The Effect of Erythritol on Glucose Blood Levels
Jason Rabahieh, Fayaz Arghandehwal, and Hannah Deiter
Department of Biological Science
Saddleback College
Mission Viejo, CA 92692
Glucose is an essential fuel that the body utilizes to create energy to undergo various
activities. This energy comes from substances ingested into the body containing
carbohydrates, which are converted to glucose inside the intestines, accumulating energy
for the cells. This experiment measures the effects of dextrose, stevia leaf extract, and
erythritol on blood glucose levels. Erythritol is found in fruit and is formed as a sugar
alcohol, predicting that it will not affect glucose levels. The 10 experimenter’s blood levels
were recorded with test strips after fasting for 12 hours in the following increments; before
taking the sugar, 15 minutes, 30 minutes, and an hour after taking the sugar. The results
presented that the null hypothesis was accepted, demonstrating that there wasn’t
significant differences between erythritol, dextrose, and stevia leaf extract on glucose blood
levels.
Introduction
Carbohydrates provides the needed fuel for
the body to function. From the intestines, it is formed
into glucose and transferred in the blood to the cells to
be converted into energy. Measuring sugar blood levels
gives an indication of the amount of glucose residing in
the bloodstream. Having an excess amount of glucose
causes it to convert to glycogen, which is stored in the
liver or around the body as fat. Continuous amounts of
high blood levels can create heart problems and
diseases, such as diabetes. Careful monitoring of
carbohydrate intake is crucial to remaining healthy.
Sugars have become a major ingredient in most food
products available. Some sugars, such as dextrose,
contain high amounts of carbohydrates while others,
such as erythritol and stevia, have little or no
carbohydrates.
The proposed research project will gather the
knowledge of Erythritol, a naturally occurring
substance in fruits, and its effect on glucose levels. It
has been seen inside energy drinks and sold separately
to substitute raw sugar. Erythritol is a simple polyol
(1,2,3,4-butanetetrol), present in small quantities in
melons and peaches and currently produced in large
quantities for use as a low-calorie, tooth-friendly bulk
sweetener (Hartog, 2008). Research shows that the
blood sugar level rises rapidly after a meal and then
steadily declines (Murrell, 1971) and adding Erythritol
in the mix can play a larger role in those levels. Eating
isn’t the only cause to fluctuating the glucose levels as
side effects from consuming energy drinks are fairly
common, and a significant dose effect was found with
jolt and crash episode (Aeby et al. 2007). Consumption
of 20 and 35 g Erythritol by healthy volunteers, in a
liquid, is tolerated well, without any symptoms. At the
highest level of Erythritol intake (50 g), only a
significant increase in borborygmi (rumbling sound by
fluid and gas in intestines) and nausea was observed
(Bornet et al. 2007). Intake of Erythritol is different as
Erythritol is a substrate that seems to be readily
absorbed but undergoes no further metabolism by the
host (Ghoos et al. 1993). Erythritol also improves the
taste of food and drink without adversely affecting the
natural taste of vegetables and fruits and without
increasing their sweetness (Kohno, Uraji, and
Yoshimura, 1998). Further data and research could
affect the production and use of this product
Materials and Methods
Erythritol, dextrose, stevia leaf extract, and
100 glucose blood test strips were purchased on
Amazon.com. The glucose blood monitors were
borrowed from Sandy Rabahieh to be used in this
experiment. The sugars were weighed at 1.00g each for
10 participants to intake. Every participant will eat
each sugar, accounting for 3 grams to be measured for
erythritol, dextrose, and stevia leaf extract. Each
participant was asked to drive to a presenter’s house for
Results
Glucose blood levels alternate all throughout
the day. It is based on what an individual eats or drinks
and whether or not it contains carbohydrates. After
fasting, the levels are at the individual’s normal state.
Zeroing out the different blood levels at rest was
essential to get an accurate result for which sugars
resulted in less overall change (Figure 1). For the rest
of the experiment, the results will start at 0 and
continue to 15 minutes, 30 minutes, and an hour.
Following the resting glucose blood levels, the
sugars differentiated between each other 15 minutes
after being ingested (Figure 1). The mean blood
glucose levels of the 10 participants were averaged and
showed dextrose spiking exponentially at an average
change of 10.9 mg/dl while erythritol changed at 7.5
mg/dl and stevia leaf extract at 5.3 mg/dl (Table 1).
Another 15 minutes passed and the results
seem to be coming back down. Interestingly, stevia is
still rising as an average compared to erythritol and
dextrose (Figure 1). As time progressed, the data
showed that dextrose is slowly falling to 9.1 mg/dl,
erythritol 6.4 mg/dl, and stevia rose to 6.1 mg/dl
(Figure 1).
After an hour passed, the participants recorded
their final results for dextrose, erythritol, and stevia
leaf extract. Erythritol hasn’t dropped back to normal
resting blood levels, while dextrose dips substantially
and stevia leaf extract is effectively progressing down
in blood glucose levels (Figure 1). The time interval of
0-60 minutes for erythritol is 4.8 mg/dl demonstrating
that glucose is still present in the blood while stevia
leaf extract resides at 2.7 mg/dl and dextrose at 1.7
mg/dl (Table 1).
Time
0
0-15min
0-30min
0-60min
Dextros
e
0
10.9
9.1
1.7
Erythrito
l
0
7.5
6.4
4.8
Stevia Leaf
0
5.3
6.1
2.7
Table 1. Table displaying the specific time interval
values for the mean glucose blood levels with dextrose,
erythritol, and stevia leaf extract.
20.
Mean Change in Blood
Glucose Levels (mg/dl)
blood tests as a public area is deemed unsanitary. In
order to prevent data inaccuracy, fasting was required
to make sure everything is digested and glucose levels
are normal.
The following day, everyone met at a
presenter’s house at 8:00 a.m. to undergo the
experiment after fasting for 12 hours. Measurements
were taken before ingesting dextrose and taken after 15
minutes, 30 minutes, and an hour. The same procedure
occurred the following two days, analyzing the results
of erythritol and stevia leaf extract.
Results among the three sugars were
compared with analysis of variance (ANOVA) with a
post-hoc test. The differences were not considered
significant at P>0.05.
Dextrose
10.
Errythritol
Stevia
0.
0
0-15 0-30 0-60
Time (min)
Figure 1. Line graph displaying the mean change in
blood glucose levels (mg/dl) for dextrose, erythritol,
and stevia leaf extract.
Discussion