A Major Study On Drink Diet Coke Every Day, Is It Aging Your Brain Faster?

That afternoon Diet Coke you reach for to power you through the workday may actually be accelerating the aging of your brain, a new study found. For decades, artificial sweeteners were marketed as the guilt-free alternative to natural sugar. However, they may carry a real cost for your long-term brain health. The research, which was published in the peer-reviewed journal Neurology, found that people who consumed the highest amounts of low- and no-calorie sweeteners experienced faster declines in memory and thinking than those who consumed the least. That gap was equivalent to about 1.6 years of brain aging. The impact was more pronounced in people under 60 and those with diabetes.

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The study followed 12,772 adults across Brazil, with an average age of 52, for about eight years, making it the largest and longest study of its kind to date. Researchers tracked seven low- and no-calorie sweeteners frequently found in ultra-processed foods like flavored water, soda, energy drinks, yogurt, and low-calorie desserts: aspartame, saccharin, acesulfame-K, erythritol, xylitol, sorbitol, and tagatose. After adjusting for factors like age, blood pressure, and cardiovascular disease, the findings suggest that the highest-consumption group declined 62 percent faster than the lowest group, the equivalent of about 1.6 years of aging. The middle group declined 35 percent faster, equal to roughly 1.3 years. Six of the seven sweeteners were individually linked to faster decline, with memory taking the biggest hit. Only tagatose showed no association. The link showed up in people under 60, not those older than that, suggesting midlife habits may matter most. Notably, the association was stronger in people with diabetes, the very group most likely to reach for artificial sweeteners in the first place.

Source: INC