FAQ Category: Getting To Know Erythritol

Most sugar alcohols produce unwanted gassy or bloating effects. However when it comes to erythritol, you have to be eating of a lot of it to experience these effects. More than 30 grams a day. You can stick to the recommended amount of roughly 10 to 15 grams per day as suggested by the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Erythritol has only 0.24 calories per gram. The lowest among all sugar alcohols. The carbohydrates in erythritol will NOT impact your overall carb intake. This is because erythritol does not get metabolized in the body. It is excreted unchanged in the urine. Its net carb count is zero.

Erythritol gets absorbed in the small intestine and most of it comes right out in your urine. Erythritol is non-fermentable by human microbiota (bacteria, archaea, protists, fungi and viruses). This is why it does not cause the same gassy, cramping or bloating effects that other sugar alcohols do.

Erythritol is around 60-80% as sweet as sugar.

Although the name ‘sugar alcohol’ can be a bit misleading, it is NOT a sugar nor alcohol! Sugar alcohols don’t contain ethanol, so no they will not get you drunk. They also don’t spike your blood sugar like regular sugar. The molecules are like hybrids of a carbohydrate and an alcohol. The molecules are structured in the way that stimulates the sweet taste receptors on our tongues.

Erythritol is produced from glucose or sugar. The first step is mixing glucose or sugar with yeast. This yeast ferments glucose to form erythritol. The fermented mixture is then heated and then dried by boiling off water. The erythritol crystals are then formed. These crystals are washed and purified to remove impurities, to make it safe for human consumption. 

Erythritol is a type of sugar alcohol. It is naturally occurring in fruits and fermented foods. It also exists in small quantities in the human body as a natural byproduct of the fermentation of bacteria in our digestive system. Erythritol occurs naturally in wine, beer, mushrooms, pears, grapes, and soy sauce – to name a few.