Artificial Sweeteners & Cranberry Pills

I recently got diagnosed with IC and have been having trouble pinpointing my trigger foods.  I bought the IC Survival Guide by Dr. Moldwin, and since then I have been staying away from most things acidic and fruits.  One thing I can’t break away completely from is artificial sweeteners.  I picked up one called Erythritol from Whole Foods Market and I was wondering if you knew if this was still an irritant?  Also, I know cranberries and cranberry juice irritates IC patients -- but do cranberry pills?  I would really appreciate hearing from you as I am often uncomfortable and would love some relief if you can help.  Thanks so much! Whitney

This is a great question.  Erythritol is from the family of low-calorie sweeteners called “sugar alcohols.”  You may be more familiar with sorbitol, xylitol, and mannitol -- ingredients often used in low-calorie gum and candy.  When consumed in large quantities, most sugar alcohols can cause bloating and other forms of digestive discomfort.  Erythritol, however, is excreted in the urine, not via the digestive tract, so what makes it more pleasant to use as a low-calorie sweetener for many people has the potential to increase IC symptoms.  If you would like to try it, I suggest using it sparingly at first to see if it bothers you.  Alternately, you could try sucralose (Splenda) -- which some IC patients can tolerate -- or simply use smaller portions of the real thing, sugar.

As for the second part of your question, cranberry pills, while promoted to help in the prevention and treatment of urinary tract infections (UTIs), also have the potential to cause IC symptom flares.  It was once thought that cranberry juice helped to prevent UTIs by making the urine more acidic.  However, more recent scientific evidence points to components in cranberry juice (and also in blueberry juice) that appear to cause bacteria not to stick to the surface of the urinary tract, thus helping to prevent UTIs.  These studies have been conducted on cranberry juice, however.  Cranberry pills have not been scientifically studied as carefully.