Clearly, the auxiliaries with sugar don’t wish us well. A few months after finding a link between the consumption of sweeteners and cancer, a team of French researchers does it again by evoking a link with cardiovascular diseases. Charlotte Debras and Mathilde Touvier, researchers in nutritional epidemiology at the National Institute for Health and Medical Research, are working on data from the French NutriNet-Santé cohort. This involves monitoring the health and eating habits of more than 100,000 French people since 2009. “We had 1,500 cases of cardiovascular disease over the period. There is a statistically significant association with the consumption of sweetener, even if the excess risk is not enormous, fortunately”, explains the researcher.
Concretely, according to the observations of the two researchers published in the British Medical Journalout of 100,000 heavy consumers of sweeteners, there are 346 cases of cardiovascular disease against 314 cases per 100,000 among those who do without.
“We have the impression of running after the strategies of the industrialists”
Sweeteners are those molecules used by the food industry to do without sugar. They are called aspartame, acesulfame-K or even sucralose, and are mainly found in sodas and all so-called “light” or “sugar-free” products, but also in certain cookies, chewing gum, or even directly in the form of candy. .
Used to give a sweet taste while avoiding the harmful effects of sugar, they are therefore not neutral. In detail, aspartame is more associated with the risk of stroke, while acesulfame-K and sucralose are more associated with infarction. “These are avoidable risks. Of the 330 additives authorized in Europe, only a small number have a potential benefit for human health because they allow better preservation of food. But sweeteners, emulsifiers and the like only have a marketing benefit. Therefore, the question of their harmlessness arises more strongly”, Judge Mathilde Touvier.
Unfortunately, the results of association with the occurrence of various pathologies are not obtained before several decades of use. To put their product on the market, manufacturers must prove the absence of acute toxicity. The existence of an excess risk of disease can only be demonstrated over time. And until then, manufacturers are changing molecules. Thus, while researchers have fairly solid data on aspartame, which has been used since the end of the 20th century, they have very little perspective on stevia, the latest fashionable product in the sweetener department, named after the southern plant. American from which it is extracted. “We often have the impression of chasing after the strategies of industrialists”, recognizes Mathilde Touvier.
Results to be confirmed
The studies on sweeteners are not finished. Mathilde Touvier tells us that she is also working on the link with diabetes or even weight gain. Moreover, its results must also be confirmed by other studies by other teams on the subject. “There were already some clues in the direction of a link between sweeteners and cardiovascular diseases. Some believe that the mechanism of action is through disruption of the gut microbiota,” explains Mathilde Touvier.
In the meantime, his research leaves lovers of low-fat products in the embarrassment. How do you continue to enjoy these sweet-tasting foods while minimizing health risks and calorie intake? “The best thing is to get rid of the sweet taste”, judge the researcher. In nutrition, it’s all about moderation.