Eating too much sugar has been shown to be bad for your health. In order to save calories, many people therefore use sweeteners and sugar substitutes. But caution is also required here. Because a new study shows that a popular sweetener increases the risk of heart disease and stroke.
Too much sugar in the diet has been shown to lead to obesity and metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes. But giving up sugar is not that easy. The calorie bomb that raises our insulin levels and thus suppresses the body’s fat burning process is found in countless foods. Sugar is not only obviously found in sweets such as chocolate, pastries and sweets, but is also hidden as an additive in other industrially processed foods such as tomato sauces, sausage products, soups and pasta dishes (FITBOOK reported). However, most people do not want to give up sweets completely. That is why they resort to alternatives such as sugar substitutes. This includes, for example, the sugar substitute erythritol. So far, the substance was considered harmless. But a recent study provides evidence that it may be harmful and increase the risk of heart disease and stroke.2
What is erythritol?
Erythritol is one of the so-called sugar substitutes. They have a lower sweetening power compared to sweeteners such as aspartame, saccharin and sucralose. In contrast to sweeteners, erythritol is obtained from natural, starchy raw materials such as vegetables, fruit or wood. With the help of yeasts or fungi, the glucose contained is converted into erythritol by fermentation. That is why the product is also called sugar alcohol. After fermentation, it has a much lower calorific value than sugar and does not have a strong impact on blood sugar levels. This prevents a strong release of insulin, as is the case with sugar. Due to its crystalline structure, erythritol is also suitable as a sugar substitute for baking. However, you have to be aware that too high doses can lead to digestive problems and sugar alcohols can have a laxative effect.
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Why should erythritol be harmful?
So far, the consumption of erythritol was considered harmless, after all it is one of eight approved sugar substitutes in the EU.3 However, according to a new US study from the Cleveland Clinic, there is evidence that erythritol increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases such as heart attack and stroke in older adults who belong to the risk group.
In the first part of the study, the data from an older metabolic study of 1157 subjects with an average age of 65 years were evaluated. It has already shown that a high concentration of sugar substitutes in the blood plasma, especially erythritol, is associated with an increased risk of heart attack, stroke and premature death.
In the second part of the study, 2,149 Americans (mean age 63) were enrolled and their metabolic data compared to those in the first group. In the third part of the study, 833 Europeans (average age 75) were also examined for the level of erythritol in their bodies. And also in the two comparison groups there was a connection between increased erythritol values in the blood plasma and heart attack, stroke and premature death.
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The sugar substitutes permitted in the EU:
- Sipped (E 420)
- Mannit (E 421)
- Isomalt (E 953)
- Malt (E 965)
- Lactate (E 966)
- Xylitol (E967)
- Erythrit (E 968)
- Polyglycitolsirup (E 964)
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What happens in the body through sugar substitutes?
As the researchers explain, erythritol apparently causes blood platelets, which are responsible for wound healing, among other things, to clump together. For example, taking the sugar substitute can likely promote the formation of blood clots. And these could ultimately clog cerebral arteries or coronary arteries, which can cause a stroke or heart attack.
Of particular concern is that even small amounts (about one soft drink a day) can increase the risk. Because, as the researchers further explain, erythritol cannot be metabolized by the body so easily and is usually excreted in the urine. But because the body itself produces small amounts of erythritol, it can quickly accumulate in the bloodstream.
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However, it is important to remember that the study was conducted on people at risk for cardiovascular disease. Whether erythritol is harmful to healthy people needs to be investigated in further studies. “It is important that further studies are conducted to investigate the long-term effects of artificial sweeteners in general and erythritol in particular on the risk of heart attack and stroke,” says Stanley Hazen, one of the lead scientists.