erythritol safety?
We all know xylitol is bad for animals (specifically dogs. probably others):
http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=17558.msg133585#msg133585
Off hand, does anyone know whether erythritol is dangerous for animals?
It's another no-calorie sweetner that has no effect on glycemic index.
"In the body, erythritol is absorbed into the bloodstream in the small intestine, and then for the most part excreted unchanged in the urine. Because erythritol is normally absorbed before it enters the large intestine, it does not normally cause laxative effects as are often experienced after over-consumption of other sugar alcohols and most people will consume erythritol with no side effects. This is unique, as other sugar alcohols are not absorbed directly by the body in this manner. " (thefreelibrary.com)
However, although the chemical makeup is different from xylitol - xylitol is C5 H12 O5 and erythritol is C4 H10 O4 - BOTH xylitol and erythritol fall into the category of "sugar alcolhols". Because of that, even though liver toxicity in dogs is occurs because they don’t have the liver enzymes necessary to deal with xylitol ( http://www.dolittler.com/index.cfm/2006/10/27/pet.vet.dog.cat.vs101.10.27.06 ), I wonder whether they might share some of the same properties in terms of safety.
thanks!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ferret Research: http://ferretknots.blogspot.com/
Ferret Resources: http://nippynihon.blogspot.com/
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"It isn't better to feel joy than to feel grief. It is certainly more fun to feel joy--but it isn't better. If something good is happening, it is appropriate to be joyful. If you have experienced loss, it is equally appropriate to be sad."
-LIFE AFTER LOSS, Bob Deits
FULL aritcle here:
http://nippynihon.blogspot.com/2007/08/sugar-substitute-safety.html
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ferret Research: http://ferretknots.blogspot.com/
Ferret Resources: http://nippynihon.blogspot.com/
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"It isn't better to feel joy than to feel grief. It is certainly more fun to feel joy--but it isn't better. If something good is happening, it is appropriate to be joyful. If you have experienced loss, it is equally appropriate to be sad."
-LIFE AFTER LOSS, Bob Deits
I would imagine it could cause the same type of blood sugar drop that xylitol does.
Not necessarily. Without going into detail, to call something a "sugar alcohol" is a generic classification defining a set of several different substances that have one or 2 other qualities in common.
In erythritol's case not only it's chemical makeup, but the way it acts on the body (absorbed into the bloodstream in the small intestine) is different from all the other ' sugar alcohols '. It's the different action that means it may be possible that it will not cause the same problems in animals that xylitol does.
I wouldn't want to use it without having the safety issues addressed first tho.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ferret Research: http://ferretknots.blogspot.com/
Ferret Resources: http://nippynihon.blogspot.com/
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"It isn't better to feel joy than to feel grief. It is certainly more fun to feel joy--but it isn't better. If something good is happening, it is appropriate to be joyful. If you have experienced loss, it is equally appropriate to be sad."
-LIFE AFTER LOSS, Bob Deits
Hmm...Interesting. I wonder if there is a way to find out without animal testing?
Is this in a med you're using? I presume your furries aren't craving sugar.
TCM medicine is notoriously yucky. I take it no problem because I know its good for me and will help. We are thinking of getting a TCM formula for Shinsei too provided we can even find a vet trained in alternative veterniary medicine within a 100 mile radius.
Of course if we are lucky enough to get some, he's NOT going to make it easy so we are looking for a safe sweetener that doesn't effect gylcemic levels that can make it a little more palatable. :-\
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ferret Research: http://ferretknots.blogspot.com/
Ferret Resources: http://nippynihon.blogspot.com/
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"It isn't better to feel joy than to feel grief. It is certainly more fun to feel joy--but it isn't better. If something good is happening, it is appropriate to be joyful. If you have experienced loss, it is equally appropriate to be sad."
-LIFE AFTER LOSS, Bob Deits
Thanks for all your ideas, mdvegan. :)
Someone was kind enough to post this info on my blog:
http://tinyurl.com/2uynou
"Chronic (1-year) oral toxicity study of erythritol in dogs." from PubMed
Highlights from the abstract:
-> There were no clinically relevant changes in hematological or clinicochemical parameters attributable to treatment.
-> ...however, the available data did not indicate treatment-related effects on the urinary excretion of electrolytes (K+, Na+, Mg2+, and Pi) or enzymes (gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase, N-acetyl glucosaminidase, and lactate dehydrogenase
-> Quantitation of erythritol in the urine demonstrated that 50 to 80% of the ingested dose was absorbed and excreted in the urine.
-> It was concluded that daily erythritol consumption of up to 3.5 g/kg body wt was well tolerated by dogs.
So I finally decided to ignore the stacks of books and research papers on my desk to dig up some more:
"Four-week oral toxicity study with erythritol in rats."
http://tinyurl.com/3xf73z
Highlights from the abstract:
->Soft stools and diarrhea were observed in male and female animals of the 10% group and in female animals of the 5% group. These symptoms disappeared during the course of the study.
->Small statistically significant changes in certain hematological, clinical chemistry, and urine parameters were noted in the high-dose group but were judged not to be biologically important.
->Based on these results, it was concluded that the feeding of erythritol at a dietary level of 10% did not result in toxicologically significant effects.
"Subchronic oral toxicity studies with erythritol in mice and rats."
http://tinyurl.com/2k6hu3
Highlights from the abstract:
->There were no treatment-related mortalities in either mice or rats.
->Hematological and clinicochemical examinations of blood and plasma did not reveal any treatment-related effects.
->Urine output increased with increasing erythritol dose.
->Increased relative and absolute kidney weights were observed in both sexes of mice in the 20% erythritol group, in male mice of the 5 and 10% groups, and in rats of the 10 and 20% erythritol groups.
->In rats, the creatinine-normalized urinary excretion of GGT, NAG, and some electrolytes (Na+, K+, and Ca2+) was increased in some erythritol groups but a clear dose-response relationship was evident only for calcium.
->In particular, the morphological integrity of the kidneys was not adversely affected by the treatment in either species. The increases in urinary excretion of protein, GGT, NAG, and electrolytes were considered to result from extensive osmotic diuresis and a potential overload of the renal excretory system at the high dose levels employed.
"Erythritol: an interpretive summary of biochemical, metabolic, toxicological and clinical data."
http://tinyurl.com/3a65pt
Highlights from the abstract:
->The majority of the safety studies conducted were feeding studies in which erythritol was mixed into the diet at concentrations as high as 20%
->The metabolic studies in animals have shown that erythritol is almost completely absorbed, not metabolized systemically and is excreted unchanged in the urine.
->The safety studies have demonstrated that erythritol is well tolerated and elicits no toxicological effects.
->Erythritol administered orally to humans was rapidly absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract and quantitatively excreted in the urine without undergoing metabolic change.
"Chronic toxicity and carcinogenicity study of erythritol in rats."
http://tinyurl.com/366sr8
Highlights from the abstract:
->All treatments were well tolerated without diarrhea or other side effects.
->Hematological and clinicochemical examinations did not reveal noticeable changes which could be attributed to treatment.
->urine samples collected during five 48-hr periods ... showed that about 60% of ingested erythritol was excreted unchanged. The urine volumes increased with increasing dietary erythritol levels.
->Except for more frequent pelvic nephrocalcinosis (precipitation of calcium phosphate in the renal tubules, with resultant renal insufficiency.)in female rats of all erythritol dose groups, the histopathological examinations did not reveal any nonneoplastic, preneoplastic, or neoplastic changes that could be attributed
->In the absence of morphological alterations in the kidneys or other signs of nephrotoxicity, the increased excretions of NAG, GGT, LMP, and TP are regarded as innocuous, functional sequelae of the renal elimination of erythritol.
->Except for nephrocalcinosis, which is commonly seen in polyol-fed rats, no other treatment-related, morphological changes were observed in the kidneys. Evidence for a tumor-inducing or tumor-promoting effect of erythritol was not seen.
"Embryotoxicity and teratogenicity study with erythritol in rats."
http://tinyurl.com/3akp7d
Highlights from the abstract:
->The treatment was generally well tolerated and no mortality occurred in any group.
->Examination of the fetuses for external, visceral, and skeletal alterations did not reveal any fetotoxic, embryotoxic, or teratogenic effects.
->In conclusion, no adverse effects were observed at erythritol doses of up to about 6.6 g/kg body wt/day, i.e., the highest dose tested.
"Teratology study of erythritol in rabbits."
http://tinyurl.com/2o6hef
Highlights from the abstract:
->Maternal effects (auricular edema, and bradypragia) were observed in the high-dose group.
->No deaths or significant abnormalities occurred in animals given 1.0 or 2.24 g/kg
->No effect was observed in the reproductive performance of the dams or in fetal development from ingestion at any of the treatment levels.
"Erythritol: a review of biological and toxicological studies."
http://tinyurl.com/39amfj
Highlights from the abstract:
->NONE AVAILABLE
One thing often mentioned in the studies is that there were noticable changes (enlargements, weight increases) to the 'cecum'. As ferrets do not have one, I didn't list it in the highlights.
If you read the abstracts with dosing details you'll notice that testing was done a rather high levels. I would think from these that it is _possible_ to safely use erythritol in healthy ferrets especially in the <1gm/kg range that I'm considering. However, there are certain drugs that cause increases or decreases in K or other electrolyte uptake. That's something to consider before using erythritol as a sweetener for medicine .
Although I still have some other journal sites to check, additional thoughts?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ferret Research: http://ferretknots.blogspot.com/
Ferret Resources: http://nippynihon.blogspot.com/
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"It isn't better to feel joy than to feel grief. It is certainly more fun to feel joy--but it isn't better. If something good is happening, it is appropriate to be joyful. If you have experienced loss, it is equally appropriate to be sad."
-LIFE AFTER LOSS, Bob Deits