Study links artificial sweetener erythritol to possible increased risk of heart disease

[Oldvatr]

Excellent tink to the twitter feed, I extract the following since it covers aspects we have not seen in this thread

I liked the comment that a publish in Nature Medicine may adversly affect one;s CV.

 

[Oldvatr]

I was not aware that the author of the OP study is also the one that 'proved' that red meat is cancerous

Cleveland Clinic Studies Reveal Role of Red Meat in Gut Bacteria, Heart Disease Development

Studies compare impacts of dietary red meat versus other protein sources

newsroom.clevelandclinic.org

This is a man on a mission, indeed.

"Dr. Hazen is named as co-inventor on pending and issued patents held by Cleveland Clinic relating to cardiovascular diagnostics and therapeutics, and has the right to receive royalty payment for inventions or discoveries related to cardiovascular diagnostics or therapeutics. Dr. Hazen also reports having been paid as a consultant for P&G, and receiving research funds from P&G"

 

[Oldvatr]

But he does get proper funding too
This is his next mission

NIH awards Cleveland Clinic $12 M to study link between gut microbes, heart disease

The National Institutes of Health has awarded more than $12 million to Cleveland Clinic researchers to study the critical link between gut microbial pathways and the development of cardiometabolic diseases. The team is led by Stanley Hazen, M.D., Ph.D, director of Cleveland Clinic's Center for...

www.eurekalert.org

Has another interest

Dollars for Profs - Stanley Hazen | ProPublica

For the first time ever, you can see conflict of interest and financial disclosure records for employees of universities across the country.

projects.propublica.org

He is the golden egg for the NIH apparently

Behind the bench... with Dr. Stanley Hazen, Cleveland Clinic and Lerner Research Institute

We have known for decades that there is a strong link between the foods we eat and our risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD). Observational stud

www.nhlbi.nih.gov

 

[Oldvatr]

One problem I see, which the boffins do not seem to consider, is that when alcohols and acids meet, they form esters. This process releases gas that causes bloating and gastric upset. So the erythritol detected in the blood would seem to be home made from the ATP making process in the body, not from the eaten product. I doubt erythritol survives long when in the acid environ of the duodenum. Remember that the drink drive test measures kertones, not alcohol (both the blood sample and the breath tests) We talk of alcohol in the blood, but I am not sure it is in its unchanged form. we do not pee it out, so it does get used in the body( during the last wars, pub loos were adapted to reclaim the urine which provided a source of phosphorous and potassium for the armaments manufacturers as well as the matchmakers)

 

[Deleted member 475901]

The study has not proved that erythritol causes any issues, only that high intake (more than I would ever use) is then seen in the blood of some people who already had risk factors for heart disease.
More research may show a direct causal link, or may not.
If you are worried then check how much you eat/drink in a day.

When I was working, the Royal Statistical Society was pressing for funded research to always include a professional statistician in such work, as often results were overstated or assumptions and 'proof' were just plain wrong.

 

[Oldvatr]

As a follow on from my post above, there is a study that was done to prove that erythritol is not metabolised when eaten. They gave their participants 30mg drinks of radioactive erythritol, then checked all orifices to find out which one(s) it came out of. They found that most of it came out in the urine, and none came out on the breath, So it was not used for energy by the body. They also mixed the same irradiated sweetener with feacal matter, anfd left it to rot. They found that there was no radioactive hydrogen given off, so the sweetener was not fermented by the poo.

apparently around 90% goes to the loo, and 10% gets lost somewhere.

There is another paper that says there is some metabolism of the sweetener producing erythritose and ethrytulone. The first is an aldehyde that passes to the colon, and the second one is a ketone that can be used in the PPP pathway for energy. I think the first study wins since it provides evidence of monitoring even though it may contravene the Hippocratic Oath

Either way it seems my thoughts on esterification was amiss, anf the molecule is too stable for chemical interaction with HCL to occur. (too many double bonds)

 

[polarsun]

Xylitol works for me. It doesn't raise my blood sugar. I actually didn't realize it had this reputation until just researching it just now.

 

[Colourfulkat]

Hi Everyone
I've just read an article linking erythritol to strokes and heart attacks. Evidently it causes blood clots. I buy products containing erythritol and use it for cooking as it doesn't spike my blood sugars. I believed it was safe but not so sure now. Does anybody else use this and has anyone read about this? I don't know how to link the article but if you put it into google it will appear. It's a recent study. Thanks

Hi I read about this also, is there an alternative to use in cooking. There are loads of different types it difficult to know what's best.

 

[ajbod]

There's loads of info out there that fat gives you heart disease, we now know quite the opposite.
This study proves absolutely nothing, and i'm prepared to bet there is a hidden agenda behind it, that will become apparent in time.
Lot's of things have been shown to be carcinogenic when consumed at 20 times more than is humanly possible.