• Health and Wellness

by Stacy Jackson

August 21, 2024

Cleveland Clinic Research Reveals Potential Dangers Of Erythritol Sugar Substitutes

African Americans are at a greater risk for heart disease and stroke. The new study advises to entirely avoid erythritol-sweetened drinks.

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A new study conducted by researchers at the Cleveland Clinic has linked the ingestion of erythritol, a sugar alcohol commonly used as a sweetener, to a heightened risk of heart attack, stroke, and cardiovascular disease.

Erythritol, often used as a sugar-free or reduced sugar additive, is one of the fastest growing Food and Drug Administration–approved and European Food Safety Authority-approved non-nutritive sweeteners, and according to the study published in the American Heart Association’s Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology Journal, the US and European Union regulatory agencies have typically found artificial and non-nutritive sweeteners to be safe. However, recent research has flagged the consumption of drinks with the sugar alternative, erythritol, as a potential enhancer of blood clotting.

Researchers examined 10 healthy volunteers using a prospective interventional study design. The study states, “We tested the impact of erythritol or glucose consumption on multiple indices of stimulus-dependent platelet responsiveness in healthy volunteers.”

The Toronto Star reported that according to Dr. Stanley Hazen, Cleveland Clinic director for the Center for Cardiovascular Diagnostics and Prevention, the risk of blood clotting doubled in the volunteers after consuming a typical portion size, detecting a clear difference in their bodies before and after downing erythritol-sweetened drinks. According to a March report by the American Heart Association, more than any other racial group, African Americans are at a greater risk for heart disease and stroke due to adverse social determinants of health, including lack of access to healthcare and healthy foods and other historical and systemic factors. The report advised to regularly check blood pressure, noting the normal blood pressure is less than 120/80 mm Hg.

Hazen advised individuals with an increased risk of heart disease or blood clotting to consume moderate amounts of glucose, sugar, honey, or fruit and steer clear of sweeteners erythritol and xylitol, another sugar alternative researchers previously linked to an increase in heart attack and cardiovascular disease. “I’m trying to sound the alarm,” Hazen said. “We need to look at the safety of this because I’m concerned that, long-term, we’re seeing, unfortunately, adverse consequences for the very people who are trying to reach for a healthy option or healthy alternative.”

Although erythritol has been used for people with diabetes and those on a Keto diet, Cleveland Clinic researchers suggest reevaluating its safety as a food additive.

• Celebrity News

by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

August 21, 2024

Diddy Emerges Victorious In Recent Lawsuit Filed By Colorado Inmate

Chief U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain dismissed the lawsuit stating the case was frivolous and lacking legal standing

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A Colorado inmate filed a lawsuit against Sean “Diddy” Combs, stating that the entertainment mogul wanted him to “arrange sex trafficking of underage children.” When he refused to do so, he alleges Diddy defamed him, and it hurt his drug business. The suit was quickly dismissed.

According to News Nation, Alfredo P. Gonzalez, who says he is a member of the Sinaloa drug cartel, filed the suit, saying his reputation was ruined in New York’s criminal underworld due to Combs and his associates. In the lawsuit, Gonzalez was seeking damages of $666,000. The incarcerated inmate filed the suit in the Southern District of New York. On Aug. 12, Chief U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain dismissed the lawsuit, stating the case was frivolous and lacking legal standing.

Gonzalez claimed in the paperwork that after declining to help Diddy with the sex trafficking, he was informed that his life would be made “hell” due to the “power [Combs] has in the streets.” Gonzalez also states he lost business with New York-based drug business contacts.

AllHipHop reported that Judge Swain wrote in her decision, “Plaintiff, without any legal bases, appears to assert claims of defamation against the defendants, seeking damages arising from injury incurred to his illegal drug smuggling and sales business caused by the defendant’s alleged defamation of plaintiff because he refused to arrange sex trafficking of underage children for the defendants, including what appears to be international sex trafficking. Since there are no apparent legal bases for any of these claims, the court additionally dismisses plaintiff’s claims as frivolous.”

Gonzalez is currently incarcerated at the Centennial Correctional Facility in Canon City, Colorado.

This was just the latest lawsuit filed against Diddy after numerous claims of sexual abuse and trafficking, among other accusations, were levied against him after former girlfriend and recording artist Cassie hit him with a lawsuit in November 2023. That lawsuit was settled in under 24 hours.

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