High amounts of xylitol, a popular sugar substitute, can increase the risk of heart attack, stroke, and other cardiovascular diseases, according to a new study by the Cleveland Clinic. The study, published in the European Heart Journal, focused on xylitol’s health effects. Xylitol is a natural sugar alcohol that looks and tastes like sugar but has fewer calories.
Unlike regular sugar, it doesn’t raise blood sugar levels, so diabetic patients are often advised to use it for sugar replacement. However, larger quantities of xylitol replace sugar in sugar-free candy, gums, and baked goods. “This study again shows the immediate need for investigating sugar alcohols and artificial sweeteners, especially as they continue to be recommended in combatting conditions like obesity or diabetes,” Dr.
Stanley Hazen, chair of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Sciences at Cleveland Clinic’s Lerner Research Institute and the study’s lead researcher, said in a news release. Artificial sweeteners are often recommended for people who suffer from cardiometabolic diseases, including obesity, diabetes, and heart disease, by multiple guideline organizations, the authors wrote in the study, citing the American Heart Association and other groups in the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. However, xylitol “will likely confer heightened thrombosis potential,” or blood clotting risks, “in the same vulnerable patients that it is marketed towards and intended to protect (e.
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