this post was submitted on 25 Jul 2025
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Erythritol, a widely used sugar substitute found in many low-carb and sugar-free products, may not be as harmless as once believed. New research from the University of Colorado Boulder reveals that even small amounts of erythritol can harm brain blood vessel cells, promoting constriction, clotting, and inflammation—all of which may raise the risk of stroke.

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[–] timewarp@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago (23 children)

Interesting thing about most sugar substitutes is they actually kill mouth & gut microbiome.

[–] k0e3@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 month ago

I thought xylitol was good for gut biome

[–] MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 month ago

We have mouth/gut biome that eats sugar? Seems weird.

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[–] scytale@piefed.zip 3 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Well shit I use it daily for my coffee and home-made milk tea. Reading all this stuff coming to light about sugar substitutes is gonna make me just go back to regular sugar or maybe coconut sugar, and I’ll just control my intake.

[–] Wahots@pawb.social 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Honestly, I've had better luck just getting higher quality tea and cutting sugar from morning beverages entirely. (I don't drink coffee, but low quality teas tend to become bitter, which required sugar. Higher quality teas never become bitter)

These days, I'm cutting sugar across the board. Shredded wheat with frozen raspberries tastes better than honey bunches of oats anyways. And the sugar I'm eating is pretty much just for fun, like pie or ice cream. No reason to accidentally ingest 28g of sugar in a breakfast bar that doesn't even taste that good.

[–] dxc@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 month ago

Never got why coffee needs sugar. Its supposed to be bitter. If its too bitter then you may add milk. But sugar? That doesn't belong in coffee.

[–] Redditsux@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago (2 children)

You can use Stevia. It's a natural product, zero calories. There is a more expensive option in monk fruit as well. I live on Stevia. It's easily available in groceries and stores, and reasonably priced too.

[–] scytale@piefed.zip 3 points 1 month ago (2 children)

I do use Stevia. The thing is, all the stevia products I see at the grocery store are laced with erythritol. Does the product you consume exclusively use stevia only?

[–] Redditsux@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago (2 children)

I buy stand alone stevia product, and never buy drinks or baked goods in the store. I make them myself at home. I have not been able to find stevia-made drinks or foods like ice cream here so I just don't consume them. It's summer, and I'd love to have some ice cream once in a while but I don't.

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[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 1 points 1 month ago

not all of them, sweetleaf doesnt have any of the substitute. there are others.

[–] GreenKnight23@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

stevia is not a natural product. there is indeed a plant named stevia and it can be used as a sweetener. Stevia that you buy at the store is chemically produced and is derived through a complex process that uses petroleum based chemistry to extract the chemicals from the plant.

raw sugar has far less environmental impact than buying stevia. if you truly want a sugar alternative grow your own sugar beets. it's literally raw sugar(sucrose).

[–] Revan343@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 month ago

if you truly want a sugar alternative grow your own sugar beets. it's literally raw sugar(sucrose).

So it's literally not a sugar alternative

[–] eleitl@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 month ago

Best used as ETN then.

[–] random_character_a@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Whatever. They all taste like carcinogenic plastic side product. Enjoy your swill.

[–] hotdogcharmer@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

You seem personally upset about other people drinking low-sugar drinks 😂

Well, actually I'm upset that it's harder to find good selection of regular sugar drinks. Even regular Cola and Pepsi has replaced half of it's sugar with sweeteners and you can taste it. You have to go to a bigger market so you can find some Mexican cane sugar cola, but that has never had the same taste. Not bad, but not the same.

[–] 2910000@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

As long as they don't find a problem with maltitol. I just discovered "low-sugar" ice creams made using the stuff and they're amazing

It's not zero sugar like erythritol, and it's not as sweet, but I like it

[–] Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 1 month ago

to all of you who worry about this stuff: do you drive? do you walk or live next to roads? do you make sure there's a low concentration of CO2 in any room you're in?

If not, those things are way more worrisome than any sweetener unless you chug 50 liters of soda per day.

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