Is Sugar Really the Biggest Risk to Your Health? A 30-Year Study Linked This Ingredient to More Heart Attacks and Strokes
A study of 17,710 people found that those with higher blood levels of a common sweetener were at increased risk of a major cardiovascular event.
A common sweetener used in everything from chewing gum and toothpaste to ice cream and yogurt has been linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular events.
On Monday, a study was presented at the European Society of Cardiology conference which found that xylitol, a widely used artificial sweetener, may come with a higher risk of strokes, heart attacks, and even death.
While Xylitol can sometimes be naturally occurring,
While Xylitol can sometimes be naturally occurring, in such a case, it appears in very low amounts. More often than not, the sweetener is added in amounts 1,000 times higher than that to artificially sweeten foods, beverages, and oral care products.
Who is consuming the sugar?
The long-term analysis looked at the effects of the artificial sweetener on cardiovascular events in the general population. In the largest study of its kind, the researchers focused on data from 17,710 participants in two observational cohorts: the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging and the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer.
Refreshed leadership advice from CEO Stephanie Mehta
An Inc.com Featured Presentation
The researchers compared the 25 percent with the highest levels of xylitol in their blood to the 25 percent with the lowest.
They found that those with the highest amounts
They found that those with the highest amounts of xylitol over a six-year period were 57 percent more likely to die or suffer from a heart attack or stroke compared to those at the opposite end of the spectrum. Even after 30 years, those with the highest levels were still 18 percent more likely to have suffered from one of those cardiac events.
The results from both cohorts suggest a dose-dependent relationship when compared with data from the middle quartiles. Essentially, the higher the xylitol blood levels, the higher the risk for a cardiovascular event. The increase was consistent even when factors such as age, sex, body mass index, and diabetes, were taken into account.
Source: www.inc.com
