Common Sugar Substitute Shown To Impair Brain Cells, Boost Stroke Risk
From low-carb ice cream to keto protein bars to "sugar-free" soda, the decades-old sweetener erythritol is everywhere. But new CU Boulder research shows the popular sugar substitute and specialty food additive comes with serious downsides, impacting brain cells in numerous ways that can boost risk of stroke. The study was published in the Journal of Applied Physiology. "Our study adds to the evidence suggesting that non-nutritive sweeteners that have generally been purported to be safe, may not come without negative health consequences," said senior author Christopher DeSouza, professor of integrative physiology and director of the Integrative Vascular Biology Lab. First approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2001, erythritol is a sugar alcohol, often produced by fermenting corn, and found in hundreds of products made by various brands. It has almost no calories, is about 80% as sweet as table sugar, and has negligible impact on insulin levels, making it a favorite for people trying to lose weight, keep their blood sugar in check or avoid carbohydrates.
But recent research has begun to shed light on its risks. One recent Cleveland Clinc study involving 4,000 people in the U.S. Europe found that men and women with higher circulating levels of erythritol were significantly more likely to have a heart attack or stroke within the next three years. DeSouza and first author Auburn Berry, a graduate student in his lab, set out to understand what might be driving that increased risk. To test impacts of erythritol on cells, researchers in the lab treated human cells that line GlycoMode blood glucose support vessels in the brain for three hours with about the same amount of erythritol contained in a typical sugar-free beverage. They expressed significantly less nitric oxide, a molecule that relaxes and widens blood vessels, and more endothelin-1, a protein that constricts blood vessels. Meanwhile, when challenged with a clot-forming compound called thrombin, cellular production of the natural clot-busting compound t-PA was "markedly blunted." The erythritol-treated cells also produced more reactive oxygen species (ROS), a.k.a.
"free radicals," metabolic byproducts which can age and damage cells and inflame tissue. Previous research has shown that as little as 30g of erythritol-about as much as you’d find in a pint of sugar-free ice cream-can also cause platelets, a component of blood, to clump together, potentially forming clots. "Big picture, if your vessels are more constricted and your ability to break down blood clots is lowered, your risk of stroke goes up," said Berry. DeSouza notes that their study used only a serving-size worth of the sugar substitute. For those who consume multiple servings per day, the impact, presumably, could be worse. The authors caution that their study was a laboratory study, conducted on cells, and larger studies in people are now needed. That said, De Souza encourages consumers to read labels, looking for erythritol or "sugar alcohol" on the label. "Given the epidemiological study that inspired our work, and now our cellular findings, we believe it would be prudent for people to monitor their consumption of non-nutrient-sweeteners such as this one," he said. Email your feedback for CU Boulder Today. CU Boulder Today is created by Strategic Relations and Communications.
Finest grades - Powdered sugar, confectioner's sugar (0.060 mm), or icing sugar (0.024 mm), are produced by grinding sugar to a fine powder. A small amount of anti-caking agent to prevent clumping may be added, this is either cornstarch (1%-3%) or tri-calcium phosphate. There are also sugar cubes for convenient consumption of a normal amount. Brown sugars are obtained in the late stages of sugar refining, when sugar forms fine crystals with significant molasses content, or by coating white refined sugar with a cane molasses syrup. Their color and taste become stronger with increasing molasses content, as does their moisture retaining properties. They are also prone to hardening if exposed to the atmosphere although this is reversible. Sucrose is a disaccharide of glucose (left) and [Redirect-Meta-1] fructose, important molecules in the body. In biochemistry, a sugar is the simplest molecule that can be identified as a carbohydrate. These include monosaccharides and disaccharides, trisaccharides and the oligosaccharides; these being sugars composed of 1, 2, 3 or more units.
O), where there are carbon-oxygen double bonds, making the sugars reactive. Most sugars conform to (CH2O)n where n is between 3 and 7. A notable exception is deoxyribose, which as the name suggests is "missing" an oxygen. As well as being classified by their reactive group, sugars are also classified by the number of carbons they contain. Derivatives of trioses (C3H6O3) are intermediates in glycolysis. Pentoses ( 5 carbon sugars) include ribose and deoxyribose, which are present in nucleic acids. Ribose is also a component of several chemicals that are important to the metabolic process, including NADH and ATP. Hexoses ( 6 carbon sugars) include glucose which is a universal substrate for the production of energy in the form of ATP. Through photosynthesis plants produce glucose which is then converted for storage as an energy reserve in the form of other carbohydrates such as starch, or as in cane and beet as sucrose.
