Researchers from the American Cleveland Clinic examined data on over 4,000 people between the US and Europe, noting that “those with the highest levels of erythritol in their blood showed a high risk of serious adverse cardiac events such as” precisely “heart attack, stroke or death”
If sugar is bad for you and is one of the main factors behind widespread diseases such as diabetes and cancer, alternative sweeteners, those with zero calories, represent, at least in the imagination of many consumers, a good alternative. In fact, the food industry has been launching lines of “sugar-free” products for years, beverages and soft drinks in particular, sweetened with aspartame, acesulfame-K, sucralose, etc. Only a month ago we at FqSalute focused our attention on potentially carcinogenic effects that these substances can have by talking about them with the professor Franco Berrino (here the complete interview). Now, a new study from the American Cleveland Clinic published in ‘Nature Medicine’ he attested how erythrol, one of these zero-calorie artificial sweeteners, is associated with an increased risk of heart attack and stroke. The researchers examined data on over 4,000 people between the US and Europe, noting that “those with the highest levels of erythritol in their blood showed a high risk of serious adverse cardiac events such as” precisely “heart attack, stroke or death”. The authors also analyzed the effects of adding erythritol to whole blood or isolated platelets, noting that erythritol promoted platelet activation which gives rise to clots. Even preclinical studies have confirmed that theIngestion of erythritol increases clot formation.
The scientists emphasize the importance of follow-up studies to confirm these findings in the general population. In fact, the published work has several limitations, they specify, including the fact that “clinical observation studies – they are keen to point out – demonstrate association and not causality”. That is, they indicate the link between two events (in this case high blood levels of erythritol and an increased risk of life-threatening heart attacks or strokes), but not the cause-effect relationship. The researchers suggest talking to your doctor or a board-certified dietitian to learn about healthy food choices and get personalized advice.
The popularity of sweeteners like erythritol has grown rapidly in recent years, but more research into their long-term effects is needed, says study senior author Stanley Hazen, chair of the Department of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Sciences at the Lerner. Research Institute and Co-Head of Preventive Cardiology at the Cleveland Clinic – Cardiovascular diseases are on the increase and represent the leading cause of death globally. We have to make sure that the foods we eat don’t contribute to it“. Products sweetened with erythritol – scientists report – are often recommended to people suffering from obesity, diabetes or metabolic syndrome, patients at increased risk of cardiovascular attacks such as heart attacks and strokes. Erythritol has a sweetness equal to about 70% that of sugar and is produced through the fermentation of corn. After ingestion it is poorly metabolised by the body, enters the blood and is mainly eliminated in the urine. The human body naturally produces low amounts of erythritol, so any additional consumption can add up. Erythritol is generally recognized as safe by the US Food and Drug Administration, which means, the researchers point out, that no long-term safety studies are required.
“Our study – reports Hazen – indicates that, when participants consumed an artificially sweetened beverage with an amount of erythritol found in many processed foods, they showed markedly elevated levels” of the substance “in the blood for days”. Levels “well higher” than those which, based on observations, have been found to increase the risk of clotting. “It is important that further safety studies are conducted – exhorts the author – to examine the long-term effects of artificial sweeteners in general, and of erythritol in particular, on the risk of heart attack and stroke, especially in people most at risk of cardiovascular disease”.