A recent research out of the United States cautions that the risk of heart attack and stroke is increased when one consumes meals that include erythritol, a popular artificial sweetener that is commonly found in keto diet products.
Researchers noted in the journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology that erythritol increases the activity of blood platelets, which might result in blood clots, as reported by The New York Post.
Pure Product, Nirvana Originals, and Naturally Sweet are some of the erythritol brands sold online in Australia. Skinny Sugar is a company that offers packets containing erythritol and sugar, with the promise that it has half the calories of sugar alone.
Heart attack and stroke risks associated with popular sugar substitute erythritol
The study’s co-author, Dr. WH Wilson Tang of Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, USA, who is an expert in heart failure and cardiac transplantation medicine, expressed concern that a typical serving of foods or drinks sweetened with erythritol could induce a direct clot-forming effect.
It seems that erythritol is not specifically advised for use in Australia. No cautions about the ingredient are listed by Food Standards Australia New Zealand.
As an ingredient that is “generally recognised as safe” (GRAS), erythritol is allowed unrestricted usage by the US Food and Drug Administration.
Erythritol is a low-calorie sweetener that is approximately 70% as sweet as sugar. It is derived from maize, occurs naturally in some fruits, and is made by the body in extremely minute levels.
It leaves a refreshing aftertaste, makes baked items crunchier, and boosts the bulk of sweeteners like monk fruit and stevia.
The body isn’t great at breaking down erythritol, thus it can build up in your system.
High erythritol levels were associated with a twofold increased risk of major cardiac event in three years compared to low levels, according to previous study from the Cleveland Clinic.
“Sugar substitutes, not sugar, are recommended by many professional societies and clinicians for individuals at high cardiovascular risk, such as those with diabetes, metabolic syndrome, obesity, or both,” stated Dr. Stanley Hazen, senior and corresponding author.
Further long-term clinical studies are needed to determine the cardiovascular safety of sugar substitutes like erythritol, according to Hazen, who is also the chair of cardiovascular and metabolic sciences in the Lerner Research Institute at Cleveland Clinic and co-head of the preventive cardiology section.
