Sweetener erythritol linked to higher rates of heart attack and stroke

Another slam against the use of alternative sugar sweeteners comes from a study by New Cleveland Clinic just published in Nature Medicine who discovered how theerythritol (commonly indicated on the label with the abbreviation E968) is connected to higher rates of stroke from stroke.

Erythritol has a sweet taste up to 70% of the taste of sugar and is produced through the corn fermentation. It is therefore not counted among the synthetic or artificial sweeteners.

I study

In the aforementioned study, blood erythritol levels were monitored in 4,000 subjects in the United States and Europe: those who had more blood sweetener he was also at increased risk of heart attack or stroke. The researchers also examined the effects of adding erythritol to whole blood or isolated platelets and found that the erythritol made platelets more activated and therefore more likely to form. a blood clot (event underlying strokes and thrombosis). Preclinical studies have confirmed that ingesting erythritol increases clot formation.

Clot risk

After ingestion, erythritol is poorly metabolized by the body, but enters the bloodstream and leaves the body primarily through urine: Our study shows that when participants consumed an artificially sweetened drink with a large amount of erythritol, they observed markedly elevated levels in their blood for days, levels well above those tolerated against clotting risk, said lead 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.

Search limits

The conclusions, as the scientists write, require further research for two reasons above all: the connection between erythritol and events such as heart attacks and strokes does not demonstrate a cause-and-effect relationship and the use of sweeteners is often recommended for people suffering from obesity, diabetes or metabolic syndrome and, therefore, also more high risk of adverse cardiovascular events.

Like sugar, that’s why

That said, the most important warning that comes from the scientific article is a confirmation of other previous studies: sweeteners (whether artificial or natural) are not zero-effect because they have zero calories and are not neutral substances for our body, on the contrary . More and more evidence leads us to think that they produce on the body effects similar to those of sugar which they replace, with all relative negative consequences. Those who use the sweetener create an effect that disturbs the metabolic balance – specifies Stefano Erzegovesi, Nutritionist and Psychiatrist -: similar to that of the metabolic syndrome whereby chronic inflammation and the risk of cardiovascular disease increase. The most important fact is that the sweetener modifies the intestinal microbiota, worsening the bacterial population and consequently also worsening insulin resistance and glucose tolerance, which are the first steps towards becoming diabetic.

Sweeteners don’t make you lose weight

Sweeteners have also been scrutinized because, despite being designed to help you lose weight, they have the opposite effect. In practice they bust the receptor system that comes saturated with sweet taste: when the body does not find the nutritional equivalent of the perceived taste (sugar) it goes to look for it elsewhere and triggers the hunger for foods with a high glycemic and caloric index. This is why you don’t lose weight.