K A S H R U T . C O M_©

June 6, 2024 from the `Washington Post:

"The results of a new study challenge the popular understanding of sugar alcohols such as xylitol and erythritol as healthy, natural sugar alternatives.

"The popular sugar substitute xylitol, commonly used by those wanting to lose weight or who are diabetic, is associated with an increased risk of a cardiovascular event such as a heart attack and stroke, according to a study published in the European Heart Journal" on June 6, 2024.

• "Researchers from the Cleveland Clinic conducted several studies. In one, they analyzed saved plasma samples of participants of an earlier study — more than 3,000 subjects who had been fasting. These subjects had been followed over three years, during which some of them had suffered a cardiovascular event such as a heart attack or stroke. In the new study, researchers found that those who had suffered a cardiovascular event had high blood levels of xylitol.
• "Researchers also studied xylitol’s effect on clotting using human whole blood and platelets, and found that xylitol caused platelets in the blood to clot. They then tested how fast the blood clots in the presence of xylitol on mice models, by injuring the animal’s carotid artery, and found xylitol enhanced the rate of clot formation at the sites of arterial injury. Blood clots that travel to the arteries or veins in the body’s organs such as the heart can cause heart attacks, strokes and even death.

  "In another study, researchers tested blood-clotting susceptibility by collecting blood from 10 healthy volunteers before and 30 minutes after drinking a xylitol-sweetened drink. Ten other volunteers were given a glucose- or sugar-sweetened drink. Researchers found that those who drank the xylitol beverage showed a marked increase in clotting ability of their blood right after they ingested it. No change in blood clotting ability was found in subjects who had ingested the glucose.

• "The researchers cautioned that while these studies show that xylitol is linked with a higher risk of cardiovascular events, they do not show that it causes these events.

"The same research team found a similar link between erythritol and cardiovascular risk last year.

"The findings come as use of sugar alcohols such as xylitol is trending upward, as keto and low-carb diet trends are generating growth in alternative sweeteners billed as “natural.” Some $1.19 billion in xylitol products were sold in 2021, and that market is expected to grow to about $1.48 billion by 2030, according to the research firm Custom Market Insights.

"The results challenge the popular understanding of sugar alcohols such as xylitol and erythritol as healthy, natural sugar alternatives. People view them as natural because our bodies produce them as part of our energy metabolism; however, our cells produce them at much lower levels. When these sugar alcohols are manufactured, they are industrially prepared, using bacteria or yeast that’s put through brewing and fermentation processes to create a chemical that tricks our taste buds

"Researchers also found that an elevated xylitol level may be worse for your heart than cholesterol. By eating a high-cholesterol diet, we might increase our blood cholesterol levels by 10 to 30 percent, Hazen said. By eating a product high in xylitol, researchers found, the chemical levels in the blood went up 1,000-fold — or 100,000 percent — and remained elevated for four to six hours."