Xylitol linked to 57% higher heart attack and stroke risk |
Xylitol shows up in sugar-free gum, mints, toothpaste and thousands of products marketed to people watching their sugar intake. A study of 17,710 adults followed for up to 30 years has now linked high blood levels of this sweetener to a 57% greater risk of heart attack, stroke or cardiovascular death.
The research, from Stanley Hazen's lab at the Cleveland Clinic, also tested xylitol directly in human blood samples and found it made platelets — the cells that form clots — significantly stickier. That mechanism matters because thrombosis is a shared trigger for both heart attacks and strokes, and it gives the statistical finding a biological explanation to go with it.
“I now recommend to my patients, my family, and my friends to try to avoid non-nutritive sweeteners, including xylitol,” Hazen said.
Hazen’s lab flagged xylitol once before — a 2024 study of more than 3,000 people that found the same platelet-clotting effect and a higher three-year cardiovascular event risk. This latest analysis is six times larger, follows participants far longer, and comes to the same conclusion. Xylitol in toothpaste and gum remains fine — you spit those out — but a scoop of sweetened ice cream can deliver 30 grams in one sitting.
For more on this research and its consequences, jump to “Popular chewing gum sweetener linked to higher heart attack risk, study finds.”
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