Can artificial sweeteners actually harm our health? And could using them regularly influence our memory or cognitive abilities? A newly reported association between sugar substitutes and brain aging still needs more investigation, but it has raised understandable concern. To explore the issue, Medical News Today spoke with a physician and researcher for deeper insight in an In Conversation episode.
Artificial sweeteners come in many forms — liquids, powders, and familiar names such as sucralose, erythritol, and aspartame. They are consumed by millions worldwide, particularly by people living with diabetes.
These products are often recommended for individuals with diabetes because they are believed to cause fewer and smaller spikes in blood glucose compared to regular sugar.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved several artificial sweeteners — including saccharin, sucralose, and aspartame — along with sugar alcohols like xylitol and erythritol, plus plant-derived alternatives such as stevia and monk fruit, considering them safe for general use. However, recent research has increasingly examined their potential long-term health impacts.
One of the newest studies, published in Neurology (the journal of the American Academy of Neurology), reported that artificial sweeteners — including aspartame, saccharin, acesulfame-K, erythritol, xylitol, and sorbitol — were associated with declines in memory and overall cognitive performance roughly equal to 1.6 years of additional brain aging. Findings like this have fueled public debate and concern. But do they mean we should abandon artificial sweeteners completely? And what other health effects might they have?
To address these questions, Claudia Suemoto, MD, PhD, senior author of the Neurology study, joined MNT editors Yasemin Nicola Sakay and Maria Cohut on the latest In Conversation podcast to discuss how artificial sweeteners may affect health, especially the brain.
Dr. Suemoto is a physician and assistant professor of geriatrics at the University of São Paulo Medical School, as well as an epidemiologist specializing in dementia and brain aging. She also helps lead the Brain Bank of the Brazilian Aging Brain Study Group, the largest brain bank in Latin America. In 2016, she received the L’Oreal–UNESCO For Women in Science award in Brazil.
You can listen to the full podcast episode below or through your preferred streaming service.
