Erythritol and Cardiovascular Risk. The Brain Docs Youtube Video Explained.
I was at Costco on Sunday afternoon buying my usual Keto friendly and Organic products when the cashier investigated the ingredients in one of my favourite Lily’s chocolate chips pack. It was on sale and we just had to buy 5 of them!
She was concerned about the sweetener ingredients Erythritol in Lily’s Dark Chocolate chips which got me to do some Deep Dive Research on this Sweetener. Like yourself I usually would turn to Youtube videos and Online Search for any of my Queries. But since my Stroke and Seisures episodes brought to you by my Lyme Symptoms last November , I have turned to a more natural Resources to mitigate my health issues.
So Now I would rely on these Youtube Channels to get most of my info from since they have proven to be relevant and reliable, and many people have had success and help from their videos including myself. Whenever I have a HEALTH ISSUE I would search for “the problem, Dr Berg”. Example.. “How to fix a headache naturally Dr Berg” . I find it easier to find them that way. and if you cant find them, I recommend switching to a different Search Engine like Duckduckgo in case you worry about censorship in your country. 😊
Dr Berg
Dr Axe
Dr Mercola
The Brain Docs
and many more Natural type doctors and expert who specialises in the Keto diet and Natural remedies.
So in this article , we are going to take a look at the video titled “Dispelling the Fear of Erythritol and Cardiovascular Risk Myth” By the Brain docs.
Firstly the lady doctor covered this point :
“A study published about 7 months ago showed that the low calorie sweetener erythritol is linked to heart attacks and strokes and the sensational media headlines were crazy. Let's look at the data together.
The sugar alcohol erythritol occurs naturally in plants and it's also produced commercially by fermentation but here is a very very important fact it's also produced endogenously in our bodies via the Pentose Phosphate pathway even if we don't consume any. A number of studies show that consumption lowers body weight , it improves hemoglobin A1C improves insulin resistance and also improves blood pressure. But studies that look at metabolomic profiles show that when circulating erythritol was high people were also really sick they had vascular complications of diabetes central adaposity and coronary artery disease .”
Lets Look at what does this mean? Lets break it down step by step.
1. Erythritol and its Sources
Erythritol is a type of low-calorie sweetener. It's found naturally in plants and is also made in factories through a process called fermentation. Here's a cool fact: our bodies can also make erythritol on their own, even if we don't eat any.
2. The Good Stuff about Erythritol
Many studies have found some positive effects when people consume erythritol. These include things like helping with weight management, improving measures related to blood sugar (like hemoglobin A1C), making insulin work better, and even helping with blood pressure.
3. Some studies
have shown that when they looked at the detailed chemical makeup in people's bodies (something called metabolomic profiles), found something interesting. They noticed that when the amount of erythritol in the blood was high, it was associated with people being quite sick. They had problems related to blood vessels in places like the heart, complications from diabetes, and a buildup of fat around the middle (central adiposity).
So, to put it in simpler terms, erythritol seems to be helpful for things like weight and blood sugar control, but too much of it might be connected to some health issues. But by too much, the study means; it would take a whole 30 GRAMS of erythritol and that's about 15 packets of trivia to constitute TOO MUCH.
Let be Real, Does that sound like an amount that one would consume on a daily basis to you?
Next She said:
while these sound like their contradictory to the previous statement none of these studies evaluated diet and most of the sample collection occurred in the United States before erythritol was a food product or approved as a dietary component coming back to the study a bunch of scientists in Cleveland Clinic Decided to look at what happens to the body when we eat erythritol so they initially looked at 1157 people who were unwell and they were going through cardiac risk assessment and I found out that if they had high levels of erythritol in their blood they also had higher risk for major cardiovascular events like heart attacks strokes and death that's pretty significant but did they look at their diet to see what they were eating no they just looked at erythritol levels which as I just mentioned can't be high if people have metabolic diseases. To validate their findings they looked at levels of erythritol in another population AUS cohort of about two thousand one hundred and forty-nine people and about 800 Europeans who had high problems of cardiovascular disease and risk factors like type 2 diabetes and obesity and who were undergoing cardiac evaluation they found that blood erythritol levels were high in those with cardiovascular disease and those who had major cardiovascular events over a three year. Did they check to see what they were eating no and they went this is so cool erythritol makes them half strokes and heart attacks AKA blood clot what Please inject lots of erythritol onto the healthy platelets and see if they clot and so they took samples of platelet rich plasma or PRP and they added erythritol to it outside of the human body within the range observed among the fasting samples and it enhanced the reactivity of platelets which means they started forming clots then they checked it in mice and compared to saline higher erythritol levels created the milieu for thrombus formation and to hurt their little arteries they thought OK but we need to find out how high does erythritol level rises in our bodies when we consume it so they took eight healthy people and they gave them drinks that had 30GRAMS of erythritol and that's about 15 packets of trivia or something like this this much of erythritol to see if their level rises and indeed there was a spike in their erythritol levels within 30 minutes and then it slowly gradually dropped a baseline within two days did they look at any disease outcomes or dietary patterns no the headlines said low calorie sweetener erythritol linked to heart attacks and strokes which is such a misrepresentation of what actually happened first of all they didn't look at their dietary patterns to see if erythritol was endogenous or it came from their diet second they didn't have a control group to see whether healthy people also had high erythritol levels or not thirdly they didn't look at any clinical outcomes just strange assumptions and populations with cardiovascular disease and risk factors so it is unlikely that dietary erositol mediated these associations rather they reflect a dysregulated metabolism possibly driven by a dysregulated pental's phosphate pathway due to impaired glucose metabolism and vascular risk factor .
What does this mean? This means that:
1. The Study and its Limitations
Some scientists at the Cleveland Clinic wanted to see how erythritol affects our bodies. They looked at over 1,000 people who were already dealing with heart health issues. They found that those with high erythritol levels in their blood also had a higher risk of major heart problems like heart attacks and strokes.
Limitations: they didn't look at what these people were eating, and this is important because high erythritol levels can be a sign of metabolic issues.
2. More Evidence
To confirm their findings, they looked at two other groups: one from Australia and one from Europe. These groups also had people with heart problems and risk factors like type 2 diabetes and obesity. Again, they found high erythritol levels in those with cardiovascular issues. But, like before..
Limitation: they didn't check their diets.
3. Experiments in the Lab
They did some experiments in a lab. They added erythritol to platelets (these are tiny blood cells) outside of the body, and they noticed that the platelets started forming clots. They also tested this on mice, and higher erythritol levels seemed to lead to more clotting.
Limitation: they didn't check their diets and we need to find out how high does erythritol level rises in our bodies when we consume it .
4. Testing on People
They gave eight healthy people drinks with a lot of erythritol, about 30 grams (that's a lot, like 15 packets of Truvia). They saw a spike in erythritol levels in their blood within 30 minutes, but it went back to normal within two days.
Limitation: Again, they didn't look at disease outcomes or dietary habits.
5. The Headlines and Misrepresentation
The headlines said "low-calorie sweetener erythritol linked to heart attacks and strokes," but this is a bit misleading.
Here's why:
they didn't check what these people were eating to see if erythritol came from their diet or from their body's natural processes.
They didn't have a group of healthy people for comparison, and they didn't look at actual health outcomes.
Instead, they made assumptions based on populations with existing heart problems and risk factors.
So it's important to remember its limitations and that it's not a definitive statement on Erythritol.
In Summary:
We delved into a study examining the impact of erythritol, a low-calorie sweetener, on cardiovascular health. The study suggested that high levels of erythritol in the blood might be connected to heart problems. However, there are some important things to consider:
1. The study didn't consider participants' dietary habits, a crucial factor given that high erythritol levels may be indicative of underlying metabolic conditions. This means The study didn't look at what people were eating, which is crucial because high erythritol levels can be a sign of metabolic issues.
2. It lacked a control group of healthy individuals for comparison, and it didn't assess tangible health outcomes. Which means that didn't have a group of healthy people for comparison, and they didn't look at actual health outcomes.
3. While laboratory experiments suggested a potential influence of erythritol on blood clotting, these were conducted ex vivo, outside of a living organism. Which means although Some lab experiments suggested that erythritol might affect blood clotting, but this was done outside of the human body.
4. Further experiments on mice yielded comparable findings. Which means that They also tested on mice and found similar results. Again this was done outside of the human body.
So, this proves to show that the studies mentioned by the mainstream Media has some limitations about erythritol's effects on our health.
The brain doctor also said that she and her partner is all about being open-minded and avoiding any preconceived notions. They are ready to change their views with strong evidence. But honestly, they posited that this study was a bit odd and not very well put together. Because of that they need more solid research with clear human outcomes. Maybe some randomized trials comparing erythritol to something else would give us better answers. Until then, they are just not convinced enough to be overly cautious.
This make sense to me. For that I feel rest assured that Erythritol is something I wouldnt mind using to substitute any of my sugar consumption. I stopped sugar Once I found out that Sugar Feeds our Cancer cell! EWWW!! 😷
So personally I can see why the Cashier at Costco was overly concerned about the Ingreadient Erithritol. It all depends on who she got her information from and whether or not she studied the actual Research Data from PubMed herself and understand it. For me, I tend to go to my GO-TO Doctors mentioned above and even read the research data myself and draw my own conclusions.
If I learnt anything at all from my seisure and stroke episodes last November, is when you grt sick, Nobody is there to help you but yourself. So best to keep yourself informed and draw your own conclusion on different health concerns.
So hope these helps you in any way in deciding what you think about Erythritol!!
Stay Healthy,
XO, Lils A. Whit
