Our society is in constant pursuit of losing weight using all types of unhealthy methods, and artificial sweeteners. Researchers have identified that artificially sweetened beverages, such as diet soda, may also escalate the chances of a person developing dementia or having a stroke.
The health journal Stroke, which is part of the American Heart Association, recently discovered that consistent daily diet soda drinking gives a person three times the danger of getting dementia or having a stroke versus somebody that consumes no more than one diet soda per week.
Over the years, diet drinks have been the focus of several reports that exhibited risks to our health. In 2013, Purdue University identified that diet soda and diet drinks often do not assist us in losing weight. A study in Boston conducted nearly a decade ago, discovered that people that consume diet soda are not at any less risk of cardiovascular problems than people who drink regular non-diet soda.
The Stroke journal findings revealed that consuming drinks with high sugar content will not directly increase an individual’s likelihood of developing dementia or having a stroke. That does not mean it’s a good reason to consume sugary beverages. Harvard studies associate drinking lots of beverages with high sugar contents with heart disease and diabetes.
Dr. Matthew Pase, from the school of medicine at Boston University and the author of the study stated:
“Although we did not find an association between stroke or dementia and the consumption of sugary drinks, this certainly does not mean they are a healthy option…We recommend that people drink water on a regular basis instead of sugary or artificially sweetened beverages.”
Researchers analyzed thousands of 45-year-old or older individuals on their eating and drinking activities over a 7 year span. The researchers then checked in again at 10 years down the road to determine if anyone had suffered a stroke or had developed dementia. The information was modified for several variables, such as the participant’s gender, age, and a number of calories they typically consume.
The research followed the pattern involving artificial sweeteners, stroke, and dementia, but was not able to conclusively verify that artificial drinks had been the cause of the medical conditions.
The lead Doctor of the study further stated that the overall threat and danger for getting dementia and stroke from the artificial sweeteners in diet soda is not enormous.
“Even if someone is three times as likely to develop stroke or dementia, it is by no means a certain fate…In our study, 3% of the people had a new stroke, and 5% developed dementia, so we are still talking about a small number of people developing stroke or dementia.”
The ABA(American Beverage Association) said that many other aspects of our modern life bring about the suffering from dementia and possibility of having a stroke.
“Low-calorie sweeteners have been proven safe by worldwide government safety authorities as well as hundreds of scientific studies, and there is nothing in this research that counters this well-established fact…The (U.S. Food and Drug Administration), World Health Organization, European Food Safety Authority and others have extensively reviewed low-calorie sweeteners and have all reached the same conclusion – they are safe for consumption.”
It is better to be safe than sorry, and when drinking diet soda, we would caution to keep it at one per week if you find the need to drink it at all.
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