Written by Marcia J. Egles, MD. Research from the Netherlands showed that erythritol is a strong antioxidant, does not raise blood sugar levels or promote tooth decay, has a favorable effect on blood vessels, and has no calories.

Researchers in a recent laboratory study from the Netherlands have reported that erythritol acts a strong antioxidant with favorable effects on blood vessels (1).  Erythritol is a sugar alcohol that naturally occurs in small amounts in such foods as melons and peaches.   Available since 1994 as a food sweetener (2), it is without calories and does not raise blood sugar levels or promote tooth decay (3).  Unlike other sugar alcohols which are used as sweeteners, it is well absorbed from the digestive tract and does not have a laxative side-effect (4).  It is passed into the urine and eliminated from the body. The purpose of the study was to investigate the antioxidant properties of erythritol.

The antioxidant activity of erythritol was evaluated in biochemical tests and in tests performed in laboratory rats.  The biochemical tests showed a dose dependent ability of erythritol to scavenge the hydroxyl radical. Erythritol showed no activity against superoxide free radicals.

Erythritol was then tested in the living system of the rat.  Not only was a strong antioxidant effect demonstrated, but also favorable effects to blood vessels were observed.  Both diabetic rats with high blood sugars and normal rats were used.  They were fed either a regular diet or a diet supplemented with a gram of erythritol per kilogram rat body weight for three weeks.

Antioxidant activity was shown by the presence of the erythrose in the urine of the diabetic rats. Under normal circumstances, erythritol is passed unchanged into the urine.  When blood sugar is high (hyperglycemia) however, the hydroxyl free radical also is increased.  When erythritol combines with the free hydroxyl radical, the sugar erythrose is produced and the free hydroxyl radical is thereby eliminated.  The presence of erythrose measured in the urine of the diabetic rats fed erythritol was evidence that hydroxyl radicals were being scavenged by the erythritol.   This result agreed with the earlier biochemical tests.

Further testing was performed on the main blood vessel, the aorta, in the rats. Blood vessel dysfunction with poor ability to relax was shown in the diabetic rats who received no erythritol.  The response in the diabetic rats who received erythritol was similar to that of the normal rats, demonstrating a protective effect of erythritol to the lining of the blood vessels.  The researchers noted that this blood vessel response was quite similar to that reported earlier in rat studies using vitamin E supplemented rats(5).  Vitamin E is also an antioxidant although structurally unlike erythritol.

The additional benefits of erythritol as an antioxidant with protective effects to blood vessels may be clinically useful especially to those with diabetes. The hydroxyl free radical is regarded as one possible source of the damage that can occur in diabetics (6).

Source: den Hartog, Gertjan JM, et al. “Erythritol is a sweet antioxidant.” Nutrition 26.4 (2010): 449-458.

© 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Posted February 24, 2010.

References:

  1. G. J. M. den Hartog et al. / Nutrition – (2009) 1–10.
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