Artificial sweeteners are common replacements for table sugar. (Representational Pic)
An artificial sweetener has been linked to increased risk of blood clotting, stroke, heart attack and death in a new study, as reported by CNN. The sugar replacement is known as erythritol and the study about it has been published in journal Nature Medicine. It further said that 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 the highest levels of erythritol in their blood.
Lead author Dr Stanley Hazen, director of the Center for Cardiovascular Diagnostics and Prevention at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute, told the outlet, "The degree of risk was not modest."
"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," Dr Hazen added.
Cleveland Clinic said on its website that researchers studied over 4,000 people in the US and Europe for the study. They also tested how erythritol aids in blood clotting. Results revealed that erythritol made platelets easier to activate and form a clot.
"This certainly sounds an alarm. There appears to be a clotting risk from using erythritol. Obviously, more research is needed, but in an abundance of caution, it might make sense to limit erythritol in your diet for now," Dr Andrew Freeman, director of cardiovascular prevention and wellness at a hospital in Dever, told CNN. Dr Freeman was not involved in the research.
However, the Calorie Control Council, an industry association, said the study goes against scientific research.
''The results of this study are contrary to decades of scientific research showing reduced-calorie sweeteners like erythritol are safe, as evidenced by global regulatory permissions for their use in foods and beverages," Robert Rankin, the council's executive director, told CNN.
Artificial sweeteners are common replacements for table sugar. Erythritol is about 70 per cent as sweet as sugar and is produced through fermenting corn.