An article in Nature Medicine (2023) reported on studies showing that a group of non-sugar sweeteners, “… polyol sweeteners, especially erythritol were associated with incident (3 year) risk for major adverse cardiovascular events.” Such events include heart attacks and strokes.
Erythritol is used as a sweetener, sometimes with another non-sugar sweetener and some keto-reduced sugar products. Checking contents of non-sugar sweeteners is a prudent measure, especially if you are a higher than average risk of cardiovascular events. An example would be having diabetes.
Research showed that ingesting erythritol can result in elevated levels that can “increase platelet reactivity and thrombosis potential.” Such platelets can result in blood clotting, which can block blood flow to the heart (may cause heart attack) or the brain (may cause a stroke).
For details in the research paper by Witkowski M, Nemer I, Alamri H et al Nat Med (2023), you can access it via this online address: https://doi.org/10.1038/54159-023-02223-9
Peter M. Hartmann, MD
Family Medicine & Psychiatry
