A study published last week in the journal Stroke found that drinking even one can of diet soda a day triples your risk of dementia. Not surprisingly, this caused quite an uproar.
Sharyn posted her concerns on the Nutrition Diva facebook page:
“I'm disturbed by a report I heard yesterday about a possible link between artificial sweeteners and dementia. I'm reluctant to stop using artificial sweeteners on the basis of a single study. I'm in my 60's and use artificial sweeteners daily. So sure, I'm concerned. Are there other studies that support this?”
As a matter of fact, Sharyn, there don’t seem to be any other studies linking artificial sweeteners to dementia. And I think your reluctance to change your behavior based on a single isolated finding is very reasonable—especially when we take a closer look at what this particular study actually found.
However, there may be other, more compelling arguments against daily consumption of artificial sweeteners. I’ll get back to those in a moment. For now, let’s take a look at what this most recent study does (and doesn’t) tell us about the relationship between artificial sweeteners and dementia risk.
