Erythritol - Biomarker for Obesity

Erythritol is a sugar alcohol naturally found in some fruits like grapes, peaches, pears, and watermelons (Zelman, 2019). Because the human body cannot metabolize erythritol, it is often used as a low-calorie sugar substitute (artificial sweetener) in many popular reduced-calorie/sugar-free foods and beverages (Zelman, 2019). Erythritol consumption seems to be safe as it is approved by both WHO and FDA. In other words, we consumers are able to reap the benefit of erythritol’s sweet taste without worrying too much about its effects on our systemic health. Cool right?

Well two years ago, Hootman and colleagues demonstrated erythritol to be an endogenous byproduct of glucose metabolism in the pentose-phosphate pathway (2017). Up until this point, scientists were not aware that this sugar alcohol was produced endogenously in the human body. Furthermore, the study also concluded that elevated levels of plasma erythritol to be a predictable biomarker for central adiposity (accumulation of fat in the abdominal area, visceral fat) gain and development of type 2 diabetes (Hootman et al., 2017). As we have learned in class, obesity has become an uncontrollable problem in the U.S. and is associated with a plethora of diseases including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and metabolic disorders.

In a more recent study conducted at Cornell University, Schlicker et al. identified the unknown metabolic activities of two human enzymes and further characterized a new human metabolic pathway concerning erythritol (2019). Alcohol dehydrogenases 1 (ADH1) and sorbitol dehydrogenase (SORD) were found to catalyze the biosynthesis of erythritol in the human body (Schlicker et al., 2019). For something that was approved to be safe for consumption in 2001 (Zelman, 2019), there seems to be a lot that we don’t know about it.

This raises the question: is it really safe to consume erythritol? While there are no current research that supports the dangers of consuming erythritol, do you think further research investigating the effects of erythritol-containing foods should be conducted?   

References:

Hootman, K. C., Trezzi, J. P., Kraemer, L., Burwell, L. S., Dong, X., Guertin, K. A., … Cassano, P. A. (2017). Erythritol is a pentose-phosphate pathway metabolite and associated with adiposity gain in young adults. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 114(21), E4233–E4240. doi:10.1073/pnas.1620079114

Schlicker, L., Szebenyi, D. M. E., Ortiz, S. R., Heinz, A., Hiller, K., & Field, M. S. (2019). Unexpected roles for ADH1 and SORD in catalyzing the final step of erythritol biosynthesis. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 294(44), 16095–16108. doi: 10.1074/jbc.ra119.009049

Zelman, K. M. (2019, June 17). Erythritol: Uses, Benefits, and Risks. Retrieved from https://www.webmd.com/diet/what-is-erythritol#1.