THE NEW YORK TIMES – A new study linking the low-calorie sugar substitute xylitol to an increased risk of heart attack or stroke has once again raised questions about the risks and benefits of sugar substitutes.
Xylitol is a sugar alcohol found naturally in fruits and vegetables, and even produced in the human body at very low levels.
But it is often synthetically produced and is increasingly being added to processed foods, like candies and “low-sugar” baked goods, because it has 40 percent fewer calories than regular sugar does and doesn’t cause blood glucose to spike after a meal.
The study authors said this rise in consumption was concerning, as the people most likely to turn to the sugar substitute may already be trying to manage conditions like obesity and diabetes that also increase the risk of cardiovascular issues.
“They may think they’re making a healthy choice by picking xylitol over sugar, yet the data argues that it is not the case.” said Dr. Stanley Hazen, the chair of cardiovascular and metabolic sciences at the Cleveland Clinic’s Lerner Research Institute and an author of the study.
For the new study, the researchers measured the levels of xylitol in blood plasma samples of over 3,000 participants who had fasted overnight.
They found that people with the highest xylitol levels had roughly double the risk of heart attack, stroke or death within the next three years compared to people with the lowest levels …
Xylitol in foods and drinks
To check how much xylitol you may be consuming, you need to carefully read nutrition labels.
Food and beverages that are marked as “sugar free” or “no added sugar” have to list the precise sugar alcohol amount under carbohydrates in the nutritional information. But if a product does not make these claims, it may not have to list exact amounts.
This means that sugar alcohols like xylitol may actually lurk in many more products than consumers realize, including energy bars, nut butters, salad dressings and flavored drinks …
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