Many people tend to turn to artificial sweetener use when they want to lose weight or cut down on their calories as one way to reach their weight goals sooner. But according to a new study, while artificial sweeteners can help you lose weight, it may also increase one’s risk of cardiovascular disease.
The study followed more than 100,000 adults for around one decade, and is considered as one of the biggest studies to date in identifying cardiovascular health issues when using sugar substitutes. Overall, these artificial sweeteners were associated with a ‘9 percent higher risk of any type of cardiovascular disease event and an 18 percent greater chance of stroke,’ explains the results of the study that were published in The BMJ.
The study authors shared in the publication, “Our results indicate that these food additives, consumed daily by millions of people and present in thousands of foods and beverages, should not be considered a healthy and safe alternative to sugar.”
The participants in the study were mostly female and around 42 years old on average as well. At the beginning of the study, none of the participants had any history of cardiovascular disease or diabetes, and within the first two years of follow-up during the study, none of them received any diagnosis of positive diabetes or cardiovascular disease.
The participants were also asked to complete a series of around five food questionnaires during the first two years of the study. According to the results of the study, it showed that 37 percent of the participants used artificial sweeteners. For those that consumed the artificial sweeteners took an average of around 43 milligrams (mg) daily, which is roughly the amount in one tabletop sweetener packet of 100 milliliters (3.4 ounces) of diet soda. For the people that had the highest artificial sugar consumption, they took around 78 mg daily on average, while individuals that consumed the lowest amount took around 7.5 mg daily on average.
Throughout the study period, the participants had a total of 1,502 cardiovascular events. These included such health events as heart attacks, strokes, damage and clogging in blood vessels, and other medical procedures needed to restore blood flow in otherwise obstructed arteries or veins.
As for the annual absolute risk of cardiovascular disease amongst the participants, there were 314 cases per 100,000 people that didn’t consume artificial sweeteners, as compared to 346 cases of those that consumed the highest amount of sugar substitutes.
The study also found that there were certain risks that were higher dependent on particular sweeteners. One example of this was aspartame, which is sold under the brand names like Equal and NutraSweet, which was tied to at least 17 percent higher risk of stroke.
Meanwhile, acesulfame potassium, which falls under such brands as Sunett and Sweet One, was linked to 40 percent higher risk of coronary heart disease.
Some of the drawbacks to the study is that it wasn’t a controlled experiment particularly designed to prove if artificial sweeteners may or may not cause cardiovascular disease. In addition, the results may also be inaccurate due to the poor recollection of the participants of what they ate and drank since they were only made to fill out questionnaires.
There are a number of artificial sweeteners that have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as safe food additives. Although the recommended daily limits may vary depending on the sweetener, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health shares that 23 table top packets consumed per day is considered safe.
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