A lot of people opt for diet sodas instead of regular drinks, thinking it is less harmful compared to the initial. But, a new study revealed drinking more diet drinks posed a higher risk of stroke, heart disease, and even early death.
In a study published in the journal Stroke, the American Heart Association (AHA) and American Stroke Association (ASA) collaborated to study data from almost 82,000 women ages 50 to 79. Within three years of the study, these ladies answered questions like how many diet drinks they consumed in the past three months, including low-calorie sodas and fruit beverages, per Time.
After an average follow-up of almost 12 years, the researchers found 23 percent of women who drank two or more artificially sweetened drinks a day had a higher risk of suffering different types of stroke. They also had a 31-percent increased risk of having a stroke because of clotting in brain blood vessels, compared to other women who drank less, or none at all, of the said beverage.
Albert Einstein College of Medicine's clinical epidemiology and population health associate professor and leader of the study Yasmin Mossavar-Rahmani said the increased risk is concerning because most of the said strokes are in the "smaller blood vessels in the brain." "These findings show that we shouldn't assume [diet drinks] are harmless when you consume them at high levels," she added, via Health. Previous studies revealed that suffering repeated strokes in smaller vessels is a risk factor for dementia.
Mossavar-Rahmani continued to say many "well-meaning people," especially those overweight or obese, opt to drink low-calorie sweetened drinks to cut out calories in their diet. But, their research and other observational studies revealed that artificially sweetened drinks are as harmful as regular drinks. Its high consumption is also associated with a higher risk of stroke and heart disease.
However, the researchers cannot specifically point out which of the diet drink's ingredient is dangerous for health. "We don't know specifically what types of artificially sweetened beverages they were consuming, so we don't know which artificial sweeteners may be harmful and which may be harmless," Mossavar-Rahmani explained.
Aside from stroke and heart disease, diet drinks are also linked to an "increased risk of dementia" and, of course, weight gain. So even though you believe you are doing your body a favor for opting for low-calorie drinks, it is not the case.
The AHA has been recommending everyone to drink water instead of artificially sweetened beverages. If you still like your drink to taste differently, you can opt for carbonated or flavored water that has no sweeteners, but mimic the sweet taste of soda.
