What is better erythritol or xylitol?
While xylitol is a better option in terms of supporting oral health, erythritol has antioxidant properties and can help prevent heart disease. Erythritol has fewer calories than xylitol, but both have lower caloric content than sugar. This makes each sweetener an easy tool to reduce calories and boost weight loss.
It's better for baking than xylitol as it doesn't dry out your cakes and biscuits as much and it also doesn't have the strange aftertaste that some people experience. Erythritol is heat-stable to around 160C so it's good for baking and lots of other recipes that need sugar.
Consuming large amounts of erythritol may cause serious diarrhea and nausea/vomiting if you have a heightened sensitivity, which can result in dehydration. It does not take long for the body to become dehydrated if diarrhea is continuous, which is why some people with food poisoning end up in the hospital.
| Table Sugar | 1 Tbsp | ½ cup |
|---|---|---|
| Xylitol* | 1 Tbsp | ½ cup |
| Trim Healthy Mama Sweet Blend* | ½ tsp | 1 Tbsp + 2 tsp |
| Erythritol* | 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp | 2/3 cup |
| Pure Monk | 0.04 tsp | 1/3 tsp |
It has also been shown to help lower systolic blood pressure in people with hypertension (Pharmacological Research, December 2019).
Sucralose — "safe"
It is stable under high heat, making it ideal for baking, and it's often found in soft drinks, iced teas, sauces, syrups, chewing gum, power bars, protein powders, and baked goods. Sucralose is about 600 times sweeter than plain old sugar.
Sucralose (a.k.a. Splenda): Heat stable for baking; you can also replace half the sugar with Splenda or buy a blend of the two.
Xylitol side effects also include constipation, gas, bloating, diarrhea, nausea, borborygmi, colic, increased bowel movements and weight gain. Potential xylitol benefits including aiding in oral health, since some research shows it does have the ability to prevent cavities.
Xylitol has a low glycemic index (GI). This means that consuming it does not cause spikes in blood glucose or insulin levels in the body. For this reason, xylitol is a good sugar substitute for people with diabetes. Due to its low GI, xylitol is also a weight loss-friendly sugar substitute.
So no, erythritol does not cause cancer. Erythritol isn't bad for you, but consuming it in large amounts may cause some side effects (more on that below). You can use the sugar alcohol in the same way you'd use sugar.
Is erythritol anti inflammatory?
Erythritol Ameliorates Small Intestinal Inflammation Induced by High-Fat Diets and Improves Glucose Tolerance - PMC. The . gov means it's official.
Erythritol Improves Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease by Activating Nrf2 Antioxidant Capacity. J Agric Food Chem. 2021 Nov 10;69(44):13080-13092. doi: 10.1021/acs.
(unlike Xylitol has gastrointestinal side effects from xylitol, such as gas, bloating and diarrhea, and digestive stress) Erythritol has a Lower GI than Xylitol. Xylitol contains 2.4 calories per gram while Erythritol contains 0.2 calories per gram. Xylitol is 100% as sweet as sugar.
How much can I eat? There aren't official guidelines on using erythritol, but most people can handle 1 gram for every kilogram of body weight daily. So if you weigh 150 pounds, you can tolerate 68 grams of erythritol a day, or more than 13 teaspoons.
Side Effects and Dosage
Xylitol is generally well tolerated, but some people experience digestive side effects when they consume too much. The sugar alcohols can pull water into your intestine or get fermented by gut bacteria ( 28 ). This can lead to gas, bloating and diarrhea.
Erythritol and digestive ailments
Erythritol does not attract water into the small intestines, leading to osmotic diarrhea, as other sugar alcohols do. Also, gut bacteria do not ferment it in the colon.
Higher blood levels of the sugar substitute erythritol are associated with increased belly fat and weight in young adults, according to a study by Cornell University and European scientists.
In addition, xylitol has anti-inflammatory effects by inhibiting the production of cytokines induced by P. gingivalis LPS in Raw 264.7 cells. From these studies, it was hypothesized that xylitol could inhibit the production of proinflammatory cytokines induced by live P. gingivalis infection.
Too much refined sugar and high-fructose corn syrup causes a fatty buildup that can lead to liver disease. Some studies show that sugar can be as damaging to the liver as alcohol, even if you're not overweight. It's one more reason to limit foods with added sugars, such as soda, pastries, and candy.
A smaller study including people with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) found that drinking green tea high in antioxidants for 12 weeks improved liver enzyme levels and may also help reduce oxidative stress and fat deposits in the liver ( 7 ).
What are signs that your liver is struggling?
- Skin and eyes that appear yellowish (jaundice)
- Abdominal pain and swelling.
- Swelling in the legs and ankles.
- Itchy skin.
- Dark urine color.
- Pale stool color.
- Chronic fatigue.
- Nausea or vomiting.
Erythritol acts as an antioxidant and may improve blood vessel function in people with type 2 diabetes. These benefits may potentially reduce the risk of heart disease, but more studies are needed.
XYLITOL is a sweetener that is found in a wide range of products. It might also go by other names, including wood sugar, birch sugar, and birch bark extract.
Is Erythritol or Monk Fruit Better for You? “For most healthy adults, monk fruit extract and erythritol can both be useful sugar alternatives in moderation,” says Nadeau. The FDA has approved both erythritol and monk fruit as GRAS or generally regarded as safe.
FOOD SOURCES OF ERYTHRITOL
Erythritol is found naturally in fruits like grapes, peaches, pears and watermelon. It's also found in mushrooms and fermented foods like beer, cheese, sake, soy sauce and wine.
In our present study, we demonstrate that saccharin, sucralose, and aspartame increased the ability of model gut bacteria to adhere to and invade intestinal epithelial cells, with the exception of saccharin which has no significant effect on E. coli invasion.
Aspartame: The oldest and most studied sweetener, aspartame has zero grams of sugar and won't spike insulin levels after it's consumed.
Results. In both in vivo and in vitro experiments, we found that xylitol did not significantly influence the structure of the gut microbiome. However, it increased all SCFAs, especially propionate in the lumen and butyrate in the mucosa, with a shift in its corresponding bacteria in vitro.
Taken together, dietary xylitol is able to improve hyperlipidemia and modify gut microbiota. However, at least 1.5 g/kg body weight/day of dietary xylitol was given in those studies [8,9,10]. The effects of daily dietary xylitol at relatively lower doses on gut microbiota and lipid metabolism are unclear.
Xylitol is mostly safe, especially if taken in amounts found in food. The FDA has approved xylitol as a food additive or sweetener. Side effects. If you take large amounts of xylitol, such as 30 to 40 grams, you may experience diarrhea or gas.
Is xylitol a healthy alternative to sugar?
Xylitol has a low glycemic index (GI). This means that consuming it does not cause spikes in blood glucose or insulin levels in the body. For this reason, xylitol is a good sugar substitute for people with diabetes. Due to its low GI, xylitol is also a weight loss-friendly sugar substitute.
Tell Me More About Xylitol
Interestingly, Xylitol does not raise blood sugars or insulin levels in the same way that sugar does, meaning that it does not count as net carbs, making it popular for keto'ers. This sweetener is most often used in sugar-free gum as well as certain mouthwashes.
Xylitol and Stevia are both low GI natural sugar substitutes, low in calories. However, that is where the similarities end between the two. Xylitol, unlike Stevia, has proven health benefits, thus making it far superior to all other natural sugar alternatives.
Objectively, stevia is better as it's a zero-calorie sweetener compared to xylitol and erythritol, which are both technically low-calorie sweeteners. Stevia is also usable as a whole plant and more natural as a product, typically with considerably less processing involved.
It is possibly safe when used in chewing gums, candies, lozenges, toothpastes, and mouth rinses in amounts up to about 50 grams daily. It might cause diarrhea and gas in some people. Taking high doses of xylitol is possibly unsafe. Using very high doses long-term might cause tumors.
Xylitol may also have detrimental effects on liver function in dogs, with high doses causing liver failure ( 27 ). It only takes 0.1 grams per kg of body weight for a dog to be affected, so a 6–7-pound (3-kg) chihuahua will get sick from eating just 0.3 grams of xylitol.
In addition, xylitol has anti-inflammatory effects by inhibiting the production of cytokines induced by P. gingivalis LPS in Raw 264.7 cells.
Higher blood levels of the sugar substitute erythritol are associated with increased belly fat and weight in young adults, according to a study by Cornell University and European scientists.
Taken together, dietary xylitol is able to improve hyperlipidemia and modify gut microbiota. However, at least 1.5 g/kg body weight/day of dietary xylitol was given in those studies [8,9,10]. The effects of daily dietary xylitol at relatively lower doses on gut microbiota and lipid metabolism are unclear.
Erythritol has no effect on glucose or insulin levels. This makes it a safe sugar substitute if you have diabetes. Foods that contain erythritol may still contain carbohydrates, calories, and fat, so it's important to check the label.
Are erythritol and xylitol the same?
(unlike Xylitol has gastrointestinal side effects from xylitol, such as gas, bloating and diarrhea, and digestive stress) Erythritol has a Lower GI than Xylitol. Xylitol contains 2.4 calories per gram while Erythritol contains 0.2 calories per gram. Xylitol is 100% as sweet as sugar.
Lakanto's Classic Monkfruit 1:1 Sugar Substitutes have a lower glycemic index than xylitol, so they're even easier on your blood sugar. They also have zero calories, and zero net carbs. Lakanto's Classic Monkfruit Powdered 2:1 Sugar Substitute replaces traditional Confectioner's sugar in half the amount.
- Saccharin (Sweet'N Low)
- Aspartame (NutraSweet)
- Acesulfame potassium (Sunett)
- Neotame (Newtame)
- Advantame.
- Sucralose (Splenda)
- Stevia (Pure Via, Truvia)
Erythritol Ameliorates Small Intestinal Inflammation Induced by High-Fat Diets and Improves Glucose Tolerance - PMC. The . gov means it's official.
Erythritol acts as an antioxidant and may improve blood vessel function in people with type 2 diabetes. These benefits may potentially reduce the risk of heart disease, but more studies are needed.
During the production of monk fruit sweeteners, monk fruit extract is often blended with erythritol in order to taste and look more like table sugar. Erythritol is a type of polyol, also referred to as a sugar alcohol, that contains zero calories per gram.
