With its sweetening power, erythritol is a natural sweetener that contains very few calories and is very often used in industrial preparations as a substitute for sugar (for example in chewing gum, etc.).
But the results of a study conducted by researchers at the Cleveland Clinic (United States) and published on August 8 in the journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology could change the situation.
This work was conducted with 20 healthy volunteers.
“After a blood draw after an overnight fast, they consumed water mixed with 30 g of erythritol (comparable to the dose contained in a soda or an artificially sweetened baked good) or 30 g of glucose. There were 10 per group, with an average age of 30 years in each group. A new blood draw was taken after 30 minutes and plasma erythritol levels were assessed, as well as several indicators of platelet function,” explains the Cleveland Clinic in a press release.
A plea for a re-evaluation of erythritol
Result: Platelet aggregation measurements showed an increase “striking” after erythritol ingestion but did not change after glucose consumption.
And measures of the release of platelet dense granules and alpha granules – inside platelets, the granules contain proteins and other chemicals critical to platelet function – showed significant increases after erythritol ingestion but did not change after glucose consumption.
This study confirms a previous study published in the journal Nature. This study had revealed in particular that:
- Cardiovascular risk patients with high plasma erythritol levels were approximately twice as likely to experience a major cardiac event over the next three years as similar patients with low erythritol levels;
- Adding erythritol to the blood in the laboratory to achieve the concentrations observed in these patients resulted in increased platelet aggregation and adhesion;
- In animals with arterial lesions, increased erythritol levels led to accelerated clot formation.
“Many institutions and specialists systematically recommend that people at high cardiovascular risk (obesity, diabetes or metabolic syndrome) consume foods containing sugar substitutes rather than sugar,” explains the study’s lead author, Prof. Stanley Hazen. “It is our responsibility to ensure that we do not unintentionally cause adverse effects with this advice. “According to the authors of the study, this increase in platelet reactivity, and the associated risk of thrombosis, should lead to a re-evaluation of erythritol.
Source : The Cleveland Clinic – Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, 8 août 2024
