The health advantages and disadvantages of Zero products have been debated for a long time. But now researchers have published a new shock study that sheds a completely different light zero calorie sugar substitutes throws. Or better: a dark shadow. Because the sugar substitute called erythritol is according to this new Study associated with blood clotting, stroke, heart attack and death.
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“The risk is not small,” said the study’s lead author, Dr. Stanley Hazen, director of the Center for Cardiovascular Diagnostics and Prevention at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute.
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For whom is erythritol particularly dangerous
People with existing risk factors for heart disease, such as diabetes, are twice as likely to have a heart attack or stroke when they have high levels of erythritol in their blood, according to the study, published in the journal Nature Medicine.
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“If your blood erythritol concentration was in the top 25 percent compared to the bottom 25 percent, you were about twice as likely to have a heart attack or stroke,” Hazen said.
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Additional laboratory and animal studies presented in the publication showed that erythritol appeared to cause platelets to clot more easily. Clots can break off and travel to the heart, triggering a heart attack, or to the brain, triggering a stroke.
“That certainly sounds alarming,” confirms Dr. Andrew Freeman, director of cardiovascular prevention at a Denver hospital, who was not involved in the research. “Clearly, more research is needed, but as a precaution, it might be wise to restrict erythritol in the diet for now.”
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What is erythritol and what foods is it found in?
Like sorbitol and xylitol, erythritol is a sugar alcohol, a carbohydrate found naturally in many fruits and vegetables. It has about 70% the sweetness of sugar and is considered zero-calorie according to experts.
Artificially produced in large quantities, erythritol has no lingering aftertaste, does not raise blood sugar, and has less of a laxative effect than some other sugar alcohols.
“Erythritol looks like sugar, it tastes like sugar, and you can bake with it,” Hazen said. “It has become a food industry darling, an extremely popular addition to low-carb products and foods marketed to people with diabetes,” he added.
If you want to know whether your favorite Zero product is made with erythritol, the best thing to do is take a look at the list of ingredients. There, the sugar substitute is specified either under the name erythritol or under the E number E 968.
