erythritol) linked to heart attack and stroke, study finds

[bobbler]

This sweetener was just mentioned on the forum a day or two ago. So when I saw this article I thought I'd post it here.

Fair warning, I have not looked at the study and don't have the ability to analyze it to see how accurate this CNN article is.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/27/health/zero-calorie-sweetener-heart-attack-stroke-wellness/index.html

Looking at that last para which equates the risk as being the same as diabetes

just to check but do those with diabetes drink or switch to products with this type of sweetener to keep blood sugar down , or is it one that is bad for diabetes?

 

[bobbler]

I'm not sure about the other sweeteners but I have some diabetic people in my family and when I baked/cooked for them, I used xylitol, as you can substitute sugar 1:1 with it, so baking with it is less complicated. And ugh, xylitol is also a biological weapon in larger amounts, ehehe. (Namely it gives you diarrhea.) It is not necessarily obvious in a cake but we have some sweet soups here and the effect is quite strong in those. One needs to be careful with these sweeteners on many levels.

Yes I was wondering whether the connection might have been that those with diabetes are more likely to have both

than the sweetener causing the heart and then saying it causes ‘as bad as diabetes’ difference

 

[ahimsa]

Looking at that last para which equates the risk as being the same as diabetes

just to check but do those with diabetes drink or switch to products with this type of sweetener to keep blood sugar down , or is it one that is bad for diabetes?

More research has been done since 2023. A quick search found this study that was done on healthy volunteers:

Ingestion of the Non-Nutritive Sweetener Erythritol, but Not Glucose, Enhances Platelet Reactivity and Thrombosis Potential in Healthy Volunteers

But I don't have the skills to analyze whether this is a good or bad study -- so I'll stay out of the discussion!

There are more recent news reports about erythritol, and other artificial sweeteners, that might be more helpful than that CNN article from 2023.

Our household doesn't use them (my husband gets bad side effects from them) so I don't keep track of any of the latest studies.

 

[SNT Gatchaman]

Letter to the Editor: Erythritol and endothelial function: interpreting in vitro findings with caution

In vivo, erythritol is rapidly absorbed and largely excreted unchanged, with plasma concentrations peaking and then declining (apparent plasma half-life ∼4 h), and ∼70%–80% recovered unchanged in urine. Thus, the exposure conditions used by Berry et al. can be considered supraphysiological in duration, rather than dose.

Second, erythritol is also produced endogenously from glucose and fructose via the pentose phosphate pathway in erythrocytes, liver, and kidney. Elevated circulating erythritol in epidemiological cohorts may therefore reflect underlying metabolic stress—such as obesity, insulin resistance, or diabetes—rather than exogenous intake. Without addressing this dual origin, causality between dietary erythritol and vascular risk remains speculative.

Third, the cellular conclusions diverge from several human studies reporting neutral or even beneficial vascular effects. In patients with type 2 diabetes, erythritol consumption acutely improved small-vessel endothelial function and, over 4 wk, reduced central aortic stiffness. In people with obesity, 5 wk of erythritol supplementation did not worsen vascular function. Together, these data argue against assuming harm from the in vitro observations.

Finally, although Berry et al. reference the association between plasma erythritol and cardiovascular events reported by Witkowski et al., that work has been criticized for potential confounding, reverse causality, and limited dietary intake data.