Health

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Health · 2026-08-29 · 1 min read Gum Sweetener Linked to Heart Attacks Xylitol, the sugar alcohol in gum, toothpaste, jam, yogurt, and ice cream, is being added at doses about 1,000 times what appears in nature. At the European Society of Cardiology congress in Munich, Berlin cardiologist Marco Witkowski reported the largest look yet: 17,710 people, top versus bottom blood-level quartile. The highest xylitol group was 57 percent more likely to die or have a heart attack or stroke within six years, and still 18 percent more likely after 30 years. Risk rose with dose and held after age, sex, BMI, hypertension, diabetes, and lipids. Earlier work showed xylitol makes platelets more eager to clot. Artificial sweeteners are sold as the healthy swap and rated safe by regulators; Witkowski said the long-term heart data say we barely know. An ESC reviewer and the British Heart Foundation called it observational, not proof of cause, and not a green light for more sugar. It is a red flag on ultra-processed 'sugar-free' foods as xylitol use climbs.