Erythritol sweetener found to markedly raise clotting

[pearlsngems]

This is the pits, because I've been using erythritol in lieu of sugar for the past couple of years. It's a good tasting sugar substitute that doesn't cause GI upset.
But after reading this I'm definitely putting that on hold.

​

Zero-calorie sweetener linked to heart attack, stroke, study finds

A sugar replacement used in many stevia, monk-fruit, keto and other reduced-sugar products marketed for weight loss and diabetes has been linked to stroke, heart attack and early death, a new study found.

www.cnn.com

 

[Demon]

Damn. I've been using an erythritol blend, and I love it. This sucks. Although it does say in large amounts, and the only time I use it is in one cup of coffee in the morning....

 

[pearlsngems]

I'm looking at a package of Lakanto monkfruit sweetener with erythritol. 2 teaspoons contain 8 grams.

Splenda does make a liquid monkfruit sweetener that only has monkfruit. but the taste is a little weird.

 

[MamaBee]

Thank you @pearlsngems! This is so upsetting! I have two huge boxes of Truvia which I switched to years ago instead of Sweet and Low.. My mom used that so I kept it for her..I just threw out the boxes of Truvia..and will now use my mom’s Sweet and Low..Yes it’s chemicals but I think it preserved my mom who is 97! Haha

 

[Demon]

The one I'm using is erythritol, oligosaccharides & 'natural flavors'. Tastes really good. I don't want one that has an aftertaste.

 

[pearlsngems]

The one I'm using is erythritol, oligosaccharides & 'natural flavors'. Tastes really good. I don't want one that has an aftertaste.

That's Swerve, right? I have a package of powdered Swerve -- that's what I use (used to use! ) to make cranberry sauce. 1 tsp of powdered Swerve has 3 grams of erythritol, per the label.

 

[Demon]

That's Swerve, right? I have a package of powdered Swerve -- that's what I use (used to use! ) to make cranberry sauce. 1 tsp of powdered Swerve has 3 grams of erythritol, per the label. Being as that is about all I use of it a day (2 tsps), I might just watch other studies carefully until there's a consensus. Should happen in about 50 years or so, right?

It's a Kroger product. 2 teaspoons has 8 grams of carbs, but 0 calories and no sugar, and granulated, but sounds like much the same thing. .

 

[LightBright]

OMG thank you for letting us know. Will check it out!
…from the scientific article, it’s not a modest risk. It’s more on the magnitude of diabetes. !

“If your blood level of erythritol was in the top 25% compared to the bottom 25%, there was about a two-fold higher risk for heart attack and stroke. It’s on par with the strongest of cardiac risk factors, like diabetes,” Hazen said.

Additional lab and animal research presented in the paper revealed erythritol appeared to be causing blood platelets to clot more readily. Clots can break off and travel to the heart, triggering a heart attack, or to the brain, triggering a stroke.”

 

[elizat]

Interesting. I think a lot of alternative products aren't necessarily better. I do not follow weight watchers anymore with tracking and counting points, because I got sick of it, but I did it pretty religiously for almost a year. This was a product that was frequently recommended on a lot of their boards. I didn't like it so I didn't use it and instead just decreased sugar in recipes. so many products that are alternatives to sugar or fat are really just full of stuff that I didn't feel comfortable with- or were gross.

 

[pearlsngems]

True, many alternative products are not better.

Obviously they are going to need to study this more, but for me-- age 67, and already having risk factors for cardiovascular events-- it makes sense to just stop using it.

I wonder how the whole keto industry will respond?

 

[ShinyPink]

Oh this is just peachy. DH uses it and has a history of DVTs and PEs. Each Truvia packet has 2g of erythritol which is the main ingredient. Talk about misleading!
I guess he only consumes 8 g/day, but still.....

 

[SparklieBug]

Wow. I don't care for any of the sugar alternatives mentioned up-thread. After a lot of trial/error, I discovered BochaSweet which tastes/feels/performs just like cane sugar. It's expensive, so I only use it for tea, so a package lasts a long time.

When I first purchased it, I baked something with it, and it was exactly like using sugar. Plus, kabocha (the source of BochaSweet) is my all-time fave squash.

I'm not affiliated in any way with the company. It's just a really great (for my taste) product.

 

[Demon]

Wow. I don't care for any of the sugar alternatives mentioned up-thread. After a lot of trial/error, I discovered BochaSweet which tastes/feels/performs just like cane sugar. It's expensive, so I only use it for tea, so a package lasts a long time.

When I first purchased it, I baked something with it, and it was exactly like using sugar. Plus, kabocha (the source of BochaSweet) is my all-time fave squash.

I'm not affiliated in any way with the company. It's just a really great (for my taste) product.

It may have the same problems - I found this, though when you click on "faqs" it doesn't take you directly to it"

BochaSweet kabocha extract is diabetic-friendly and suitable for a keto diet. All 4 or 5-carbon molecular structure sweeteners fall under the category of sugar alcohols; however, they don't contain alcohol.

FAQs - BochaSweet​

https://bochasweet.com › faqs

 

[SparklieBug]

Oh, sheesh! Good thing I only have tea every few months! I'm a water person—rarely drink anything else.

 

[VRBeauty]

Wow, those findings are very sobering. I don’t normally bother with sugar substitutes - I’m an “everything in moderation” kind of gal, and that includes sugar - but I do get enticed by the “keto” label.

Thank you for the PSA, @pearlsngems.

 

[Karl_K]

kabocha is very high in vitamin k which can interfere with a lot of different medications.
Check your meds carefully if you want to eat it.

 

[ShinyPink]

I guess it's time to just add whiskey to our coffee!

 

[TooPatient]

My keto obsessed aunt tried to drag me in. She uses a lot of things that have this stuff in it. I kept telling her I wasn't sure it would turn out to be healthy so I was not willing to eat various keto substitutes. Glad I stayed stubborn!

 

[pearlsngems]

From FAQs it seems Bocha Sweet is xylitol, but from a natural source. (Not sure if that makes an actual difference, though.)
I'll have to read up on it.

 

[SparklieBug]

From FAQs it seems Bocha Sweet is xylitol, but from a natural source. (Not sure if that makes an actual difference, though.)
I'll have to read up on it.

That's interesting! I find it quite different than xylitol, in that it doesn't leave any after-taste/texture. I tried xylitol a few times and didn't care for it.

As well as many other faux sugars, I've also tried stevia quite a few times and detest it. Not sure why I kept trying it. Oh, I know. "It can't possibly be that bad. Other people buy it, use and love it. I'll try it again." Nope.

I don't eat much for sweets, and very rarely, if I do. So, I suppose I would be okay to use sugar the occasional time I drink tea. It's just that I keep reading the effects of eating even a small amount of sugar... Perhaps I should stop reading these articles.

 

[LilAlex]

Nature Medicine is a great "high-impact" journal for "translational" science but it is an odd venue for an important clinical breakthrough, especially an epidemiological one. I would have expected to see this in JAMA or Lancet but perhaps not quite NEJM.

Nature Medicine (and Nature and Science) seldom publishes clinical papers and often seem to over-reach when they do -- making a big splash initially but the ripples just die out. (Spouse always says, "Beware the clinical paper in Science or Nature!" I mean sometimes she says other things, too.)

I am a little suspicious that there was some flaw in the statistical analysis. Did they control for kidney function, for example? (Erythritol, like everything else, is either metabolized by the liver or excreted by the kidneys. Oh, quick Google: definitely renally excreted).

It may be a super-important observation. They back it up with some in vitro or in vivo prospective work. I will need to take a look.

 

[kenny]

Aw crap.
Gave up real sugar many years ago.
Then I drank coffee with no sweetener for years; a year ago started buying Trivia packets at Costco.

I only consume one packet a day, so I'm gonna have to do some research and consult my Dr.

Thanks Much for the PSA.

 

[xsouzie]

Cripes!
I've been using a monkfruit blend from Splenda for the past year. I occasionally use Allulose as well but it's harder to find. Any thoughts on Allulose?

 

[MissGotRocks]

I use one tiny spoon of Truvia in my coffee every morning - one cup, one tiny spoon. I guess when it runs out, I will go back and just use a bit of sugar in my cup. Not sure that my usage makes a big difference since I only drink one cup a day. Started Truvia after I stopped using Equal after concerns about that too. If I could do black coffee I would, but I just can't do it!

 

[MamaBee]

Aw crap.
Gave up real sugar many years ago.
Then I drank coffee with no sweetener for years; a year ago started buying Trivia packets at Costco.

I only consume one packet a day, so I'm gonna have to do some research and consult my Dr.

Thanks Much for the PSA.

I used SIX packets in my gigantic mug of decaf coffee every morning. I’m on a diet so I also used a good squirt of Hershey’s Sugar Free syrup on half cup 1/2 fat ice cream every evening. I had bottles of the stuff in my cabinet. I figured I would use all the sugar free stuff until I got down to the weight I wanted to be..Everything went into the trash after I read this. I’m hating my coffee this morning. I’m using Sweet N Low until I can figure out how to substitute my Truvia.

 

[MamaBee]

I use one tiny spoon of Truvia in my coffee every morning - one cup, one tiny spoon. I guess when it runs out, I will go back and just use a bit of sugar in my cup. Not sure that my usage makes a big difference since I only drink one cup a day. Started Truvia after I stopped using Equal after concerns about that too. If I could do black coffee I would, but I just can't do it!

I did the same thing. The only difference is I used six packets in my gigantic mug of coffee in the morning. I won’t use Equal either. I hope someone comes up with a healthier replacement that we can try.

 

[jaysonsmom]

I have always used sucralose, since I have been a teen (Splenda yellow packet) so keeping fingers crossed that no one finds any detrimental effects of long term suctalose consumption!

 

[MamaBee]

I have always used sucralose, since I have been a teen (Splenda yellow packet) so keeping fingers crossed that no one finds any detrimental effects of long term suctalose consumption!

I may try that tomorrow. I HATED my coffee with Sweet and Low this morning..

 

[ame]

Maybe I am the only one who isn't going to change course with this, at least not anytime soon. Half of what I consume contains it and finding replacements that keep the macros I need to hit would be damn near impossible.

 

[missy]

Maybe I am the only one who isn't going to change course with this, at least not anytime soon. Half of what I consume contains it and finding replacements that keep the macros I need to hit would be damn near impossible.

I am not making any changes either. For better or worse much of what we eat is contaminated with so many things. I was dismayed to learn exactly what is in much of our food. We have poisoned our water and land and environment no doubt about it. It's overwhelming. So yeah this is not going to change my habits because I have made as many changes as I am willing to at this moment in time.

And make mo mistake about it anything you are substituting with has its own issues. Including real sugar.