Erythritol side effects?

[Sarahcat58]

Good afternoon, I am a gluten and dairy sensitive person, but I also have had symptoms that are more similar to IBD as well. I recently started drinking this new coconut water from a company called Bai. They advertise gluten free, dairy free, vegan, and they use a sweetener that explains why one bottle only has ten calories, and has little to no effect on blood sugar. I’ve read it contains something called Erythritol. Recently I’ve been having bad symptoms, constipation and mucus. Normally things I would have if I eat dairy, but the Bai water is the only new product I’ve been trying so I am going to assume my side effects are from the Erythritol. Does anyone have any similar experiences with Erythritol? Could this be what’s causing my symptoms?

[Ennis-TX]

It is a sugar alcohol that does not affect blood sugar or insulin. I use it in my bakery in all sweetened items. It is the least troublesome of the sugar alcohols as many people get gas, bloating, and diarrhea with sorbitol, maltitol, xylitol. In excessive amounts, this can even happen with erythritol. But everyone is different and you could just be sensitive to it, the constipation is odd though since it normally acts as a laxative in large amounts. Try removing it for a week then try it again for a few days to figure it out. You might try buying a small amount of just erythritol to eliminate it as a suspect. It is sold in grocery stores as Pyure, and Truvia primarily. 

[icelandgirl]

Hi Sarah!

I react to any sugar alcohol I've tried, for me it's mostly gas, bloating and D.  I avoid anything with sugar alcohol in it now.  I drink Vita Coco coconut water and love it!  You could try not drinking it for a bit and then reintroducing it if you want to know for sure.

Hope you feel better!

[GFinDC]

You could also be reacting to the coconut.  You could get a plain coconut and crack it open and eat it.  That would tell you if you have a coconut intolerance or reaction.

[VanessaKing]

On 6/1/2019 at 11:07 AM, Sarahcat58 said:

Good afternoon, I am a gluten and dairy sensitive person, but I also have had symptoms that are more similar to IBD as well. I recently started drinking this new coconut water from a company called Bai. They advertise gluten free, dairy free, vegan, and they use a sweetener that explains why one bottle only has ten calories, and has little to no effect on blood sugar. I’ve read it contains something called Erythritol. Recently I’ve been having bad symptoms, constipation and mucus. Normally things I would have if I eat dairy, but the Bai water is the only new product I’ve been trying so I am going to assume my side effects are from the Erythritol. Does anyone have any similar experiences with Erythritol? Could this be what’s causing my symptoms?

It's quite possible you are reacting to a wheat-based form of erythritol. I recently read an article about how it was created, and many forms of it are either corn or wheat-based.

[trents]

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/erythritol#TOC_TITLE_HDR_3

We are finding that some celiacs/gluten sensitive people react to products made from gluten that has supposedly been broken down into smaller peptides and technically are "gluten free." That said and as others have pointed out, sugar alcohols give a lot of people digestive distress who do not suffer from gluten related disorders. They are used in many or most energy bars/protein bars and other processed health food products. They are give the term "pre biotics" because they can create a healthy gut environment for beneficial microbes. But apparently, the opposite is true for many people. It also might be one of those those things that can be good for you but you first have to build up a tolerance for them via starting small and working up.

I would check with the company who makes this coconut milk product and ask them if the erythritol they use is made from corn or wheat. But realize it could be either or both depending on the batch and the prices of the source grains at any given time.

Edited May 29, 2021 by trents