Artificial Sweeteners May Make Cardiovascular Disease More Likely
Which artificial sweeteners have the highest risk of developing a problem?
Since foods and beverages high in sugar often contain more calories, regular intake of these items promotes obesity and other disorders including diabetes mellitus.
In the future, we could utilise artificial sweeteners to cut down on our sugar intake. However, results from a new research involving more than 100,000 participants and published in the esteemed international scientific journal BMJ raise the possibility that artificial sweeteners may raise the risk of cardiovascular disease.
The major findings of this research are summarised by Professors Stavroula (Lina) Paschou (Assistant Professor of Endocrinology) and Theodora Psaltopoulou (Professor of Therapeutics-Epidemiology-Preventive Medicine).
the study’s findings
This prospective research has 103,388 people from the French NutriNet-Santé cohort as its population. It looked into potential links between artificial sweeteners and cardiovascular disease in all dietary contexts, including drinks, tabletop sweeteners, dairy products, pastries, and sweets.
According to the research, using artificial sweeteners on a regular basis was linked to an overall increased risk of cardiovascular disease (hazard ratio [HR] 1.09, 95% CI 1.01-1.18, p=0.03). For regular users of sweeteners, the absolute incidence rates were 346 and 314 per 100,000 person-years, respectively.
With incidence rates of 195 and 150 per 100,000 person-years for regular users of sweeteners and non-users, respectively, artificial sweeteners were also substantially linked to an elevated risk of cerebrovascular illness (HR 1.18, 1.06–1.31, p =0.002).
A 40% and 31% higher risk of coronary heart disease, respectively, were linked to daily consumption of acesulfame and sucralose. Consuming aspartame was linked to a 17% higher risk of stroke.
The results of this extensive prospective research, in conclusion, raise the possibility of a direct link between the regular use of artificial sweeteners, particularly aspartame, acesulfame, and sucralose, and an elevated risk of cardiovascular disease. As a result, we need to exercise caution and limit their usage.
