My friend Kyle Drew says, “You can almost create a rule when confronted with articles about the dangers of natural products: “Pay No Attention To The Headline.” I want to take that statement one step further. If the headline appears in ANY medical journal, toss it to the curb. Recently, a medical website (1) ran this headline:
Zero-Cal Sweetener Erythritol Disappoints on Cardiovascular Safety
“In a separate pilot intervention study in eight healthy volunteers, the researchers also found that drinking an erythritol-sweetened drink increased plasma erythritol to levels that were — for several days — well above thresholds associated with heightened platelet reactivity and thrombosis potential.”
Now, let’s study the study.
- This study was done on 8 subjects.
- A single blood test was done following an erythritol drink after an overnight fast.
- These 8 subjects were recruited from an unnamed “quaternary referral center.” As an example, The Cincinnati Children’s Heart Institute is a quaternary referral center that houses cardiovascular patients. Were these 8 subjects recruited there? If so, they likely already had cardiovascular issues, not pertaining to Erythritol. If not, what tests were done on these 8 subjects to rule-out previous cardiovascular conditions?
- There were no details on how much erythritol was in the drink given to the 8 subjects.
- Further, the article compared their study to an artificial sweetener study showing aspartame, sucralose, etc… raised insulin and blood glucose. Those artificial sweeteners are absorbed in the bloodstream whereas natural food-form erythritol is mostly unabsorbed and passes right through the digestive tract.
Please read the small print if any medical headline has leaves you wondering. We are certainly witnessing plenty of cardiovascular problems throughout the world during the past few years. I believe we have far more to be concerned about than erythritol.
Research and References
1. MedPage Today: Zero-Cal Sweetener Erythritol Disappoints on Cardiovascular Safety | MedPage Today
Related Articles
Sweeteners On The Kaufmann Diet
Some Reasons to Avoid Sucralose
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