Absorption and Metabolism of the Natural Sweeteners Erythritol and Xylitol in Humans: A Dose-Ranging Study

Abstract

The natural sweeteners erythritol and xylitol might be helpful to reduce sugar consumption and therefore prevent obesity and diabetes. The aim of the present study was to determine the absorption and metabolization into erythronate of different concentrations of erythritol and xylitol. Seventeen healthy lean participants received intragastric solutions of 10, 25, or 50 g erythritol or 7, 17, or 35 g xylitol on three study days in a randomized order. The study was double blinded with respect to the doses administered. We assessed plasma concentrations of erythritol, xylitol, and erythronate at fixed time intervals after administration with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. We found: (i) a dose-dependent and saturable absorption of erythritol, (ii) a very low absorption of xylitol, (iii) a dose-dependent metabolization of erythritol into erythronate, and (iv) no metabolization of xylitol into erythronate. The implications of the metabolization of erythritol into erythronate for human health remain to be determined and more research in this area is needed.

Re‐evaluation of erythritol (E 968) as a food additive

“…The in vitro study by Maeng et al, 2019, examining the metabolism of erythritol in human and rat hepatocytes, reported that erythritol is stable and not metabolised. This is in contrast with the evidence emerging from the recent in vivo study by Bordier et al, 2022, from which metabolic transformation to erythronate, although limited, is shown. The Panel noted that the in vitro study used a much lower concentration of erythritol (41 uM) than that of the in vivo study.…”

“…The peak concentration in plasma was 240 μmol/L (29.3 mg/L) and the cumulative urinary excretion was 3.4 mmol, which corresponds to 41.5% of the dose ingested. Bordier et al (2022) performed a pharmacokinetic cross over study in 12 healthy volunteers receiving a bolus dose of 10, 25 or 50 g of erythritol dissolved in 300 mL tap water. Following ingestion, blood was taken and erythritol and erythronate were measured.…”

“…For studies retrieved in the literature, only those evaluated as having low to moderate risk of bias (tier 1 or tier 2) were considered further in the assessment (n = 7) (Kim et al, 2011;Meyer-Gerspach et al, 2021;Teysseire et al, 2022Teysseire et al, , 2023Wölnerhanssen et al, , 2021.…”

“…Reference (authors, year, title, other info) Teysseire, F., Bordier, V., Budzinska, A., Weltens, N., Rehfeld, J. F., Holst, J. J., Hartmann, B., Beglinger, C., Van Oudenhove, L., Wölnerhanssen, B. K. and Meyer-Gerspach, A. C. (2022).…”

Solubility and Stability of Carvedilol in Deep Eutectic Solvents: A Step Towards a Sustainable Pharmaceutical Formulation in the Liquid State

“…Some studies have revealed that xylitol is absorbed in the range of 49–95 % in the small intestine via passive diffusion and a slow absorption rate; however, xylitol was not found in plasma samples after two hours of ingestion. Xylitol can be excreted via the kidneys and fermented by beneficial bacteria [74] . On the other hand, citric acid can be absorbed in the gut or destroyed by bacteria and enzymes [75] .…”