Xylitol Linked To Strokes and Heart Attacks, Study Finds (theguardian.com) 58
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: A common sweetener used in products such as chewing gum, toothpaste, jam, yoghurts and ice-cream has been linked to an increased risk of strokes, heart attacks and death. Xylitol is a sugar alcohol present in some natural foods in very low amounts. It is also added -- often in amounts 1,000 times higher -- to artificially sweeten foods, beverages and oral care products. Despite its growing use, the long-term health impacts of xylitol have never been widely studied.
In the largest study of its kind, researchers found high blood levels of xylitol were associated with an increased risk of major adverse cardiovascular events. The findings were presented in Munich at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) annual congress, the world's largest heart conference. Researchers looked at 17,710 people and compared the 25% with the highest levels of xylitol in their blood against the 25% with the lowest. Those who had the highest amount were 57% more likely to die or suffer a heart attack or stroke, than those with the least, within six years. Even after 30 years, they were still 18% more likely to have suffered one of these cardiac events.
Taken with data from the middle quartiles, the results from both cohorts suggested a dose-dependent relationship: the higher the xylitol blood levels, the higher the cardiovascular event rate. Furthermore, the researchers showed that there was consistent increase in cardiovascular events with xylitol irrespective of baseline characteristics, such as age and sex. The researchers also highlighted that the association was independent of underlying factors such as body mass index, hypertension, diabetes and lipid levels, which might predispose people to low-calorie products.
In the largest study of its kind, researchers found high blood levels of xylitol were associated with an increased risk of major adverse cardiovascular events. The findings were presented in Munich at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) annual congress, the world's largest heart conference. Researchers looked at 17,710 people and compared the 25% with the highest levels of xylitol in their blood against the 25% with the lowest. Those who had the highest amount were 57% more likely to die or suffer a heart attack or stroke, than those with the least, within six years. Even after 30 years, they were still 18% more likely to have suffered one of these cardiac events.
Taken with data from the middle quartiles, the results from both cohorts suggested a dose-dependent relationship: the higher the xylitol blood levels, the higher the cardiovascular event rate. Furthermore, the researchers showed that there was consistent increase in cardiovascular events with xylitol irrespective of baseline characteristics, such as age and sex. The researchers also highlighted that the association was independent of underlying factors such as body mass index, hypertension, diabetes and lipid levels, which might predispose people to low-calorie products.
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And when you look a bit closer, your mindless comment mostly goes out the window. Because the human body neither produces nor craves this crap to any significant degree.
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Objection: relevance? (Score:2)
And when you look a bit closer, your mindless comment mostly goes out the window. Because the human body neither produces nor craves this crap to any significant degree.
My body doesn't produce fructose, but you can't deny our natural desire to eat fresh fruit. What is the relevance to his response? If it's mindless, you did a poor job making the case.
Look...I'm getting old...I've heard this story a dozen times...something unexpected is associated with bad health or good health...and in each case, there was an obvious socioeconomic indicator. If you're consuming sugar free food, you probably have a weight problem or are worried about your health. There was a recen
Re: Objection: relevance? (Score:3)
Xylitol is a shitty sweetener...it poisons your dog and definitely has GI side effects. I honestly don't know why food producers use it. It can't be that much cheaper than the more established products. I guess because it has a similar volume and texture?
Bacteria can't metabolise it so they use it for sweets that won't rot your teeth.
It's not âoeartificial" either; it's found in birch bark. IIRC it's basically just normal sugar with the opposite chirality.
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>"Xylitol is a shitty sweetener...it poisons your dog and definitely has GI side effects. I honestly don't know why food producers use it. "
Very few foods contain Xylitol because it is expensive. It is mostly used in chewing gum or breath mints because of the very positive effects in fighting cavities. It also has little GI effects unless consumed in large quantities (which doesn't happen when just chewing several pieces a day of gum, and/or using xylitol toothpaste).
Re:Weasel words (Score:5, Informative)
The article says exactly what you just said:
It IS an important thing to remember, as "post hoc ergo propter hoc" is one of the most popular logical fallacies. But on the other hand, it is equally important to pay attention to serious studies like this, because each one serves as a rigorously-obtained data point in a greater narrative that IS used to draw scientific conclusions (and to justify further research).
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Then the researchers should be focusing on that, instead of simply blasting out another nearly meaningless nutritional statistical correlation study.
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What's stopping you from conducting better research?
Underlying Mechanism (Score:3)
Yeah I was looking to defend chewing my Xylitol gum since I am generally low risk for heart attack and stroke. I was going to assert it is just unhealthy fatties who are going to die of heart attacks and strokes anyway and chug Xylitol instead of eating right; they are skewing the data. However:
Furthermore, the researchers showed that there was consistent increase in cardiovascular events with xylitol irrespective of baseline characteristics, such as age and sex. The researchers also highlighted that the association was independent of underlying factors such as body mass index, hypertension, diabetes and lipid levels, which might predispose people to low-calorie products.
It would be nice to know if massive amounts of Xylitol in your system cause your blood to plaque up and clog pathways increasing the risk of heart attack and stroke. Or if the "real" sugar people are at it again runn
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I don't even chew gum so I have no skin in the game. Sure, the "researchers" tried to correct for other, potential, single, possibly stronger correlates, but that is scientifically just one baby step beyond the headline. Now if they actually did dissect people and find the xylitol deposits as you suggest, that would be actual science in action.
Important Step (Score:3)
The baby step is very significant to me. Because if the study did not account for other factors known to correlate or actively contribute to strokes and death by heart attack then it would be pretty weak and easily dismissed as correlation is not causation. If the findings are true that, there is a correlation between xylitol ingestion and strokes and death by heart attack outside of any other known factors, then it immediately calls for action. Foremost for those who consume xylitol to consider cutting bac
Chemotherapy is HEAVILY associated with cancer!!! (Score:3)
"Associated with" means correlation without causation.
Agreed. Are these people having these health effects because of xylitol?...a substance I extremely dislike as a dog owner (it's very poisonous to them) and that it's an inferior artificial sweetener...or is that they already had health complications and thus are trying to control their sugar intake.
20 years ago, there were constant articles trying to link tooth decay to heart disease because they were associated with each other...hoping they'd discover that the bacteria in your teeth was a noticeable c
Re: Weasel words (Score:2)
No. It means "correlation". If you find yourself with a thumb on the scale of causation, I think you owe it to yourself to ask why.
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"Associated with" means correlation without causation.
If you had looked into this further - as I did when I first learned of it more than a year ago - you would understand that there IS a clear causal link.
Researchers fed participants sugar alcohols - such as xylitol and erythritol - under controlled conditions. They then took blood samples and discovered that the blood of those participants experienced a marked increase in the likelihood of blood clots forming - for up to three days after the last consumption. GoogleAI dug up this Cleveland Clinic quote: "Con
But it's natural! (Score:1)
Not possible it's "natural" so it can't be bad for you! /s
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Indeed. A bit more insight required. For those that need a clearer argument, I recommend looking at the effects of some entirely natural cyanides.
In a more general sense, this mental failure comes from people that only can do correlation but fail at causation most times. Which, unfortunately, is most of the human race.
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Re: But it's natural! (Score:2)
Just do without "sweet" (Score:4, Informative)
It takes a bit of getting used to it, but all forms of sugar and sweeteners are problematic. And they are often used to cover product defects like low-quality ingredients on top of that, making things even worse.
Re:Just do without "sweet" (Score:4, Informative)
Fresh fruit is not problematic for healthy people. The levels of sugar are much lower than what is present in candy, and it comes properly mixed with natural fiber which ensures your body can metabolize it in a healthy way (unlike with candy).
Dried fruit is slightly more problematic because you wind eating too much of it (since it takes up less space in your stomach).
Fruit juice is just as problematic as pure soda, since all the fiber is gone and the sugar concentration is much higher.
But fresh fruit is very beneficial to health (so long as you don't overdo it, as with anything, and be sure to wash it first too since food poisoning is a risk with anything eaten raw).
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I am not arguing for no sweet stuff at all. I am arguing for no sweetened stuff and making "sweet" the exception not the rule. For example, fresh fruit with a lot of sugar because it is very ripe is fine, bit only if consumed in moderation. And having ice-cream once or twice a month is not a problem either. But sweet stuff every day, every meal is not fine. And making that "sweet" effect artificial does not solve the problem at all, even though many people apparently think it does. A bit of self-discipline
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Some years ago I looked into this from the perspective of human ancestry. Apparently, apes living in the rain forest can have as much as 50% of their food coming from figs.
Now, modern fruit cultivars probably have more acid and sugar than rain forest products, but still I don't think it's likely that fresh fruit consumption is a real problem in modern diets.
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We can easily see that the obesity trend in the US accelerated after the introduction of aspartame. Health problems due to aspartame could be 2nd order effects in the general population. For example, by making it normal to expect drinks to be sweet.
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>"We can easily see that the obesity trend in the US accelerated after the introduction of aspartame."
Correlation is not causation. I seriously doubt that aspartame caused obesity. Far more rational and reasons are:
1) Consumption of way, way too many calories
2) Consumption of way more carbohydrates
3) Lack of exercise
And that #1, above, is pretty apparent when you look at how much people are actually consuming. I have been on a diet for 3 months now. All I did is reduce my caloric intake to significan
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Simple calories in calories out theory predicts obesity rates going down after the introduction of aspartame, but we saw the opposite. Congrats on your diet, but at 165 you weren't obese to begin with unless you were 5ft tall.
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There is also the thing that tasting "sweet" triggers insulin production and hence you need to consume real sugar to compensate for the loss in blood sugar.
All "sweet" is problematic. It is a rare part in any natural diet, and if you make it more than a relatively rare part of yours, there will be negative consequences.
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Xylitol has been *very* much promoted at least here in Finland as being good for your teeth. They basically hand out Xylitol gums for kids at every dentist visit and even at school lunches sometimes. Effect is basically that it starves cavity-causing bacteria in your mouth.
So I guess...chew your Xylitol gum, but spit it out afterwards!
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I have some family from there, and spent some time there, so I ended up eating all kinds of Xylitol concoctions.
It sounds like the study measured blood concentrations of xylitol, that would be at the time of death. I'm hoping that previous exposure doesn't have the same effect.
Aspartame is the most studied molecule in history (Score:2)
It takes a bit of getting used to it, but all forms of sugar and sweeteners are problematic. And they are often used to cover product defects like low-quality ingredients on top of that, making things even worse.
You're not correct. Natural sugar is healthy and most artificial sweeteners are neutral, not problematic. Aspartame is LITERALLY the most studied molecule in history (quoting Peter Attia). They've been thinking it caused all sorts of shit since the early 80s. No one can prove it. There are theories abound, but no one could conclusively prove it. Should you drink it?...eh, not really. It's better than cane sugar or high fructose corn syrup, but it's obviously better to drink a glass of water over a diet
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Nope. You can give yourself diabetes just eating a lot of ripe fruit. Stop pushing lies, you are doing evil.
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Linked with does not mean caused by (Score:2)
It's so hard to read a story like this and remember that the only thing they have found, is that stroke victims more often had xylitol in their blood.
In another study - and IMHO one of the highlights of scientific achievements - it was found that in countries with a natural population of moose, womens breast size is larger than in those without moose. So the Danish media promptly concluded that moose had a positive effect one breast sizes. Sigh.
Of course, these studies are actually useful, because they hint
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Guys, I'm not saying the article doesn't say that this conclusion is wrong. Well, I was trying not to say that, apparently I got that wrong.
I'm saying that no matter what the researchers and the better parts of the media do to try and get this through, they will fail. Why? Because it's a complicated conclusion and because the simpler version is a "better" story.
Re:Call me crazy if you must (Score:4, Informative)
Straight from the article:
Re: Call me crazy if you must (Score:1)
1000 times higher (Score:2)
Xylitos has a sweetness comparable to normal sugar. It is misleading to say its concentration is 1000 times higher when the point of reference is "very low amounts". They probably add as much xylitol as they would add normal sugar otherwise.
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The article says it is 1,000 times higher in processed foods than Xylitol levels natural levels in natural/unprocessed foods. Inotherwords, consuming large levels of Xylitol is something that wouldn't ever naturally happen.
That said, I have used Xylitol gum and toothpaste every day for many years.
Did they actually eat any this time? (Score:2)
Last time most of the people in the high risk group didn't even consume it ...
Urban vs Rural (Score:2)
Next up, teaching grandma to suck eggs (Score:2)
These are all things that can be adjusted for when going through the statistics, indeed the article points at several variables that are already accounted for.
In addition ... (Score:2)
Xylitol is a sugar alcohol present in some natural foods in very low amounts. It is also added -- often in amounts 1,000 times higher -- to artificially sweeten foods, beverages and oral care products.
In even larger amounts, it works as a laxative, so that's fun.
Personally, I avoid artificial sweeteners, mainly because I dislike their taste, and just try to be mindful of what I eat and the sugar content of those foods.
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>"Personally, I avoid artificial sweeteners, mainly because I dislike their taste, and just try to be mindful of what I eat and the sugar content of those foods."
To me, sucralose tastes almost exactly like sugar. And consuming that is probably much better than tons of insulin-spiking, empty calorie glucose/fructose.
What's the mechanism? (Score:3)
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>"Xylitol has a half life in the blood of only 15-20 minutes. So it must be triggering some cascade of events."
Or.... correlation is not causation and the study doesn't have much useful meaning at all.
Association! Not causation (Score:3)
I think studies like this are VERY misleading.
Often higher blood markers of various chemicals are a result of poor kidney or liver function which leads to all sorts of problems and health issues.
Blood levels of chemical X should almost NEVER be used as a warning sign that said chemical is inherently dangerous. However, it could be used as a starting point for research.
What matters is if consumption of said chemical increases risks. It might be that the chemical is completely harmless, but impaired liver or kidney function leads to its accumulation.
We went through this with cholesterol. Remember the egg scare? It turns out dietary cholesterol has basically no effect on mortality and it's basically just an indicator of liver health and how well the liver manages cholesterol levels.
Any study of this type should be immediately suspect, although it might be good to do causative studies and trials where we modify people's diets. Otherwise we also risk a repeat of the sodium debacle (turns out dietary sodium below a certain level around 3g/day increases risks rather than decreases them).
Where there is smoke there is fire. (Score:2)
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Thanks for letting us know that you could not be bothered to read the article, which already says "It is important to note that this was an observational study, meaning it can only show an association between higher xylitol levels and cardiovascular events, rather than proving that xylitol directly caused them, and further research is needed."
"Any study of this type should be immediately suspect,"
No, any study of this type is A NECESSARY FIRST STEP. While correlation is not a sufficient condition, it is NEC
Fat people take sweeteners (Score:2)
Who would have thought.
I prefer real sugar anyway (Score:2)
Besides tasting damned odd, Xylitol is damn near lethal for canines.
( FYI if you have dogs around the house )
https://www.fda.gov/animal-vet... [fda.gov]
Correlation vs causation (Score:1)