The low-calorie sweetener erythritol makes blood cells more likely to clot, which may explain why it has been linked to an increased risk of heart attack and stroke in recent studies of people who are already susceptible to these diseases.
Erythritol is a sugar alcohol found in low concentrations in fruits and vegetables that is about 70 percent as sweet as sugar. It has almost no calories, making it a popular sugar substitute, especially in the United States and Europe, says Stanley Hazen of the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. For decades,…