CLEVELAND, Ohio. (Ivanhoe Newswire) — In the quest for a healthier lifestyle, many of us have turned to artificial sweeteners as a guilt-free alternative to sugar. But are they really all that good for us? Recent research is shedding light on the potential dangers of these sugar stand-ins. Artificial sweeteners may not be so sweet after all.
Artificial sweeteners exploded in the 1980’s …
And now 13 are approved by the FDA. But are these zero-calorie, sugar-free, fat-free choices safe?
Dale Shepard, MD, Oncologist at Cleveland Clinic says, “The World Health Organization says that aspartame is a possible carcinogen.”
But Shepard also says it would take more than 20 diet sodas a day to have an impact. However, we may be consuming more than we know.
“You’re allowed to put it in food, and you also don’t have to actually indicate the total amounts that you’re putting in the food.” Explains Stanley Hazen, MD, PhD, Preventative Cardiologist at Cleveland Clinic.
Doctor Stanley Hazen is part of a new study in the Journal Nature Medicine detailing the risks of the sugar substitute erythritol.
“We show that erythritol provokes heightened clotting risk, things like heart attack and stroke.” Says Doctor Hazen
When healthy volunteers drank a soda with erythritol for four consecutive days, their plasma and blood levels went up over a thousand-fold. So where do you find erythritol? It’s really popular in keto diets.
Doctor Hazen says, “If you reach for that keto ice cream, that pint of keto ice cream can have, literally, 30 to 50 grams of erythritol in it. And after you eat that for the next two days or more, you’ll be at least double the risk for a heart attack or stroke.”
Erythritol has been granted a statis called Gras by the FDA.
“What that means is it really didn’t have to have a lot of safety studies. Frankly, I would argue that erythritol is more dangerous than drugs that we take.” Explains Doctor Hazen
The American Heart Association recommends that people limit their intake of artificial sweeteners.
Doctor Hazen is calling for more studies and a change in regulations and labeling so everyone can know what they’re eating. Previous studies have linked aspartame to an increased risk of cancer, while erythritol has been shown to cause digestive issues in some people. So, if you need to sweeten something, stick with a little bit of sugar or honey until more is known.
Contributors to this news report include: Marsha Lewis, Producer; Kirk Manson, Editor.
Sources:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-023-02223-9
https://www.uniondemocrat.com/lifestyle/article_7e9fc8fe-58a4-11ee-9cd3-d36134f45c96.html
SWEET POISON? NOT SO SWEET SIDE OF ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS
REPORT #3147
BACKGROUND: Artificial sweeteners taste sweet like sugar and have fewer calories, so very little is needed to sweeten foods and drinks. Other sugar substitutes called sugar alcohols are not as sweet as sugar. Sugar substitutes are in many kinds of foods and drinks labeled sugar-free or diet, including soft drinks, candy, and baked goods. In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration allows many sugar substitutes to be used like acesulfame potassium (Sweet One, Sunett); advantame; aspartame (NutraSweet, Equal); neotame (Newtame); saccharin (Sweet’N Low); sucralose (Splenda); luo han guo (Monk Fruit in the Raw); and purified stevia leaf extracts (Truvia, PureVia). Replacing added sugar with sugar substitutes could lower the risk of getting tooth decay and cavities, and not raise the level of sugar in the blood. For adults and children who are overweight or obese, sugar substitutes might help manage weight in the short term.
CONCERNS AND RISKS: Sugar substitutes are not linked to a higher risk of cancer in people. Studies dating back to the 1970s linked the artificial sweetener saccharin to bladder cancer in rats. However, research has shown that those findings don’t apply to people. Some research on long-term, daily use of artificial sweeteners suggests a link to a higher risk of stroke, heart disease and death overall, while other research is looking at long-term use of sugar substitutes and the gut. Researchers are checking to see if sugar substitutes affect cravings for sweets, the way people feel hunger, and how the body manages blood sugar. Sugar alcohols, stevia, and luo han guo, can cause bloating, gas, and diarrhea, and the amount of sugar alcohol that causes these symptoms varies from person to person. In general, it is safest to take in small amounts of sugar substitutes.
NEW RESEARCH SHOWS CARDIOVASCULAR CONCERN: A large study found a potential link between artificial sweeteners and an increased risk of strokes, heart attacks, and related cardiovascular problems. The study included more than 100,000 participants who kept a detailed dietary analysis of their food and drink intake. Just over half of the sweeteners the participants reported consuming were from soft drinks. Another 30 percent came from tabletop sweeteners (such as those in the colored, single-serving packets), with the remainder from dairy-based foods and other products. Some experts claim that artificial sweeteners may trigger inflammation and alter normal metabolism, the gut microbiome, and blood vessels in ways that promote type 2 diabetes, unhealthy cholesterol levels, and high blood pressure. However, these speculations are based on studies in animals or small numbers of people. “These new findings provide yet another piece of evidence that artificial sweeteners may not be benign in terms of heart health,” says Teresa Fung, adjunct professor in the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
(Source: https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/sugar-substitutes-new-cardiovascular-concerns)
* For More Information, Contact:
Halle Bishop
Free weekly e-mail on Medical Breakthroughs from Ivanhoe. To sign up: http://www.ivanhoe.com/ftk
