Report: Artificial Sweetener Erythritol Linked to Heart Attacks and Strokes

Facts

• A research team from Ohio, USA has linked a common artificial sweetener used in some low-calorie ice cream, protein bars, and drinks to higher rates of blood clotting, stroke, heart attack, and death, after analyzing the blood of more than 4K people who were undergoing cardiac risk assessments.¹
• Researchers found that erythritol — a sugar replacement used in many low-calorie, low-carb, and keto products, may increase the risk for cardiovascular disease. The study's lead author, Dr. Stanley Hazen, director of the Center for Cardiovascular Diagnostics and Prevention at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute, said, 'The degree of risk was not modest.'²
• The study, published Monday in Nature Medicine, found that people with greater amounts of erythritol in their blood were more likely to experience adverse cardiac events. In preclinical studies, they also found evidence that erythritol ingestion increased blood clot formation.³
• Senior author of the study Hazen said, “If your blood level of erythritol was in the top 25 percent compared to the bottom 25 percent, 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.'⁴
• Independent experts criticized the study, saying the researchers had used an amount of sweetener that was 'unrealistic' for consumers in the UK and EU. Gunter Kuhnle, professor at the University of Reading, said that the level was ten-fold higher than the permitted amount in drinks and that 'the single dose they used was more than most of us would eat during an entire day.'⁵
• The researchers say that more research is needed to determine the translatability from the study population with a high prevalence of cardiovascular diseases to the general public.⁶

Sources: ¹Independent, ²CNN, ³Nature, ⁴The hill, ⁵Daily Mail and ⁶Abc news.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by Independent. This survey is significant because these days erythritol is found in many products to replace table sugar in low-calorie, low-carbohydrate, and 'keto' products. People with obesity or diabetes are often recommended to use this chemical to help manage their sugar or calorie intake. Further studies on the long-term effects of Erythritol, which is 70% as sweet as sugar, and artificial sweeteners in general, are necessary to find out if they increase the risks of heart attack and stroke among the general population. This is a serious finding.
• Narrative B, as provided by CNN. There is no need to exaggerate the importance of this study. The researchers in Ohio have revealed only a correlation, not causation, which is also something that the authors also clearly say: they have found an association between erythritol and clotting risk but no definitive proof of such a link. If excess erythritol can cause adverse reactions, this must be balanced against the health risks of excess glucose consumption.