What Is Erythritol: Friend or Foe?

Humans are obsessed with sugar. And sugar substitutes. Regarding the latter, you might have heard of the one in the title. But what exactly is erythritol? Here’s the lowdown.

 

Quick Overview

Erythritol, if we want to get technical, is a sugar alcohol, which if we want to get even more technical means that one hydroxyl (-OH) group is attached to each carbon atom. Its chemical formula is C₄H₁₀O₄.

But whatever. In the era of TikTok, no one actually cares about those minor details.

Erythritol occurs naturally in some foods and body fluids, though its position in the mainstream owes itself to the fact that it can be synthesized from corn starch. (Specifically, the glucose obtained from the starch can be fermented to produce erythritol—but again, whatever.)

The fact that humans are doing this means there’s more to the story…

 

What’s the Appeal?

It turns out that erythritol binds to the receptors on our taste buds that trigger something that humans crave—sweetness.

The compound is around 70% as sweet as table sugar, also known as sucrose. But unlike sucrose, when erythritol is absorbed in the small intestine, it is excreted largely unchanged in the urine. This lack of metabolism means a few things:

• No calories, i.e. no weight gain.
• No spikes in blood sugar.
• And because oral bacteria can’t feast on it, no tooth decay.

 

Compared to other sugar substitutes, gastrointestinal side effects such as nausea, bloating, and diarrhea tend to be relatively benign.

Even better, the FDA has accepted the designation of erythritol as generally recognized as safe, explaining why the substance has found its way into all sorts of things like beverages, cookies, chewing gum, and stevia and monk fruit sweeteners. As sugar alcohols are not always listed on food labels, you may or may not be aware of erythritol’s presence.

 

Is This Too Good To Be True?

Maybe.

A study in Nature Medicine—published in 2023—sought to identify compounds present in the blood that can predict the risk of heart attack, stroke, and death in a high-risk population over a three-year span.

To the surprise of many, at the top of the list was innocent little erythritol.

The findings were validated in two other groups, adding to merit to the case.

Of course, the link is merely one of association, not causation.

To add plausibility to the theory that erythritol could directly contribute to this phenomenon, the authors did a few things:

1. They showed that blood erythritol levels do in fact spike after its ingestion.
2. They confirmed that erythritol can stimulate platelets (important for blood clotting) to stick together in a test tube.
3. They proved that carotid artery occlusion occurs more quickly in mice in the presence of erythritol.

 

Debate exists as to whether the concentrations used to achieve the above were in keeping with the concentrations that most humans actually consume. That said, no debate exists regarding the fact that further study is warranted.

 

In other words, the what is erythritol question, once thought to be answered, is not.