Low-calorie Sweetener Linked To Significant Increase in Risk of Heart Attack and Stroke

Xylitol, a popular low-calorie sweetener used in everything from toothpastes to chewing gum, is linked to a near-double risk of heart attacks and strokes, according to a new study.

The researchers analysed nearly 1,200 blood samples taken from people undergoing assessment for heart disease between 2004 and 2011. They also analysed samples taken from 2,100 people who had high risk for heart disease.

People with the highest levels of xylitol in their blood had nearly twice the risk of heart attack, stroke and death as those with the lowest amounts.

The effects appear to be caused by alterations to blood platelet behaviour that cause them to aggregate and form clots.

Xylitol is a kind of sugar alcohol, a type of carbohydrate found in foods like cauliflower, spinach, plums, raspberries and strawberries. The quantities found in fruits and vegetables are tiny, however, compared to the amounts found in popular sugar-free products.

“If you actually do the calculation, it literally takes a tonnage of fruit to be equivalent to one diabetic cookie that can have like nine grams of xylitol, which is a typical label amount,” said senior study author Dr Stanley Hazen.

“It would be like eating salt at the level of a salt lick.”

Consumption of sugar alcohols has increased massively over the last two decades. Sugar alcohols are classified as GRAS or “generally recognized as safe” by the FDA.

“Xylitol is cheaper to make than cane sugar and so more and more keeps getting incorporated as a sugar substitute into food. Some 12-ounce drinks that use xylitol as a major artificial sweetener can contain 30 grams or more,” he said. “You can even buy it in bulk at the grocery store where you’re told to use as a one-to-one substitute for sugar in home cooking.”

It’s clear that a number of alcohol sugars have these effects. The new study builds on previous research which showed similar results for erythritol, another popular sweetener.

“There’s a receptor on our platelets, which we as yet don’t understand, that is recognizing this molecule and signaling to the platelet to be more prone to clot,” he said.

“Our tastebuds can’t tell the difference in the structures between sugar and these other sweeteners, but clearly our platelets can.”

A new report from the American Heart Association predicts that 60% of American adults will be diagnosed with cardiovascular disease, of which heart disease and stroke are types, by 2050.

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