Artificial sweeteners have often been called out as unhealthy, and now new research says that one popular sugar substitute increases the risk of heart attack and strokes. Erythritol, an artificial sweetener commonly found in some foods, and a keto-friendly option, is extremely harmful to health, as per a new Cleveland Clinic study. The study found that erythritol makes platelets more active, causing blood clots.
“This research raises some concerns that a standard serving of an erythritol-sweetened food or beverage may acutely stimulate a direct clot-forming effect,” study co-author Dr WH Wilson Tang, research director for Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplantation Medicine at Cleveland Clinic, said. The results of the study were published in the journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology on Thursday (August 8).
Surprisingly, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) imposes no restrictions on the use of this artificial sweetener. Erythritol has been classified as a GRAS (generally recognised as safe) ingredient by the FDA.
High erythritol levels have in the past been found to make people more prone to developing heart disease. Such people are twice as likely to experience a major cardiac event in three years, the Cleveland Clinic found.
Risks of artificial sweeteners
Notably, several people with diabetes often consume artificial sweeteners, and the latest research raises questions about its use.
Senior and corresponding author Dr. Stanley Hazen says, “Many professional societies and clinicians routinely recommend that people at high cardiovascular risk — those with obesity, diabetes or metabolic syndrome — consume foods that contain sugar substitutes rather than sugar.”
“These findings underscore the importance of further long-term clinical studies to assess the cardiovascular safety of erythritol and other sugar substitutes,” added Hazen. He is the chair of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Sciences in Cleveland Clinic’s Lerner Research Institute and co-section head of Preventive Cardiology.
However, the new study took into account healthy adults who consumed erythritol. A significant increase in blood clot formation was recorded in such individuals in comparison to those who used sugar. “Cardiovascular disease builds over time, and heart disease is the leading cause of death globally. We need to make sure the foods we eat aren’t hidden contributors,” Hazen said.
Experts advise consuming natural sugar foods in moderate amounts in place of artificial sweeteners to avoid the health risks posed by them. Recently, Hazen and his team also found that high amounts of xylitol — a sugar alcohol like erythritol, commonly found in sugar-free candy, gums, baked goods and toothpaste — also increase the risk of heart attack and stroke.
