Menschen, die höhere Mengen künstlicher Süßstoffe konsumierten (Aspartam, Saccharin, Erythritol, Xylitol, Sorbit), zeigten über 8 Jahre steilere Tropfen der verbalen Fluenz, des Gedächtnisses und der kognitiven Funktion. Dieser Link war bei Menschen mit Diabetes stärker, aber auch mit Menschen ohne sie beobachtet.
Common artificial sweeteners linked to cognitive decline in large study
8 Kommentare
I’ve linked to the news release in the post above. In this comment, for those interested, here’s the link to the peer reviewed journal article:
https://www.neurology.org/doi/10.1212/WNL.0000000000214023
From the linked article:
Common artificial sweeteners linked to cognitive decline in large study
A new study published in the journal Neurology provides evidence that regular consumption of certain artificial and low-calorie sweeteners may be linked to a faster decline in memory and other cognitive abilities over time. Using data from more than 12,000 middle-aged and older adults in Brazil, researchers found that **individuals who consumed higher amounts of these sweeteners tended to show steeper drops in verbal fluency, memory, and overall cognitive function over an eight-year period. The association appeared stronger in people with diabetes but was also observed among participants without the condition**.
When each sweetener was analyzed separately, consumption of **aspartame, saccharin, acesulfame potassium, erythritol, xylitol, and sorbitol** was associated with faster decline in global cognition, especially in memory and verbal fluency. In contrast, tagatose—a naturally occurring sugar found in some dairy products and fruits—was not associated with cognitive decline.
So a variety of substances with completely different chemistries are all linked to the same thing? Nope. Don’t buy it.
So what’s an old diabetic with a sweet tooth to do?
The title is far scarier than it should be. This research is nothing to draw any real conclusions from.
> Although the study was large and followed participants over several years, the researchers caution against drawing firm conclusions about cause and effect. The study relied on self-reported dietary data collected only at the beginning of the study, which may not capture long-term changes in diet. People with certain health conditions, such as diabetes or obesity, may also be more likely to consume artificial sweeteners in place of sugar, raising the possibility that underlying health issues, rather than the sweeteners themselves, contributed to cognitive decline.
>In addition, while the researchers adjusted for a wide range of demographic, clinical, and lifestyle factors, unmeasured variables could still play a role. The study also lacked brain imaging or biological markers that could offer clues about how these sweeteners might affect brain structure or function.
It’s mostly just research that should be of interest to other researchers who can now hypothesize about possible mechanisms as to how this might be happening, and then testing those in more robust studies.
So far, an overwhelming quantity of research has supported the safety of various artificial sweeteners, which is why they continue to be sold all over the world.
Every now and again some research hints at possible negative side-effects, but research that actually definitively proves any of it is very few and far between.
Sad to see erythritol on the list, I strongly prefer it to stevia. Sigh. Guess I’m back to stevia or no sweeteners.
Maybe they are indicative of the lack of caloric sugars rather than these chemicals. As someone has pointed out these are pretty different chemicals.
Someone might cross reference this study with study that has subjects who stopped taking all sugars.
every time I have artificial sweeteners I get migraines and stomach problems for days
lots of those are still alcohol, so wouldn’t they have a similar effect metabolically? I’ve been using allulose as a substitute and it’s been great so far!