Studies show that sweeteners as sugar substitutes in drinks have a higher consumption when consumed at high levelsRisk of heart diseaseare connected. According to the researchers, sugary and artificially sweetened foods could lead to cardiovascular diseases. This suggests that such products may not be the healthy alternative that manufacturers claim.
How dangerous are sweeteners as sugar substitutes?
Weight-loss diet drinks that contain sweeteners to replace sugar could negatively impact metabolic heart health, according to the new research letter. Artificially sweetened drinks have been suggested as a healthier alternative, but their effects on cardiovascular health are not fully understood. In this article, researchers examined data from the French NutriNet-Santé cohort study. They wanted a connection between such a risk and thisConsumption of sugary drinksin combination with artificially sweetened drinks. Artificially sweetened beverages were defined as those that did not contain nutritive sweeteners. Sugary versions consisted of all drinks that contained 5% or more sugar. For each beverage category, participants were divided into non-consumers, low consumers and high consumers.
The researchers examined the first cases of cardiovascular diseases during the follow-up examination from 2009 to 2019. These were accordingly classified as temporary strokesischemic heart attack, myocardial infarction, acute coronary syndrome and angioplasty. After excluding the first three years of follow-up to account for possible reverse causality bias, 1,379 participants had first cases of cardiovascular disease. Compared to non-consumers, both high consumers of sugary drinks and artificially sweetened drinks had a higher risk of cardiovascular disease after controlling for a variety of confounding factors. In addition to such a higher risk of heart health problems, the study may have additional regulatory requirements and implications.
Study results
This studysuggests that artificially sweetened drinks may not be a healthy replacement for sugary drinks. The data also provides additional arguments to fuel the current debate about taxes, labeling and regulation of sugary drinks and artificially sweetened beverages. However, the researchers admit that a causal link between sugary, artificially sweetened drinks and cardiovascular disease, replication in large prospective cohorts and mechanistic studies will be required.
