Sweetener erythritol linked to stroke, heart attack, study finds

A new study has linked the commonly used sugar replacement erythritol to various health issues including stroke, blood clotting, heart attack and even death. 

The study was published on Monday in the journal Nature Medicine and details how the substance, which has been used as a bulking additive or to increase the sweetness of other sweeteners, appeared to cause blood platelets to more frequently clot. 

Dr. Stanley Hazen of the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute said “The degree of risk was not modest."

The research also showed that those with preexisting risk factors for things like diabetes were twice as likely to have a heart attack or stroke, depending on the level of erythritol in their bodies. 

Hazen said in the published paper, “If your blood level of erythritol was in the top 25% compared to the bottom 25%, there was about a two-fold higher risk for heart attack and stroke. It’s on par with the strongest of cardiac risk factors, like diabetes.”

Erythritol is a sugar alcohol, a carbohydrate which is found naturally in vegetables and fruit.