Xylitol, which is said to be good for teeth, doubles the risk of heart attack/stroke!

On the 6th (local time), according to NBC News and other sources in the United States, Dr. Stanley Hazen's research team at the Cleveland Clinic in the U.S. published a paper in the European Heart Journal claiming that xylitol is associated with an increased risk of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) and may enhance the potential for thrombosis within the body.

This result was obtained by analyzing 1,157 blood samples from heart disease patients between 2004 and 2011 and more than 2,100 blood samples from individuals in the high-risk group for heart disease.

The research team confirmed that xylitol can make platelets coagulate more easily, and that the formed blood clots can travel to the heart causing a heart attack or to the brain causing a stroke.

The research team explained that the risk of heart attack, stroke, and death for people with the highest xylitol levels is nearly twice as high as for those with lower xylitol levels.

Xylitol is a sugar alcohol found in foods such as cauliflower, eggplant, lettuce, spinach, and strawberries. Since the naturally occurring amount is very small, it is produced through chemical processes or microbial strains.

It provides the same level of sweetness as sugar but contains less than half the calories, and is mainly used in sugar-free gum, cough syrup, vitamin jelly, and is also heavily added to ketchup, barbecue sauce, pudding, and pancake syrup.