January 1, Study Finds Link Between Zero-Calorie Sweetener and Heart Problems, Stroke

A new study has found a link between a popular zero-calorie sweetener and serious health problems, including strokes, heart attacks, blood clots, and death.

The study, published in Nature Medicine, analyzed blood samples from three different populations. found that elevated levels of erythritol are linked to an increased risk of heart attack, stroke or death within three years.

Erythritol is an artificial sweetener common in diet foods, like Truvia. The zero-calorie sweetener is a popular sugar replacement because it doesn’t affect blood glucose levels.

Dr. Stanley Hazen, the study’s lead author, told CNN that “the degree of risk was not modest.”

“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,” said Hazen, the director of the Center for Cardiovascular Diagnostics and Prevention at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute.

The researchers first noted the correlation between higher erythritol levels and significant adverse cardiac events when analyzing 1,157 blood samples of those who were at risk of heart disease, collected between 2004 and 2011.

After first noticing the link, researchers confirmed their findings by testing a larger sample of people — 2,100 in the U.S. and 833 in Europe through 2018.

“Following exposure to dietary erythritol, a prolonged period of potentially heightened thrombotic risk may occur. This is a concern given that the very patients for whom artificial sweeteners are marketed (patients with diabetes, obesity, history of [cardiovascular diseases] and impaired kidney function) are those typically at higher risk for future [cardiovascular diseases] events,” the study reads.

Researchers also found that when a group of eight healthy volunteers drank a beverage containing 30 grams of erythritol, there were “heightened” risks of blood clotting.

Sources: Nature Medicine | CNN