As promised, I have looked into questions posed regarding nutrition and brain health. Below are some findings with links to current references.
ERYTHRITOL
The 2023 report of erythritol ingestion at any level being associated with major cardiovascular events, if confirmed by further studies, would lead one to avoid this sweetener. The subjects in one study drank 300 mL of water containing 30 gm of erythritol in one dose. At this dose and concentration, their blood showed enhanced platelet reactivity and thrombosis potential.
Witkowski M, Nemet I, Alamri H, et al. The artificial sweetener erythritol and cardiovascular event risk. Nat Med 2023 Mar;29(3):710-718. doi: 10.1038/s41591-023-02223-9. Epub 2023 Feb 27.
Another 2023 review of erythritol rated it safe and did not mention thrombosis. The same review indicated that in humans it is mostly absorbed by the small intestine and excreted in the urine rather than feeding beneficial microbes in the colon as I had previously understood.
Mazi TA, Stanhope KL. Erythritol: An In-Depth Discussion of Its Potential to Be a Beneficial Dietary Component. Nutrients. 2023 Jan; 15(1): 204.Published online 2023 Jan 1. doi: 10.3390/nu15010204. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9824470/
The artificial sweetener I currently use for iced tea is stevia in the product truvia™ which comes in a plastic jar containing 80 "servings" of 3/4 tsp or 3.5 gm each, of which 3.0 gm is erythritol.
If 3/4 teaspoon contains 3 gm, then 1 teaspoon of truvia™ contains 4 gm of erythritol, so 1 tablespoon (3 tsp) contains 12 gm of erythritol. I currently sweeten 1/2 gallon (8 cups) of iced tea with 2 tablespoons of truvia™ or 24 gm per entire 1/2 gallon. It takes me several days to drink all of it. As with many other substances, consuming a few grams of erythritol at a time over several days may pose a different risk than consuming 30 gm all at once in concentrated form.
BACOPA
More studies are needed.
Agarwal A, Mishra B, Gupta A, et al. Importance of high-quality evidence regarding the use of Bacopa monnieri in dementia. Front Aging Neurosci 2023 Mar 1;15:1134775. doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2023.1134775.eCollection 2023.
ROSEMARY
More studies are needed.
Hussain SM, Shyeda AF, Alshammari M, et al. Cognition enhancing effect of rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) in lab animal studies: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Braz J Med Biol Res. 2022; 55: e11593. Published online 2022 Feb 9. doi: 10.1590/1414-431X2021e11593.
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