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Title: Sweeteners Can Harm Cognitive Health Equivalent To 1.6 Years of Aging,
Study Finds

Link: https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/09/03/2...

A long-term study of over 12,000 adults suggests that artificial sweeteners
like aspartame, saccharin, and sugar alcohols may accelerate cognitive
decline in middle age, equivalent to about 1.6 years of extra aging. The
Guardian reports: Sweeteners' association with cognitive decline is of such
concern that consumers should instead use either tagatose, a natural
sweetener, or alternatives such as honey or maple syrup, the researchers
said. They looked at the impact of seven sweeteners on the health of the
study's participants -- 12,772 civil servants in Brazil, with an average age
of 52 -- who were followed up for on average eight years. Participants
completed questionnaires detailing their food and drink intake over the
previous year, and later underwent tests of their cognitive skills such as
verbal fluency and word recall. People who consumed the most sweeteners
experienced declines in their thinking and memory skills 62% faster than
those with the lowest intake, the researchers found. This was "the equivalent
of about 1.6 years of aging," the researchers said. Consumption of combined
and individual LNCs, particularly aspartame, saccharin, acesulfame K,
erythritol, sorbitol and xylitol, was associated with cognitive loss. "Daily
consumption of LNCs was associated with accelerated decline in memory, verbal
fluency and global cognition," the authors say in their paper, published in
the American medical journal Neurology. However, the trend was only observed
in participants under the age of 60. That shows that middle-aged adults need
to be encouraged to use fewer sweeteners, they added.

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