New Study Suggests Popular Sweetener Could Increase Heart Disease Risk

A recent study suggests that the popular and widely used artificial sweetener erythritol could increase the risk of developing heart disease.

The research was published in Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology via AHA/ASA Journals. It found that erythritol consumption could mean more risk of blood clots. However, the authors note that their work is preliminary and more research is needed.

Erythritol is a sugar alcohol, or polyol, which are water-soluble compounds found in fruit and vegetables like apples, peaches, pears, sweet potatoes, and cauliflowers. It is also commonly produced for commercial products by fermenting corn-derived dextrose.

This new human intervention study saw researchers observe participants after consuming the amount of erythritol found in a typical sugar-free muffin. The average erythritol level increased over 1,000 times compared to each participant’s initial level, and results revealed a significant increase in blood clot formation compared to no change after eating glucose.

Authors say ‘further long-term clinical studies’ needed

A woman putting sweetener in her coffee — Adobe Stock Sweeteners are often used as an alternative to sugar in hot drinks

Erythritol is a zero-calorie sweetener widely used in sugar-free or reduced-sugar products such as soft drinks, chewing gum, candy, and more. It is also frequently added to sugar substitutes marketed as “natural” alternatives, such as stevia leaf-based Truvia.

“Many professional societies and clinicians routinely recommend that people at high cardiovascular risk […] consume foods that contain sugar substitutes,” said Stanley Hazen, senior study author and chair of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Sciences at Cleveland Clinic’s Lerner Research Institute. “These findings underscore the importance of further long-term clinical studies to assess the cardiovascular safety of erythritol and other sugar substitutes.”

This new research builds on the same team’s previous study – published last year in Nature Medicine – which found that cardiac patients with high levels of erythritol were twice as likely to experience a major cardiac event in the following three years compared to those without.

“Choosing sugar-sweetened treats occasionally and in small amounts would be preferable to consuming drinks and foods sweetened with these sugar alcohols,” added Hazen.