"'Sugar Substitute Sweetener' Xylitol Increases Risk of Heart Attack and Stroke"

"Xylitol May Facilitate Easier Platelet Aggregation"

A study has found that the alternative sweetener xylitol may increase the risk of heart attack or stroke. Xylitol is a low-calorie sweetener mainly used as a sugar substitute in products such as gum and toothpaste.

On the 6th (local time), US CNN cited a paper published in the European Heart Journal by a research team from the Cleveland Runner Institute in the United States, reporting that xylitol is associated with the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) and may increase the possibility of thrombosis. The research team pointed out that "further studies are needed to investigate the cardiovascular safety of xylitol."

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The research results were obtained by analyzing 1,157 blood samples from heart disease patients and blood samples from more than 2,100 people at high risk of heart disease between 2004 and 2011. In this study, the team discovered that xylitol can make platelets coagulate more easily.

Coagulated blood clots can travel to the heart, causing a heart attack, or to the brain, causing a stroke. The research team also explained that the risk of heart attack, stroke, and death in people with the highest xylitol levels was nearly twice that of those with low xylitol levels. Xylitol is a natural sugar alcohol found in foods such as cauliflower, eggplant, lettuce, spinach, and strawberries.

Earlier, in February last year, the same research team published a paper revealing similar findings regarding another sugar substitute sweetener, erythritol. At that time, the team reported that when people's blood erythritol levels were highest, the risk of heart attack and stroke nearly doubled within three years. Erythritol is mainly extracted from corn and is used as a primary ingredient in low-calorie foods.

Kara Saunders, president of the Calorie Control Council, an association of the low-calorie food and beverage industry, criticized the recent study results, saying they "contradict decades of scientific evidence proving the safety and efficacy of low-calorie sweeteners." However, the research team emphasized that the World Health Organization (WHO) warned last year to avoid alternative sweeteners for weight loss purposes and called for further research on the long-term toxicity of low-calorie sweeteners.