Cure8 research brief
This study suggests erythritol — a common non-nutritive sweetener — may worsen experimental colitis and depression-like behavior in mice via microbiome and metabolic changes, raising questions about how ultra-processed foods with NNS might affect people with IBD.
Adults with IBD who use non-nutritive sweeteners or eat many ultra-processed foods; clinicians advising on diet; researchers studying diet–microbiome–immune interactions.
This paper combined a brief dietary survey in people with IBD and an experimental mouse model (DSS-induced colitis). The human data reported higher relative intake of NNS-containing ultra-processed food categories among people with IBD, especially during active disease.
In mice, erythritol supplementation was associated with worse weight loss, higher disease-activity scores, impaired intestinal barrier function, increased inflammatory cytokines, changes in colonic gene expression (including ferroptosis-related pathways), shifts in gut microbial composition (notably increased Alistipes), and altered tryptophan-related metabolites.
The authors link these changes to both intestinal inflammation and increased depression-like behavior in the model. This is preclinical, mechanistic work and does not demonstrate that erythritol causes flares in people with IBD.
It does, however, identify mechanisms (microbiome shifts, ferroptosis-associated pathways, tryptophan metabolism) that could be studied further in humans.
Findings are based on a DSS-induced colitis mouse model and a dietary survey; the results identify mechanisms worth further human study but do not prove erythritol causes flares in people with IBD.
Review the original publication for the complete reporting, methods, and context.
Funding disclosed by the source: Regional Innovation Cooperation Program, Science and Technology Department of Sichuan Province, award 2022YFQ0053; award 2022YFQ0053; Bethune Charitable Foundation, award BCF-QYWL-XH-2024-1; award BCF-QYWL-XH-2024-1
This Cure8 brief is based on source text from the linked article. Cure8 is informational only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
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