this post was submitted on 19 Jul 2025
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From low-carb ice cream and keto protein bars to "sugar-free" soda, the artificial sweetener erythritol has become a staple for anyone trying to cut calories or carbs.

However, new research suggests the popular sugar substitute may come with serious downsides—including changes in brain blood vessels that could increase the risk of stroke.

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[–] toofpic@lemmy.world 34 points 4 days ago (2 children)

It's a fucking clickbait to not include the name of the sweetener

[–] Cheradenine@sh.itjust.works 14 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Newsweek isn't great. It's a sugar alcohol, Erythritol

[–] toofpic@lemmy.world 4 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Damn, I used it in my cider. Gotta read up on this

[–] Cheradenine@sh.itjust.works 5 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (2 children)

Read the study abstract in one of the other comments here, it's based on a single serving of soda. Seems kinda bad, which is interesting because the sugar alcohols are generally benign. They're non nutritive but most don't cause any problems except stomach upset in some people. I find they have an off taste, many people do not though.

Edit: can brewing yeasts feed on it? Or are you using it to adjust sweetness level? My brewing experience is limited, I have only used wild yeasts and a few of the Safale strains

[–] onslaught545@lemmy.zip 9 points 4 days ago (1 children)

It's not actually a conclusive study. It was cells in a petri dish.

[–] Cheradenine@sh.itjust.works 3 points 4 days ago

Yes, it was in vitro. Still interesting, and I would imagine will lead to further study.

As I said in the other comment the sugar alcohols are generally benign, I had not read anything to the contrary before.

[–] toofpic@lemmy.world 2 points 4 days ago

I know for cider making, that the yeast are not eating it.

[–] ikidd@lemmy.world 2 points 4 days ago (1 children)

You're using it as a non-fermentable sweetener, like lactose? I never thought of that. How are you finding it for dissolving in cider, I've found erithrytol to be really hard to dissolve and it precipitates back out.

[–] toofpic@lemmy.world 1 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I`m kind of a noob, and I just did a couple small batches, then divided to have sweetened and unsweetened versions (I like semi-dry - semi-sweet, but I keep some dry stuff to know how it tastes naturally), and everything seemed fine. What is your choice then?

[–] ikidd@lemmy.world 2 points 4 days ago

I'm just used to seeing lactose as the only backsweetener, but I imagine erythritol should work. Might have to give it a try. I was just making sure you didn't make any bottle bombs because it unexpectedly fermented or something.

[–] MrQuallzin@lemmy.world 14 points 4 days ago (1 children)
[–] skisnow@lemmy.ca 2 points 4 days ago (1 children)

That section didn't appear for me, I think you might be using some client that fetches the summary from the target site?

[–] protist@mander.xyz 7 points 4 days ago

Didn't appear for me on Connect either