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Using erythritol as an alternative sweetener is associated with increased risk for heart attacks and strokes according to a large, 4000+ person study by the Cleveland Clinic.
For almost 10 years, I have warned my readers to avoid erythritol found in a dizzying array of low-carb foods and alternative sweeteners like Swerve.
This low-calorie sweetener is very popular with those following the keto diet, Trim Healthy Mama or similar low-carb protocols to lose weight.
Erythritol is perhaps the most popular of the sugar alcohols, which contribute to gut imbalance among other potential harms to beneficial intestinal flora.
This nail in the coffin for erythritol once again demonstrates that there is no free lunch when you are trying to change your diet to get healthy.
Fake sweeteners like erythritol and chemical cousins like diarrhea-inducing xylitol just aren’t going to get you there over the long-term.
In other words, you can’t have your artificially sweetened flourless cake and eat it too.
You need to eat REAL FOOD for health…that includes whole sweeteners like raw honey or maple syrup if you wish to enjoy something sweet on occasion!
Let’s look at the details of this damning study on erythritol.
You would be well advised to go to your pantry and immediately toss anything in there that contains it!
Large Study with over 4000 Participants
The Cleveland Clinic conducted the study with the peer-reviewed journal Nature Medicine publishing the finding in February 2023. (1)
The study included more than 4,000 participants in America and Europe. (2)
The findings revealed that people with higher blood erythritol levels had a greater risk of suffering a heart attack, stroke, or even death.
They also examined the effects of adding erythritol to either whole blood or isolated platelets, which are cell fragments that clump together to stop bleeding and contribute to blood clots. Results revealed that erythritol made platelets easier to activate and form a clot. Pre-clinical studies confirmed ingestion of erythritol heightened clot formation [emphasis mine]. (3)
Correlation or Causation?
The large study on the negative health effects of blood level of erythritol shows an associated risk and is not double-blind causative research.
However, in the wise words of the Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo,
Just because correlation does not equal causation does not mean we should abandon common sense!
Ignoring this research because the link is associative is very short-sighted.
Conclusions
Per the Cleveland Clinic, erythritol is about 70 percent as sweet as sugar.
However, when consumed, the intestinal tract has difficulty metabolizing the product.
This means that some ends up in the blood, where it doesn’t belong.
The Cleveland Clinic press release described the scenario as follows:
Instead, it [erythritol] goes into the bloodstream and leaves the body mainly through urine. The human body creates low amounts of erythritol naturally, so any additional consumption can accumulate.
Predictably, Calorie Control Council Executive Director Robert Rankin downplayed the study’s results as “contrary to decades of scientific research showing reduced-calorie sweeteners like erythritol are safe, as evidenced by global regulatory permissions for their use in foods and beverages.” (4)
Hmmm. I don’t think that “global regulatory permissions” is an indicator that something is safe at all!
As one of many examples of how ludicrous this statement is, consider that the FDA allows aluminum in cheese processing. Is this a guarantee of aluminum’s safety in the human diet?
Hardly not!
Wise consumers who have been eating erythritol would do well to eliminate this artificial sweetener from their diet. This would include related sugar alcohols such as xylitol, sorbitol, isomalt, mannitol, lactitol, and maltitol among a few others.
(1) The artificial sweetener erythritol and cardiovascular event risk
(2, 3) Cleveland Clinic Study Finds Common Artificial Sweetener Linked to Higher Rates of Heart Attack and Stroke
(4) Study: Erythritol Sweetener Linked to Higher Risk of Heart Attack and Stroke
Yes i think people need to watch Ivor Cummins youtube video on this he posted recently and also Dr Bergs posted a video on the same thing the other day. Both of them seem to show the study is flawed. I sent a message here with the links to them but the comment has disappeared.
Only the most recent comments show on the first page. If you click “older comments”, you will see earlier ones.
Yes, I would agree. Did they mention what percentages of their subjects had taken “2 pieces of cake” (code word here) or maybe up to 5? Because those not taking said cake are unclean, don’t you know. I would suspect they only chose the cake eaters because then they could show the evidence, since it’s the “cake” causing the heart attacks and strokes. Not trust whatsoever in these pharma-paid studies.
Yesterday, a news person in Winnipeg said that studies reveal that “daylight saving time” can also cause heart attacks. No kidding – how many years and we did not know that?
https://twitter.com/DrEliDavid/status/1634328666728550401?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
What do you recommend for toothpaste? I know I’ve seen a lot of people say that Erythritol is a better alternative to fluoride since we do not use fluoride.
You don’t need a sweetener in your toothpaste at all IMO. I use the tooth gel from this vendor. https://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/go/orawellness/
Ingredients: Organic Sweet Almond Oil, Organic Cinnamon Leaf Oil, Organic Peppermint Leaf Oil, Organic Spearmint Leaf Oil, Organic Clove Bud Oil, Organic Myrrh Oil, and Organic Manuka Oil.
(All 100% certified organic ingredients)
Although I agree not to eat it, I don’t believe their studies. I believe you just posted something a few weeks back about when these studies suddenly come out with something to avoid. I don’t think it’s good for you but I doubt it is causing strokes.
Totally understand where you’re coming from there. There are a lot of “science for sale” studies that are simply propaganda to get the public to behave a certain way. However, erythritol disrupts gut flora which negatively impacts the immune system. This has been known for 10+ years. That alone is enough to avoid it.
Also the fact that it’s been known that erythritol is dangerous for over a decade and yet it became the darling of the healthfood industry anyway is very telling (neon blinking sign “food psyop”) and gives more credibility to this study in my opinion.
Hmmmm. Perhaps that’s what they’ve been putting in the covid vaccines then since they also cause blood clots, heart attacks, and strokes. Erythritol is likely no good but this seems like a convenient smoke screen among the many others blaming anything but the vax for these issues. There was even an article saying gardening in real dirt can cause heart attacks, canning too. And of course, the media pushing the theory that Covid also causes heart attacks yet no studies found to support it. And as for those studies, apparently most of them are also fraudulent. First, find out who funded it.
The fact that this study was ignored by mainstream media tells me that it is probably legit. They WANT health-conscious people to eat bad stuff that they think is good (a la the “soy is good for you” psyop).
This study was very large and comprehensive and not a fly by night research. Remember that there are plenty of charlatans in alternative health too …. who are pushing erythritol to sell their processed food junk and keto diet plans.
Yes Sarah, agreed. It definitely does disrupt the gut. I have Crohn’s and was doing keto a few years back and had a flare after 10 years of no drugs, no flares. Not impressed. I won’t go near any of these alcohols again. That was the only thing I used that was not real food.
It just seems like there are a lot of these timely “studies” on what’s causing all these health problems, all to lead you away from the real reason.
Thanks Sarah for all of your help. I’m really curious about Xylitol since it is listed as a main ingredient prominently displayed on sugarless gum with the ADA, American Dental Association, seal of approval? At least one prominent M.D. , Julian Whittaker, has said that chewing gum can help with weight control (all other things being equal, of course).
Gini Robinson
Chewing gum is a bad habit that uses up precious digestive enzymes. Chewing when you are not eating triggers the body to release these enzymes when they are not needed, which literally reduces the lifespan of your digestive organs. Your body only has so many enzymes to produce in a lifetime and chewing gum all the time uses them up needlessly. The ADA is a bunch of criminals IMO. They push IQ lowering fluoride treatments on children and say mercury fillings are safe. That’s all you need to know.
https://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/the-sticky-truth-about-chewing-gum/
Having issues from corn, I Always stay away from erythritol !! And Xylitol. I guess that was a good thing !!
Blessing in disguise for sure!! So many of the fake sweeteners do rely on (GMO) corn as a manufacturing base.
Maureen. If using xylitol it has been advised to make sure its source is from the birch tree, not corn.
Thank you for sharing this! I have been following you for years and really value the information you provide. What about other plant sweeteners such as allulose and monk fruit? Are they safe?
Allulose is dangerous. https://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/allulose-sugar/
Monk fruit is ok …. from what I’ve seen so far in the research.
Yesterday i listened to a few interesting opinions about this study.
https://youtu.be/Q-9m2O0Bdcw
https://youtu.be/0oPkpa3ovSo
Just remember that the keto folks that have been promoting erythritol as safe for years will be bigtime on the defensive to save their credibility as an influencer.
This isn’t the first study warning of the dangers … erythritol disrupts gut balance too and negatively affects flora. This was known 10+ years ago. Anyone paying attention knew a long time ago that erythritol was a no-go.
We’ve been saying these exact same “wise words” of Dr. Joseph Ladapo for decades regarding vaccines and autism and other deadly effects, but apparently it’s only “wise” whenever we’re talking about something that he agrees with.
***
The quote:
However, in the wise words of the Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo,
“Just because correlation does not equal causation does not mean we should abandon common sense!”
Ignoring this research because the link is associative is very short-sighted.
*****
Ask every parent with a child suffering with autism if they preferred to have ignored the associative link.
Maybe I’m looking for the unicorn here, but what is the opinion about stevia and monk fruit sweetener for those looking for an OCCASIONAL low carb sweetener?
Stevia and monk fruit are ok occasionally.