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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[–] xep@fedia.io 7 points 1 week ago (3 children)

Personal gripe but I've never agreed with the term artificial sweetener, they are genuinely sweet, is it because they aren't sucrose/fructose/glucose?

Either way I remember reading about Erythritol from a study on nature.com a while ago. It's one of the unfortunate low-caloric sweeteners that are still linked to obesity and all the problems related to that condition. Best avoided to be on the safe side.

[–] I_Fart_Glitter@lemmy.world 14 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Non-nutritive sweetener is the more correct name for it, since some are somewhat natural, like stevia.

Sorbitol (the one that’s famous for releasing hellspawn from your anus when you eat to many sugar free gummy bears) is actually naturally occurring in small quantities in most fruits and larger quantities in prunes (why they make you poop).

[–] xep@fedia.io 8 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Thank you for that colourfully described nugget of information. Username checks out...

[–] I_Fart_Glitter@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago

☺️💨✨✨

[–] stankmut@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago

They aren't artificially sweet, they are a sweetener that is artificial (man-made). As opposed to natural sweeteners that you can just grab from nature.

[–] PlantJam@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago

My personal experience is that eating sweets makes me crave more sweets, artificial sweetener or not.