A new study has found that the consumption of artificial sweeteners may accelerate the brain’s aging process.
Researchers say people in the group who consumed the highest levels of certain artificial sweeteners, roughly equivalent to the amount found in a single diet soda, experienced a noticeable decline in cognition compared to the group that consumed the lowest.
“People who consumed the most low- or no-calorie sweeteners showed a 62% faster global cognitive decline than those who consumed the lowest amount — that’s the equivalent of 1.6 — years of brain aging,” said the study’s lead author Dr. Claudia Kimie Suemoto, an associate professor of geriatrics and director of the Biobank for Aging Studies at the University of São Paulo’s Medical School in Brazil, per CNN.
The highest tier group averaged 191 milligrams, roughly one teaspoon, of artificial sweeteners each day, less than the average can of diet soda sweetened with around 200-300 milligrams of aspartame.
“Participants in the middle tier had a 35% faster rate of global cognitive decline — which is about 1.3 years of aging — than people who consumed the lowest amount of these sweeteners,” said Suemoto.
“Now, the study is only observational — I cannot say to you that artificial sweeteners cause cognitive decline. We do know, however, that these sweeteners are associated with worse cognitive trajectories.”
The researchers also said that people with diabetes appeared to develop even more rapid cognitive aging. Suemoto believes it is likely because the condition is already a higher risk factor for cognitive decline related to Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia. As a result, people with diabetes are likely more vulnerable when exposed to the sweeteners.
Earlier this year, The Dallas Express reported on a study that found artificial sweeteners were also associated with higher instances of heart attacks and stroke. In the study, mice fed food containing 0.15% aspartame daily for 12 weeks, equivalent to approximately three cans of Diet Coke daily for a human, developed larger and more fatty plaque buildup in their arteries.