Dr. Laybe Norton is more concerned about unhealthy eating habits than energy drinks. <\/p>\n
\n Last updated on August 9, 2025<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n A sugar alcohol commonly used as an artificial sweetener erythritol is found in candies, candies, cakes, and many other products. (1) With 60-80% of the sweetness of sucrose and almost no calories, it is a popular choice for low-calorie and sugar-free foods. Toothpaste, mouthwash, sugar-free energy drinks, and protein bars often contain erythritol to deliver its sweet taste without added calories.<\/p>\n A In June 2025 the course on Journal of Applied Physiology<\/em> raised concerns associated with the use of erythritol<\/strong>suggesting potential adverse effects on brain cells and microvascular health<\/strong>. (2) Previous studies have linked elevated blood erythritol levels to an increased risk of stroke and cardiovascular events. (3)<\/p>\n Want to connect with other fitness enthusiasts like you? Go to the BarBend Community Forum to ask questions, share advice, and talk about all things training.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n A close analysis of these studies revealed that the body produces erythritol naturally through the pentose phosphate pathway. (4) People with metabolic defects, often called syndrome X – a condition marked by several risk factors for heart disease – tend to overproduce erythritol due to overactivity in these pathways. <\/p>\n This suggests that the association between erythritol and stroke or cardiovascular events is not necessarily causal<\/strong>. High levels of erythritol appear to be the result of metabolic dysfunction in those who are already at risk for these conditions.<\/p>\n A June 2025 study tested whether erythritol has the ability to induce oxidative stress and cause different changes in brain cells. <\/p>\n These are human brain cells in a petri dish. This is an in vitro study.<\/p>\n \u2014Dr. Layne Norton<\/em><\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n The number of in vitro studies that result in whole body human data is small and may be smaller than that of animal studies. Scientists conducted an in vitro experiment by placing brain cells in a petri dish and exposing them to 6\u00b5mol\/L of erythritol – a concentration equivalent to 30 grams of erythritol, compared to what would circulate in the blood after drinking an energy drink. <\/p>\n After 24 hours of exposure, researchers observed an increase in oxidative stress and symptoms associated with stroke risk. They say this represents the lifetime dose of erythritol. However, there are several problems with the research method. <\/p>\n First, the levels of erythritol used were nearly double those typically seen when people consume 25 grams of erythritol. In addition, erythritol is mostly removed from the blood within three hours, however the brain cells in the study were exposed for a longer period of 24 hours. Finally, only about 15% of erythritol crosses the blood-brain barrier. (5) <\/p>\n Most drinks contain less than 30 grams of erythritol. “One of the highest I found was 15 grams,” confirmed Dr. Norton. When considering these values, a dose of 25 grams of erythritol can increase the levels to a peak of just over 3mm. However, eating 50 grams may increase the levels, up to 5mm. <\/p>\n This effect is temporary, lasting less than 24 hours, and only 15% crosses the blood-brain barrier. “What we really have is a dose of erythritol of about 2.25 grams to reach the brain,” explains Dr. Norton. Using about 60 grams of erythritol results in a maximum concentration of six milliliters. <\/p>\n That’s 27 times the volume these cells will be exposed to.<\/p>\n \u2014Dr. Layne Norton<\/em><\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n According to Dr. Norton, the scientists who said this was the living dose of erythritol are wrong. “There’s a big difference between being exposed in a petri dish for 24 hours the entire time, compared to a few hours at a very low dose.” Dr. Norton said. <\/p>\n Dr. Norton suggested not to let this study cause alarm, although the possibility that erythritol could have side effects remains. Since the evidence is primarily based on in vitro and animal studies, supplemented by correlational data from humans, the conclusions are not compelling enough to warrant significant changes regarding the use of erythritol.<\/p>\n “I’m not worried about it. If you want to get a few grams of erythritol in an energy drink,” Norton concluded. “I’m very concerned that the average person is consuming over 3,500 calories a day while exercising for less than 20 minutes.”<\/p>\n Featured image via Shutterstock\/PHLD Luca<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Dr. Laybe Norton is more concerned about unhealthy eating habits than energy drinks. Last updated on August 9, 2025 A sugar alcohol commonly used as an artificial sweetener erythritol is found in candies, candies, cakes, and many other products. (1) With 60-80% of the sweetness of sucrose and almost no calories, it is a popular […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2635,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2634","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nutrition-healthy-eating"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wiki-living.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2634","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wiki-living.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wiki-living.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wiki-living.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wiki-living.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2634"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.wiki-living.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2634\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2636,"href":"https:\/\/www.wiki-living.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2634\/revisions\/2636"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wiki-living.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2635"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wiki-living.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2634"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wiki-living.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2634"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wiki-living.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2634"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/182da0d53f829bd43663d51420f4e67b068cdb7f1cbf16d2bcb7337118d8e958?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\")
JOIN THE BARBEND COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION<\/strong><\/h6>\n
Studies on Erythritol<\/h2>\n
2025 Study<\/h2>\n
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The conclusion<\/h2>\n
More on Research<\/h2>\n
References<\/h2>\n
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