Headline Roundup • February 28th, 2023
Popular Zero-Calorie Artificial Sweetener Linked to Blood Clots
Summary from the AllSides News Team
A zero-calorie sweetener popular in keto and other dietary regimens has been linked to increased risk of heart attacks and strokes by a new study from the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute published in Nature Medicine.
Details: The study determined there to be a link between consumption of erythritol, the zero-calorie sweetener, and increased susceptibility to blood clot formation. The study does not conclude erythritol to be a direct cause of heart problems, but determines that “studies assessing the long-term safety of erythritol are warranted.” According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States.
Key Quotes: “The degree of risk was not modest,” said lead study author Dr. Stanley Hazen, director of the Center for Cardiovascular Diagnostics and Prevention at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute, who was quoted in CNN’s coverage. Hazen said that “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.” CNN also quoted the executive director of the Calorie Control Council, who pushed back on the study, stating that it “should not be extrapolated to the general population, as the participants in the intervention were already at increased risk for cardiovascular events.”
How The Media Covered It: The published study was covered consistently across the spectrum.
Featured Coverage of this Story
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A popular no-calorie artificial sweetener that’s used in keto and other diets and some low-calorie foods may increase the likelihood of stroke, heart attack and even death, according to a new study by Cleveland Clinic researchers published in the journal Nature Medicine.
Erythritol increased the likelihood of blood clot formation in the research, which involved nearly 4,000 patients in the United States and Europe who were being evaluated for heart health. Those with higher levels of the sweetener in their blood had more clotting.
But the study authors also emphasized...
A sugar replacement called erythritol – used to add bulk or sweeten stevia, monkfruit and keto reduced-sugar products – has been linked to blood clotting, stroke, heart attack and death, according to a new study.
“The degree of risk was not modest,” said lead study author Dr. Stanley Hazen, director of the Center for Cardiovascular Diagnostics and Prevention at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute.
People with existing risk factors for heart disease, such as diabetes, were twice as likely to experience a heart attack or stroke if they had...
AP Photo/Jenny Kane
A new study published in Nature Medicine on Monday found that a sugar replacement in artificial sweeteners, used in popular weight-loss diets, is linked to a higher risk of heart attacks and strokes.
Erythritol, commonly found in keto diets to sweeten stevia or monk fruit products, is used as a sugar replacement because it does not cause a spike in blood sugar and contains zero calories. But the study found that diabetics and other people with an increased risk of heart disease were twice as likely to experience a heart...
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