Artificial sweeteners linked to increased risk of heart disease, study finds

[helvella]

Newspaper article and research study report risks of artificial sweeteners.

There are many here who, while wishing to avoid excess sugar, are wary of artificial sweeteners.

That we can move from a situation of country after country having approved them, and seeing them used in so many foods, to serious allegations that they are neither healthy nor safe, surely should have us asking how this came about?

Were they approved without having asked the questions raised here?

Were the questions asked but not adequately answered?

Is it ever acceptable for ingredients, especially novel ingredients, to be allowed to become so prevalent? Such that it is hard to avoid them.

This seems especially important for those with thyroid issues because so many have trouble managing weight. Hence are led by the food industry, the diet industry, all too many medics, to reduce sugar intake and replace with this sweeteners.

Aside from issues as reported, this also fails to encourage moves away from sweeter foods.

Article from The Guardian:

Artificial sweeteners linked to increased risk of heart disease, study finds

Research involving 103,000 French adults shows sweeteners ‘should not be considered a healthy and safe alternative to sugar’

theguardian.com/society/202...

Research paper from the BMJ:

Artificial sweeteners and risk of cardiovascular diseases: results from the prospective NutriNet-Santé cohort

BMJ2022; 378 doi: doi.org/10.1136/bmj-2022-07... 07 September 2022) Cite this as: BMJ2022;378:e071204

Abstract

Objectives To study the associations between artificial sweeteners from all dietary sources (beverages, but also table top sweeteners, dairy products, etc), overall and by molecule (aspartame, acesulfame potassium, and sucralose), and risk of cardiovascular diseases (overall, coronary heart disease, and cerebrovascular disease).

Design Population based prospective cohort study (2009-21).

Setting France, primary prevention research.

Participants 103 388 participants of the web based NutriNet-Santé cohort (mean age 42.2±14.4, 79.8% female, 904 206 person years). Dietary intakes and consumption of artificial sweeteners were assessed by repeated 24 h dietary records, including brand names of industrial products.

Main outcomes measures Associations between sweeteners (coded as a continuous variable, log10 transformed) and cardiovascular disease risk, assessed by multivariable adjusted Cox hazard models.

Results Total artificial sweetener intake was associated with increased risk of cardiovascular diseases (1502 events, hazard ratio 1.09, 95% confidence interval 1.01 to 1.18, P=0.03); absolute incidence rate in higher consumers (above the sex specific median) and non-consumers was 346 and 314 per 100 000 person years, respectively. Artificial sweeteners were more particularly associated with cerebrovascular disease risk (777 events, 1.18, 1.06 to 1.31, P=0.002; incidence rates 195 and 150 per 100 000 person years in higher and non-consumers, respectively). Aspartame intake was associated with increased risk of cerebrovascular events (1.17, 1.03 to 1.33, P=0.02; incidence rates 186 and 151 per 100 000 person years in higher and non-consumers, respectively), and acesulfame potassium and sucralose were associated with increased coronary heart disease risk (730 events; acesulfame potassium: 1.40, 1.06 to 1.84, P=0.02; incidence rates 167 and 164; sucralose: 1.31, 1.00 to 1.71, P=0.05; incidence rates 271 and 161).

Conclusions The findings from this large scale prospective cohort study suggest a potential direct association between higher artificial sweetener consumption (especially aspartame, acesulfame potassium, and sucralose) and increased cardiovascular disease risk. Artificial sweeteners are present in thousands of food and beverage brands worldwide, however they remain a controversial topic and are currently being re-evaluated by the European Food Safety Authority, the World Health Organization, and other health agencies.

Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03335644

bmj.com/content/378/bmj-202...

[jimh111]

I assume the study has corrections for things like BMI and smoking habits.

I’ve never liked artificial sweeteners because they are neurotransmitters. If they were used as a drug they would be thoroughly checked but foods and food supplements don’t have to be tested.

We get a similar situation with potential endocrine disrupters, they don’t have to be fully tested and we find the problems decades later.

[LindaC]

Interesting. Never used artificial and changed from a small amount of the real thing to Stevia in the late 1990s, got used to it but stopped all sweeteners. Amazing how easy it became.

[Hennerton in reply to LindaC]

Sorry to say that if you look into Stevia, you will see that it is not without question marks over its safety.

[LindaC in reply to Hennerton]

Yes, thanks and I did look into it. I stopped using - 20+ years ago it seemed a preferable substitute - I stopped because I no longer needed anything to sweeten

Sugar is poison, a friend said to me in the late 1970's!

[greygoose]

Well, surprise, surprise! Artificial sweeteners aren't good for you! Who'da thought it!

[helvella Administrator in reply to greygoose]

Could have knocked me down with a curled-polyester-fibre. 🪶🪶🪶🪶

[greygoose in reply to helvella]

🤣🤣🤣

[Buddy195 Administrator]

I always had reservations about government advice to school children re some of the ‘sugar swap’ advice around artificial sweeteners, ie promotion of diet drinks in KS2

campaignresources.phe.gov.u...

[helvella Administrator in reply to Buddy195]

I hate it when you see self-congratulation and self-promotion like this:

This leaflet is a great way to engage parents and help them think about simple ways to help their children eat less sugar.

Is it up to them to assess its greatness? Of course not.

[janeroar in reply to Buddy195]

alongside the sh*t sugar substitute they are promoting, this other public health England leaflet is promoting vegetable oils and spreads and low fat dairy. Unbelievable they are still saying this is healthy when there’s so much evidence now that it’s not.

Photo of what we are supposed to eat (but in reality it’s dreadful advice)

[Hidden in reply to janeroar]

absolutely

[BootsOn in reply to janeroar]

Far too much carbobohydrate on that plate for me!

[janeroar in reply to BootsOn]

refined carbs shouldn’t be a big part of our diets yet government advice is that they should be. No wonder there’s so much ill-health

[Hidden]

great post. I don’t know why it ever comes as a surprise to anyone that synthetic rubbish is bad for us…

[Regenallotment Ambassador]

Thanks for sharing this, I’ve never been a fan but will double down on this now. Am I right in thinking sucralose can be found in supplements, protein powders and medications too. More ‘read the label’ measures required!

[helvella Administrator in reply to Regenallotment]

It is easy to find the medicines! But some of these might be included because they mention sucralose somewhere (e.g. an interaction with it) rather than containing it as an ingredient.

products.mhra.gov.uk/search...

[Regenallotment Ambassador in reply to helvella]

cripes 33 pages of it. Nicotine chewing gum, cough surups to name a few. 🤯

[BootsOn]

I used saccharin tablets in tea and coffee for decades because they were supposedly good for weightloss. They weren't, of course. About 10 or so years ago I decided to stop using them. Found I couldn't go 'cold turkey' and had to change to a granula sweetener which I slowly weaned off. It was not easy. Then one day I realised I had lost my 'sweet tooth' and many things are far too sweet. I think sugar and artificial sweeteners are as bad as each other.

[helvella Administrator in reply to BootsOn]

It doesn't help that sugars are used to help make up for lack of fat in (some) low-er fat products.

I used to take quite a bit of sugar in my tea (didn't often have coffee then). Gradually reduced to the point where I asked myself why I was bothering. So stopped the last quarter teaspoon and never looked back. And, as I drank more coffee, was perfectly happy without sugar in that.

In no time, having made the odd mistake by picking the wrong cup, I realised how disgusting any sugar was.

(I do consume sugar - in the things you'd expect it to be in! Not meant to signal virtue - just a change of taste.)

[TSH110 in reply to helvella]

Same with me, two spoons in coffee too but I just stopped it. It really tastes sickly if you try a sugared cup in error. I was always suspicious of those artificial sweeteners I think some are poisonous to dogs which ought to ring alarm bells, they shouldn’t be in general circulation let alone promoted as healthy give me honey and real sugar any day.

[Batty1]

Im not saying this isn’t true but I find that when studies of food items come out with negative results it’s important to see who is paying for the study.

[jeanie245]

Finally was able to stop the sucralose in my coffee. Now drink coffee black and I love black coffee. However I’m still having a hard time not put it a bit of sucralose in my plain yogurt which I eat every day. Wondering does anyone know about mock fruit? Or is that just as bad?

[helvella Administrator in reply to jeanie245]

Afraid I simply don't know what you mean by "mock fruit"?

(I did a quick search but couldn't find any helpful definitions!)

[jeanie245 in reply to helvella]

The package —- it’s erythritol and monk fruit. The package says erythritol is a sugar alcohol derived from the fermentation of glucose from

Non – GMO corn it is also found in fruits such as pears, balance, and grapes. Monk fruit is a small tropical melon native to South East Asia. Thank you !

[helvella Administrator in reply to jeanie245]

Ah! Right - I have heard of monk fruit but without the extra information I didn't realise that was what you meant.

I also don't know much about erythritol!

[jeanie245 in reply to helvella]

thank you !!

[wellness1]

Thanks for posting. I went looking for cough lozenges (refuse to call them cough sweets) that are sugar-free and have no artificial sweeteners. Couldn't find anything, although I suppose short-term use is very different from daily consumption. It seems that Spoonful of Sugar that helps the medicine go down could also help create a future need for medicines.

[helvella Administrator in reply to wellness1]

For those who are not diabetic or otherwise troubled by sugar, it might be as well just to accept the sugar in things like that! Hopefully we won't need them for more than a short time.