Erythritol, a commonly used sugar substitute, has been linked to cases of blood clotting, stroke, heart attack, and death, a new study has found.
As per the study published in the journal Nature Medicine, people with existing risk factors for heart disease and diabetes were twice as likely to experience a heart attack or stroke if they had the highest levels of erythritol in their blood.
Erythritol is a sugar alcohol, a carbohydrate found naturally in vegetables and fruit.
The product is used to add bulk or sweeten stevia, monkfruit, and keto reduced-sugar products. Products containing erythritol are often recommended to people with obesity, diabetes or metabolic syndrome, who are looking for options to help manage their sugar or calorie intake. People with such conditions are already vulnerable to adverse cardiovascular issues such as heart attacks and strokes.
"If your blood level of erythritol was in the top 25 per cent compared to the bottom 25 per cent, there was about a two-fold higher risk for heart attack and stroke. It's on par with the strongest of cardiac risk factors, like diabetes,” said lead study author Dr Stanley Hazen, director of the Center for Cardiovascular Diagnostics and Prevention at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute.
The study showed that erythritol appeared to be making blood platelets clot more easily. Clots can break off and travel to the heart, triggering a heart attack, or to the brain, triggering a stroke.