Erythritol: An In-Depth Discussion of Its Potential to Be a Beneficial Dietary Component

Abstract

The sugar alcohol erythritol is a relatively new food ingredient. It is naturally occurring in plants, however, produced commercially by fermentation. It is also produced endogenously via the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP). Consumers perceive erythritol as less healthy than sweeteners extracted from plants, including sucrose. This review evaluates that perspective by summarizing current literature regarding erythritol’s safety, production, metabolism, and health effects. Dietary erythritol is 30% less sweet than sucrose, but contains negligible energy. Because it is almost fully absorbed and excreted in urine, it is better tolerated than other sugar alcohols. Evidence shows erythritol has potential as a beneficial replacement for sugar in healthy and diabetic subjects as it exerts no effects on glucose or insulin and induces gut hormone secretions that modulate satiety to promote weight loss. Long-term rodent studies show erythritol consumption lowers body weight or adiposity. However, observational studies indicate positive association between plasma erythritol and obesity and cardiometabolic disease. It is unlikely that dietary erythritol is mediating these associations, rather they reflect dysregulated PPP due to impaired glycemia or glucose-rich diet. However, long-term clinical trials investigating the effects of chronic erythritol consumption on body weight and risk for metabolic diseases are needed. Current evidence suggests these studies will document beneficial effects of dietary erythritol compared to caloric sugars and allay consumer misperceptions.

Empfehlungen zur Ernährungsprävention des Typ-2-Diabetes mellitus

“…tas, eine vorteilhafte Wirkung im Hinblick auf die Gewichtskontrolle und kardiometabolischen Risikofaktoren und damit auf die Prävention des T2Dm zu haben scheint [87][88][89]. Einerseits scheinen Süßungsmittel keine Auswirkungen auf den Glukose-oder Insulinspiegel zu haben [90][91][92]. Andererseits zeigen weitere vorliegende Daten, dass nicht-nutritive Süßungsmittel über verschiedene indirekte Mechanismen unerwünschte Auswirkungen auf Körpergewicht, Glykämie, Adipogenese und das Darmmikrobiota haben können [93].…”

“…Systematische Übersichtsarbeiten und Meta-Analysen zeigen, dass durch die Verwendung von Süßungsmitteln mit niedrigem Energiegehalt, zuckergesüßte Produkte ersetzt werden können, was, vor allem bei Personen mit Übergewicht/Adipositas, eine vorteilhafte Wirkung im Hinblick auf die Gewichtskontrolle und kardiometabolischen Risikofaktoren und damit auf die Prävention des T2Dm zu haben scheint 87 88 89 . Einerseits scheinen Süßungsmittel keine Auswirkungen auf den Glukose- oder Insulinspiegel zu haben 90 91 92 . Andererseits zeigen weitere vorliegende Daten, dass nicht-nutritive Süßungsmittel über verschiedene indirekte Mechanismen unerwünschte Auswirkungen auf Körpergewicht, Glykämie, Adipogenese und das Darmmikrobiota haben können 93 .…”

Nutritional Recommendations for the Prevention of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

“…DDG Clinical Practice Guideline DDG Clinical Practice Guideline Systematic reviews and meta-analyses show that the use of low-energy artificial sweeteners can replace sugar-sweetened products, which appears to have a beneficial effect on weight control and cardiometabolic risk factors and thus on the prevention of T2DM, especially in overweight/obese individuals [87][88][89]. On the one hand, artificial sweeteners do not appear to have any effect on glucose or insulin levels [90][91][92]. On the other hand, further available data show that artificial sweeteners can have undesirable effects on body weight, glycaemia, adipogenesis and the gut microbiota via various indirect mechanisms [93].…”

Synthesis of Trehalose by the Erythritol-Producing Yeast Yarrowia lipolytica Co-Displaying Maltooligosyltrehalose Synthase and Maltooligosyltrehalose Trehalohydrolase

“…lipolytica . Erythritol is a four-carbon sugar alcohol sweetener used as a functional sugar substitute in specialty foods for people with diabetes and obesity . Erythritol is produced by microbial methods using mostly osmophilic yeasts .…”

“…12 Erythritol is a four-carbon sugar alcohol sweetener used as a functional sugar substitute in specialty foods for people with diabetes and obesity. 13 Erythritol is produced by microbial methods using mostly osmophilic yeasts. 14 Among them, Y. lipolytica is a nontraditional yeast widely used in producing food ingredients such as organic acids 15 and erythritol.…”