Study claims artificial sweeteners can lead to faster cognitive decline

Long-term use of artificial sweeteners or low- and no-calorie sweeteners, used mainly by people with diabetes, can lead to cognitive decline, claimed a study.

Researchers from the Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil, analysed 12,000 patients who use common artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, saccharin, xylitol, erythritol, sorbitol, tagatose, and acesulfame K.

The results, published in the Neurology journal, found that people who consumed the highest amounts had the greatest declines – 62 per cent -- in thinking and memory, as compared to those who consumed less.

The declines amounted to 1.6 years of additional brain ageing. “We know sugar and sugar substitutes raise the risk of diabetes and malignancies. They are also linked to brain vascular cell dysfunction,” Dr Manjari Tripathi, head of the neurology department at AIIMS, said. She advised restricting its use.

The study revealed that the people who used the artificial sweeteners moderately had a 35 per cent faster rate of memory and thinking decline, and a 110 per cent faster rate of verbal fluency decline.

For those in the high consumption group, the rate of memory and thinking decline was 62 per cent faster, and their verbal fluency decline was 173 per cent faster.