{"id":57693,"date":"2025-04-28T14:42:07","date_gmt":"2025-04-28T14:42:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/57693\/"},"modified":"2025-04-28T14:42:07","modified_gmt":"2025-04-28T14:42:07","slug":"sugar-substitute-may-harm-brain-blood-vessel-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/57693\/","title":{"rendered":"Sugar Substitute May Harm Brain, Blood Vessel Health"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Summary: <\/strong>New research suggests that erythritol, a popular low-calorie sweetener, may impair blood vessel health by disrupting the brain\u2019s production of nitric oxide. Cells exposed to typical erythritol levels showed increased oxidative stress and reduced nitric oxide, potentially impairing blood flow.<\/p>\n<p>This mechanism could help explain previous links between erythritol consumption and higher risks of heart attack and stroke. While marketed as a healthier sugar alternative, experts caution that more research is needed to fully understand erythritol\u2019s long-term vascular effects.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Key Facts:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Oxidative Stress Trigger:<\/strong> Erythritol exposure increases oxidative stress in brain blood vessel cells.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Reduced Nitric Oxide:<\/strong> The sweetener lowers nitric oxide production, impairing blood vessel dilation and blood flow.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Health Concerns:<\/strong> Findings support earlier studies linking erythritol to increased risk of cardiac events.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong>American Physiology Summit<\/p>\n<p><strong>Erythritol, a commonly used sugar substitute often marketed as \u201chealthy,\u201d may impair blood vessel health by disrupting the brain\u2019s ability to produce a critical compound, according to new research. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Scientists will present their findings at the 2025\u00a0American Physiology Summit\u00a0in Baltimore. The Summit is the flagship annual meeting of the American Physiological Society (APS).<\/p>\n<p>  <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"801\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/sugar-substitute-brain-neuroscience.jpg\" alt=\"This shows a brain.\"  \/> In a new study, researchers treated human cerebral microvascular endothelial cells\u2014cells from the tiny blood vessels in the brain\u2014with erythritol. Credit: Neuroscience News<\/p>\n<p>Erythritol is a low-calorie sugar substitute found in many sugar-free products, including energy drinks, snack foods and protein bars. Like other sugar alcohols, erythritol is popular because it does not affect blood glucose and insulin levels as much as sugar.<\/p>\n<p>However, previous research links consumption of erythritol to a higher risk of adverse cardiac events, including stroke.<\/p>\n<p>In a new study, researchers treated human cerebral microvascular endothelial cells\u2014cells from the tiny blood vessels in the brain\u2014with erythritol. They found that the cells exposed to the amount of sweetener in one beverage serving had higher levels of oxidative (cellular) stress.<\/p>\n<p>In addition, the cells produced less nitric oxide, a compound that helps blood vessels dilate. Reduced nitric oxide levels can impair vasodilation, impair blood flow, and may increase the risk of heart attack and stroke.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile erythritol is widely used in sugar-free products marketed as healthier alternatives, more research is needed to fully understand its impact on vascular health,\u201d said Auburn Berry, a graduate student at the University of Colorado Boulder and first author of the study.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn general, people should be conscious of the amount of erythritol they are consuming on a daily basis.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>About this diet and brain health research news<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#ffffe8\"><strong>Author: <\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/neurosciencenews.com\/cdn-cgi\/l\/email-protection#a9ccdbc6ddc1e9d9c1d0dac0c6c5c6ced087c6dbce\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Erica Roth<\/a><br \/><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/physiology.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">American Physiology Summit<\/a><br \/><strong>Contact: <\/strong>Erica Roth \u2013 American Physiology Summit<br \/><strong>Image: <\/strong>The image is credited to Neuroscience News<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#ffffe8\"><strong>Original Research: <\/strong>The findings will be presented at the American Physiology Summit 2025<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Summary: New research suggests that erythritol, a popular low-calorie sweetener, may impair blood vessel health by disrupting the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":57694,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[30297,215,12350,1033,30298,105,219,30299,30300,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-57693","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-american-physiology-summit","9":"tag-brain-research","10":"tag-cardiovascular-health","11":"tag-cognition","12":"tag-erythritol","13":"tag-health","14":"tag-neurobiology","15":"tag-neurosciencce","16":"tag-nitric-oxide","17":"tag-uk","18":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114416120201496372","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57693","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57693"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57693\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}