Among post-menopausal women, drinking multiple artificially sweetened beverages daily was associated with an increase in the risk of having a stroke.
According to research published in the American Heart Association, the daily consumption of artificially sweetened beverages was associated with an increase in the risk of having a stroke caused by a blocked artery, particularly small arteries.
Studying artificially sweetened beverages
This is one of the first studies to look at the association between drinking artificially sweetened beverages and the risk of specific types of stroke in a large, racially diverse group of post-menopausal women.
Compared with women who consumed diet drinks less than once a week or not at all, women who consumed two or more artificially sweetened beverages per day were:
- 23% more likely to have a stroke
- 31% more likely to have a clot-caused (ischemic) stroke
- 29% more likely to develop heart disease (fatal or non-fatal heart attack),
- 16% more likely to die from any cause.
It is important to note that although this study identifies an association between diet drinks and stroke, it does not prove cause and effect as the study was observational and based on self-reported information regarding diet drink consumption.
Risk higher in certain women
Researchers discovered risks were higher for certain women. Heavy intake of diet drinks, defined as two or more times daily, more than doubled stroke risk in:
- Women without previous heart disease or diabetes, who were 2.44 times as likely to have a common type of stroke caused by blockage of one of the very small arteries within the brain
- Obese women without previous heart disease or diabetes, who were 2.03 times as likely to have a clot-caused stroke
- African-American women without previous heart disease or diabetes, who were 3.93 times as likely to have a clot-caused stroke.
Details of the study
Yasmin Mossavar-Rahmani, Ph.D., lead author of the study and associate professor of clinical epidemiology and population health at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, USA, explains: Many well-meaning people, especially those who are overweight or obese, drink low-calorie sweetened drinks to cut calories in their diet.
“Our research and other observational studies have shown that artificially sweetened beverages may not be harmless and high consumption is associated with a higher risk of stroke and heart disease.”
Researchers analysed data on 81,714 postmenopausal women (age 50-79 years at the start) participating in the Women’s Health Initiative study that tracked health outcomes for an average of 11.9 years after they enrolled between 1993 and 1998.
At their three-year evaluation, the women reported how often in the previous three months they had consumed diet drinks such as low calorie, artificially sweetened colas, sodas and fruit drinks. The data collected did not include information about the specific artificial sweetener the drinks contained.
The results were obtained after adjusting for various stroke risk factors such as age, high blood pressure, and smoking. These results in postmenopausal women may not be generalizable to men or younger women. The study is also limited by having only the women’s self-report of diet drink intake.
We don’t know which drinks may be harmful and which won’t
“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,” adds Mossavar-Rahmani.
The American Heart Association recently published a science advisory that explained how there was inadequate scientific research to conclude that low-calorie sweetened beverages do, or do not, alter risk factors for heart disease and stroke in young children, teens or adults.
The Association recognises diet drinks may help replace high calorie, sugary beverages, but recommends water (plain, carbonated and unsweetened flavoured) as the best choice for a no calorie drink.
