Erythritol sweetener linked to clotting heart attack stroke

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gzt

16997 posts

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#315727 10-Aug-2024 10:02

In part one of those cases where natural isn't really natural:

CNN: Consuming a drink with erythritol — an artificial sweetener used to add bulk to stevia and monk fruit and to sweeten low-carb keto products — more than doubled the risk of blood clotting in 10 healthy people, according to a new pilot study.

It is also an ingredient in some not all Splenda products

cddt

1502 posts

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#3270255 10-Aug-2024 11:47

Yet another thing to avoid.

It's frustrating that gluten free products are often also low carb, keto, dairy free, etc.

If I want a biscuit it just has to be gluten free, don't take out the butter and sugar too!

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cddt

1502 posts

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#3270286 10-Aug-2024 13:15

Oh yep, just checked a bottle of kombucha in the fridge. Uses erythritol. Not something we would usually buy, but were recommended as one child is having digestive problems.

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itxtme

2102 posts

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#3270455 10-Aug-2024 22:01

Pretty much all "natural" sweeteners in NZ have them as Stevia is quite expensive. But equally Stevia is much sweeter than sugar 250-300 times. By bulking it with erythritol they can drop the price but equally its nowhere near 250 times as sweet. I have previously been looking at getting pure Stevia at which point you need a drop if its a liquid form. I also found the packaging somewhat misleading in the sense that I thought it was Stevia I was previously buying, but every brand uses erythritol to bulk out. And given the amount bulking I would argue it should have Erythritol on the package not All Natural Stevia, my opinion

You can see for example here https://www.reactivsupplements.co.nz/products/pure-stevia is pure stevia, but $40.00 for 50g. I am keen to try it though to make lemon cordial to see how it tastes with low calories. But yeah I stopped buying the supermarket ones because of the erythritol

itxtme

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#3270456 10-Aug-2024 22:07

cddt:

If I want a biscuit it just has to be gluten free, don't take out the butter and sugar too!

Its a hard one though because they have opened there market much wider. We have a child with a dairy allergy and we say the same about gluten being excluded :D

Bung

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#3270488 11-Aug-2024 09:56

itxtme: I also found the packaging somewhat misleading in the sense that I thought it was Stevia I was previously buying, but every brand uses erythritol to bulk out. And given the amount bulking I would argue it should have Erythritol on the package not All Natural Stevia, my opinion

Same for the Monk fruit version. The idea that the 1% component gets the top billing is more than somewhat misleading.

Sweeteners (*organic erythritol 99%, monk fruit extract 1%).

We only have the Monk fruit version for a friend who hasn't given up on sweetening tea & coffee. I will suggest homoeopathic sugar where the spoon is jabbed in and out of the sugar before stirring.

chatterbox

204 posts

Master Geek

#3272253 15-Aug-2024 20:47

From your linked CNN page...

“Consumers should interpret the results of this pilot with extreme caution. The limited number of participants, a total of 10, were given an excessive amount of erythritol, nearly quadruple the maximum amount approved in any single beverage in the United States,” the council’s president, Carla Saunders, said in an email.

However, the amount of erythritol used in each drink in the study — 30 grams — was the equivalent of what is included in typical sugar-free sodas, ice creams or muffins, of which people often eat more than one, Hazen said.

I'd be wary of drawing too many conclusions from it with just 10 people. All it means is that it's probably worth looking into with a larger study.

elpenguino

3388 posts

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#3272288 15-Aug-2024 23:35

gzt: In part one of those cases where natural isn't really natural:

CNN: Consuming a drink with erythritol — an artificial sweetener used to add bulk to stevia and monk fruit and to sweeten low-carb keto products — more than doubled the risk of blood clotting in 10 healthy people, according to a new pilot study.

It is also an ingredient in some not all Splenda products

Well that sounds bad but since journalists are not usually good at science but are good at writing attention grabbing headlines, it would be useful to know more.

For example, if that risk has doubled from 1 in 10 million to 2 in 10 million, it's still not a very high risk.

Most of the posters in this thread are just like chimpanzees on MDMA, full of feelings of bonhomie, joy, and optimism. Fred99 8/4/21

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johno1234

2736 posts

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#3272312 16-Aug-2024 07:39

Exactly. Double bugger all is still bugger all.

Excessive sugar intake on the other hand is a huge and deadly health problem worldwide with no murky statistics about it.

In other words people substituting sweeteners for sugar are likely to live longer healthier lives as the former is less bad than the latter.

Bung

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#3272313 16-Aug-2024 07:59

They've discovered a risk but considering the amount of soft drink consumed you'd expect the potential result to already be obvious.