Artificial sweeteners are consumed by people worldwide and are added to thousands of foods and drinks.
But a recent French study suggests a direct link between higher artificial sweetener consumption and increased risk for cardiovascular disease, including
heart attack and stroke.
Researchers at the French National Institute for Health and Medical Research examined data for 103,388 participants with an average age of 42 years and 80% female to look at the link between health and nutrition.
The consumption of artificial sweeteners from every dietary source that contained aspartame, sucralose, and acesulfame potassium were included in the analysis and assessed by repeated 24-hour dietary records.
Researchers took other factors such as physical activity, total dietary intake into account in their analysis while following up with participants over a period of nine years. What they determined was that total artificial sweetener intake was linked with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
Cause cannot be established since this was an observational study and other unknown factors could have influenced results but the findings are in line with other studies that associate artificial sweetener consumption with poor health.
