Erythritol: The Only Safe Low-Calorie Sweetener?

The natural sweetener erythritol does not appear to carry the adverse effects associated with other low and non-caloric natural and artificial sweeteners and may actually have antioxidant potential. For a while it was only available in Japan but now it’s becoming more accessible. It’s found naturally in pears and grapes, but industrially we have yeast make it for us. It doesn’t cause cavities and hasn’t been implicated in some of the disorders tied to other sweeteners such as fibromyalgia (see my video Aspartame-Induced Fibromyalgia), preterm birth (Diet Soda and Preterm Birth), headaches, hypertension, brain disorders, and platelet disorders (see A Harmless Artificial Sweetener).

What about stevia? The jury is finally in. The reason it’s been such a long time coming is that research out of Japan in the ’90s found that steviosides, the active ingredient in stevia, appeared totally harmless, but in the guts of rats intestinal bacteria transformed steviosides into something called steviol, which is toxic, causing a big spike in mutagenic DNA damage (see the graph in Is Stevia Good For You?). So the question was do we have those same rat bacteria in our guts, and it turns out we do. So we now know that when we eat stevia, mutagenic compounds are produced in our colons and absorbed into our bloodstream. The only remaining question was how much.

In the World Health Organization’s evaluation of food additives, they consider up to 4 mg/kg of body weight safe. So that’s 1.8 mg per pound. If you multiply your ideal weight in pounds by 1.8, that’s about how many milligrams of stevia compounds you should stay under on an average daily basis. As long as one consumes less than, say, two stevia-sweetened beverages a day, stevia can be considered harmless. Erithritol may be even better than harmless, though, as you can see by clicking on the NutritionFacts.org video pick above.

There are two caloric sweeteners that are health-promoting—can you guess which ones? Check out The Healthiest Sweetener for a comparison of agave nectar, blackstrap molasses, brown rice syrup, corn syrup, brown sugar, date sugar, honey, maple syrup, raw cane sugar, and turbinado sugar.

In health,
Michael Greger, M.D.

PS: If you haven’t yet, you can subscribe to my videos for free by clicking here and watch my full 2012 presentation Uprooting the Leading Causes of Death.

Image credit: Anders Ljungberg / Flickr

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
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Cynthia B.

10:48AM PDT on May 10, 2013

thanks so either go with Erythritol or buy a stevia plant if you can find one wow I seldom use stevia bur thought it was safe thx

May 10
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Charlene R.

8:47PM PDT on Apr 11, 2013

I prefer not to be the guinea pig.
I like to wait until the evidence is in.
So many artificial sweeteners have come into being, claiming their ability to be safe, and after a few years or so, we find out that they weren't as safe as we were told (Big surprise!).

April 11
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Christine S.

5:44PM PDT on Apr 11, 2013

Most of the natural low cal sweeteners taste kind of bitter to me- so I have retrained my taste buds to not need sugar in iced tea, and use only a little sugar-sweetened soy milk to lighten my coffee.

Summerannie M.

5:41PM PDT on Apr 11, 2013

If you consume vast amounts of anything that is an alternative to a sugar esp artificial sweeteners you might have to run to the loo many times or have cramps in your stomach. So erythritol causes this too huh? So then its unnatural ingredient. So go for STEVIA the plant. Its such a gorgeous plant and so pretty. It doesnt like frost so make sure it goes into a pot big enough to be able to move to a more sheltered position.
One tiny leaf is all you need. Thats it!
One tiny leaf...... and its sooooooo sweet and the taste? Delicious! artificial sweeteners you might have to run to the loo many times or have cramps in your stomach. So erythritol causes this too huh? So then its unnatural ingredient. So go for STEVIA the plant. Its such a gorgeous plant and so pretty. It doesnt like frost so make sure it goes into a pot big enough to be able to move to a more sheltered ;position.
One tiny leaf is all you need. Thats it! one tiny leaf and its sooooooo sweet and the taste? Delicious!

5:38PM PDT on Apr 11, 2013

Julie I d steer clear of Xylitol. As I mentioned earlier in a post to go to a nursery and see if they have the plant called Stevia which the Nth and Sth America and have been using it and growing it successfully for centuries.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stevia

This link will also show you how the Stevia plant looks like

Sarah thanks for doing the hard yards for us. It has always been said that if you CANT pronounce the word then its not good for you and relates to chemicals or basically not natural or not good for you. One of them you can tick.
I bought some Stevia in a container and upon reading the label. Im a fierce label reader! I saw the word Erythritol and went uh oh.... whats that!!!??? I did some research and couldnt make heads or tails about what it meant so i gave up but still decided that perhaps that this container wasnt good
You know i am sick to death of companies pulling the wool over our eyes in telling us genius' that we are blind and dont know. Sure some are ignorant but now a majority of us are pretty savvy about foods additives and ingredients that are dubious. Why cant they NOT doctor up a pure and natural sweetener. I am sure there is a container/packet of Stevia available but for me if you can find a plant you will get 100% pure stevia and its natural and very healthy b/c there is nothing in it that can cause you ill health.
If you consume vast amounts of anything that is an alternative to a sugar esp artificial sweetene

Sarah S.

8:07AM PDT on Apr 11, 2013

Having read this article I then when on to investigate further and have found that Erythritol is a polyol some of which are notorious for causing a laxative effect. The European food safety authority has recently refused the use of Erythritol as a soft drinks additive. Details can be found here:- http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/efsajournal/doc/3121.pdf

Kati P.

5:39AM PDT on Apr 11, 2013

Good to know. I thought Stevia was safe so moderation will do the trick as usual.

Lisa W.

5:31AM PDT on Apr 11, 2013

Ooh, I have been sweetening my coffee and smoothies with stevia for the last couple of years, assuming that it was completely harmless. Time to reconsider. I do also use Erythritol. I guess I will decrease my reliance on stevia, use more Erythritol and just get used to my drinks being a bit less sweet.

Jennifer C.

5:22PM PDT on Mar 21, 2013

Thanks.

March 21
send a green star

Mac C.

12:14PM PST on Jan 7, 2013

A great video and lots of good information. I've always been puzzled about sweetners. I was happy to learn about date sugar to use for baking. I baked your pumpkin pie with dates, Dr. Greger, and it was great! Thank you!