A large study from Brazil has found[1] that people who consume more artificial (AKA low calorie) sweeteners in midlife lose memory and thinking skills more quickly than lighter users. The research tracked over 12,000 adults for eight years and showed that high consumers aged faster in cognitive terms by about 1.6 years.
How the study worked
The findings come from the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health, which began in 2008 and involved public employees in six cities. After filtering incomplete records, the analysis covered 12,772 participants with an average age of 52. They were tested three times during follow-up on memory, verbal fluency, recall, and processing speed.
Artificial sweetener intake was divided into three levels. The lowest group averaged around 20 milligrams per day, while the highest group averaged about 191 milligrams. Sorbitol was the most common at 64 milligrams per day. Compared with the lowest group, the middle group declined 35 percent faster in overall cognition. The highest group declined 62 percent faster.
Age and health differences
The impact was strongest in people under 60. In participants with diabetes, higher intake was tied to sharper drops in memory and overall cognition. In those without diabetes, verbal fluency and broader thinking declined more quickly. For people over 60, the link was weaker, suggesting midlife may be a more critical stage for brain changes.
Which sweeteners were studied
Seven types were assessed: aspartame, saccharin, acesulfame-K, erythritol, xylitol, sorbitol, and tagatose. Six were linked with decline. Tagatose, a sugar found naturally in dairy and fruit, showed no clear effect. The researchers noted that one can of diet soda contains roughly the same amount of sweeteners as those in the highest group.
Why it might happen
The study did not prove cause and effect, but past research points to possible explanations. Lab work has suggested erythritol may influence blood flow in the brain by affecting nitric oxide. Other compounds may raise oxidative stress or trigger inflammation, processes connected with dementia. Some sweeteners like sucralose have also been tied to changes in appetite signaling.
Wider health picture
Artificial sweeteners are common in diet sodas, yogurt, and snack foods. Regulators including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration allow their use, and they have some benefits, such as controlling spikes in blood sugar and lowering the risk of tooth decay. But other studies have reported links with obesity, metabolic syndrome, heart disease, and depression. Evidence on brain health has been mixed until this large dataset.
Study limits and next steps
Dietary intake was measured only at the start, so changes over time were not tracked. The study also lacked brain imaging or biomarkers to confirm mechanisms. Even though the analysis adjusted for health and lifestyle, other factors may still have influenced the results.
The authors suggest future work should collect repeated diet records, add brain scans, and compare artificial sweeteners with natural alternatives like stevia or monk fruit.
What it means
The results point to midlife as an important window for protecting brain health. While sweeteners remain widely used as sugar substitutes, the study indicates their long-term effects deserve closer examination.
Notes: This post was edited/created using GenAI tools. Image: Towfiqu barbhuiya/unsplash
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References
- ^ found (www.neurology.org)
- ^ Study Finds LLM Referrals Convert At 4.87% Versus 4.6% For Search, But Scale Remains Tiny (www.digitalinformationworld.com)