An artificial sweetener that is a good alternative to sugar and can help reduce calorie intake. A recent study showed that this artificial sweetener may be associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, including stroke.
The study, conducted by the French National Institute of Health and Medicine, is the largest study suggesting a link between artificial sweeteners and an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, according to Medicalnewstoday. The study is said to contain data from more than 100,000 participants.
This study was conducted in conjunction with a global nutrition study conducted in 2009, and more than 170,000 people participated in the study. Among them, 103,388 were selected, and the selected participants were over the age of 18 and completed questionnaires such as diet, health, anthropometric data, lifestyle and social demographic data, and physical activity.
The average age of all participants was 42 years, and 79.8% were female.
Over the next few years, researchers collected from participants all food, beverages, etc. consumed over a 24-hour period, and asked participants to submit photos to ensure they kept a food diary correctly. Participants also reported consumption of artificial sweeteners. Approximately 37% of participants reported the use of artificial sweeteners, including aspartame, acesulfame potassium, sucralose, cyclamate, saccharin, thaumatin, neohesperidin dihydrochalcone, steviol glycoside, and aspartame acesulfame potassium salt .
At the end of the study, the researchers compared the number of cardiovascular events experienced by people who consumed artificial sweeteners with those who did not consume artificial sweeteners. They found that those who consumed more artificial sweeteners had a higher risk of cardiovascular disease than those who did the opposite.
Participants reported 1,502 cardiovascular events during the follow-up period, including 730 cases of coronary heart disease and 777 cases of cerebrovascular disease.
“Our study shows that artificial sweeteners should not be considered as safe and healthy alternatives to sugar,” the study authors said. In particular, the authors found that aspartame was associated with an increased risk of cerebrovascular disease, while acesulfame potassium and sucralose were associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease.