SUGAR SUBSTITUTE HURTS YOUR HEART
SWAPPING sugar-filled foods and beverages for treats using the artificial sweetener erythritol may boost your odds of experiencing life-threatening heart attacks and strokes, according to a shocking new study.
“The degree of risk was not modest,” cautions Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute researcher Dr. Stanley Hazen.
Hazen says the link between erythritol and cardiovascular issues was discovered accidentally. His team was investigating chemicals or compounds that might predict the risk of heart attack or stroke. The scientists analyzed 1,157 blood samples, which were collected from 2004 to 2011. He explains, “We found a substance that seemed to play a big role. It was erythritol.”
The body naturally creates the organic compound in very low amounts, which would not account for the levels the researchers measured. However, manmade erythritol — which provides about 6 percent of the calories found in an equal amount of sucrose — is commonly used in many low-calorie and zero-sugar products. To confirm the findings, the team tested additional blood samples — with 2,100 from U.S. participants and 833 from those in
Europe — and again found high levels of erythritol were connected to a greater risk of heart attack or stroke within three years.
The scientists discovered the fake sugar appears to provoke super-responsive blood clotting, which can trigger the potentially fatal cardiovascular events.
In the final stage of the study, eight healthy volunteers ingested a beverage containing 30 grams of erythritol — the equivalent of eating a commercially produced pint of keto-friendly ice cream. That serving was enough to boost blood levels of erythritol a thousandfold, which Hazen says may heighten clotting risks for up to three days!
“If your blood level of erythritol was in the top 25 percent compared to the bottom 25 percent, there was about a twofold higher risk for heart attack and stroke. It’s on par with the strongest of cardiac risk factors, like diabetes,” he says.
According to the FDA, erythritol is “generally recognized as safe.” But Hazen warns, “Cardiovascular disease builds over time and is the leading cause of death. We need to make sure the foods we eat aren’t hidden contributors. There’s sufficient data here to say: Stay away from erythritol until more studies are done.”