Erythritol and the silence

(Katie) #1

I see many places saying to avoid artificial sweeteners, then going on to list them. But, I have yet to see any “avoid” list that includes Erythritol

I know several diabetics who use this…it DOES NOT raise blood sugar and therefore does not provoke an insulin response.

I do understand that any eating will cause some level of insulin response…just the act of eating…but these products are just a nothing in the body.

Diabetics have known about this for years…why is the keto community and the “keto doctors” silent?

(bulkbiker) #2

“Sweet” is something that many of us try to avoid for multiple reasons… insulin response being only one.
Personally “sweet” starts off all sorts of unpleasant issues with hyperpalatability and addiction so I simply avoid it completely. That erythritol has no impact on my blood sugars is irrelevant if it kicks off another problem. I have seen quite a few keto advocates using erythritol others use allulose (although this isn’t available in the UK).

#3

I am type 2 diabetic and avoid all sweeteners. When I had erythretol with stevia, the room was spinning the next morning. It was truly horrible. Both days I spent the day in bed, not because I wanted to but because I HAD TO.
I tried it again one more time 2 days later, just to check if it was the ertythretol. It was. I gave the large container I had bought based on the assurances I had read actually on this site. I gave it to a type 2 diabetic friend who doesn’t have the same reactions I do. She appears to have a cast iron constitution and is diabetic just because she has an appaling diet. We are all different. I am extremely chemically sensitive.
I don’t have the same reaction to just stevia but now I avoid all sweeteneners because I can live without them… and this reaction was so severe it really frightened me.
The closest I come to anything sweet these days is fresh raspberries.
So, avoid these generalizations, they can be extremely harmful.

(Jane) #4

If you have a blood glucose meter you can test your own response to erythritol.

Wait until 2-3 hours after your last meal and test your blood sugar for a baseline. Drink a glass of water with a typical amount of erythritol you would have in say, coffee.

Test your blood sugar at 30 min, 1 hr and 2 hour intervals.

If your blood sugar drops (more than the meter accuracy) you have an insulin response to erythritol.

(less is more, more or less) #5

My n=1 is that sweeteners are not a problem.

I limit my intake, to no more than (and rarely) 5 packets a day. Others feel strongly otherwise. My unfair bias is that people have allowed the sugar industries’ FUD on sweeteners to cloud their judgement.

I prefer erythritol but it’s expensive and stevia or equal are fine with me.

#6

I read somewhere just a few days ago… was it Dr. Berry? I’m not sure. But the keto source said that the only artificial sweetener that he tested that did not raise insulin was liquid stevia. If I can find the source, I’ll come back and add it.

(Carl Keller) #7

I try to avoid mimicking behavior that got me into metabolic trouble in the past. Eating sugary-tasting things that aren’t actually sugary is playing with fire for me. Besides having a potential to cause an insulin response without causing a blood glucose increase, at least one study (of rats) showed that subjects that indulged in artificial sweeteners ate more food than those that didn’t. It may trick some of our hormones but it likely confuses many of the others.

(Katie) #8

So…I got a blood glucose meter and set about testing a bunch of different things.

I started after a 20 hour fast with glucose at 66. I swallowed just 1 tsp of Erythritol. (Must say, I didn’t like that much sweet taste in my mouth). I measured again at 30 minutes and then 1 hour. I got a reading of 64 and 66. No effect at all. I have read that some people have trouble with it because it isn’t absorbed by the intestines so it might cause cramps. I do not get that effect either.

I plan to email a question to Dr. Berg…maybe he will do a test with straight Erythritol and this new product Swerve.

I am happy with Erythritol in my morning coffee for now. I don’t use it for anything else.

#9

I did use it regularly for quite a while but it’s just too expensive and the ‘cooling’ sensation it gives to baked products etc is not bery appealing. And also these days I don’t rely as heavily on sweeteners as I used to. But I am a big advocate of it and have promoted it on this forum in the past when the talk of sweeteners came up.

(Hamz Edward) #10

Not so related, I guess, but erythritol may not be suitable for people with IBS, sensitive stomach, and those who suffer from digestive issues. It gave me the most horrible and longest diarrhea. :nauseated_face:

(Central Florida Bob ) #11

I’ve done the same testing you have, Katie, and gotten similar results. I’ve tested myself for the diet root beer I prefer (A&W), packets of Equal, Orbit sugarfree gum and every sweetener I know I’ll come across. No reactions. I don’t give a second thought to any of them.

I understand people’s reactions about avoiding the sweet taste for fear of triggering cravings, and that sweet tastes might trigger insulin. I’m lucky to not particularly get cravings. My approach is to usually have sweeteners as part of a meal. My reason is that a meal is going to affect insulin and blood sugar anyway, so any effect of the sweetener is diluted (or swamped out) by the meal’s response. In general, I have one diet soda per day with dinner. Yes, there are days when I have two, but there are also days when I don’t have one at all. Like you, I use the erythritol in my coffee, and tea (if I’m having any). That means most days I have one packet of Equal (aspartame) and three teaspoons of erythritol. I’m not sure what’s in a 12 oz can of diet A&W, but I have that one can, too.