> “We had healthy volunteers drink a xylitol-sweetened drink, and we examined blood from before versus after ingestion of the drink. For the next four to six hours xylitol levels remained elevated enough to enhance platelet responses and clotting risk in every person studied,” Dr. Hazen explains. Platelet function returned to normal levels by the next day.

I am surprised to see headlines warning of xylitol, because it is a key component in birch water and other traditional health drinks made from birch trees (Scandanavia, Russia, and other places with birch).

The clotting goes away after a few hours, but perhaps that was viewed as beneficial against injuries for those who drank it?

Maybe only within our society it is viewed as harmful, because people are rarely injured (and when they are, they have access to bandages, stitches, antibiotics, etc) and more commonly have chronic health problems that might be exacerbated by the temporary increase in clotting?