Artificially Sweetened Drinks Linked To Higher Risk Of Stroke In Women Over 50

that research indicates “drinking two or more of any kind of artificially sweetened drinks a day is linked to an increased risk of clot-based strokes, heart attacks and early death in women over 50.” Investigators found that “the risks were highest for women with no history of heart disease or diabetes and women who were obese or African-American.” TIME (2/14, Park) reports that investigators “studied data from more than 81,000 post-menopausal women enrolled in the large population-based Women’s Health Initiative.” According to Time, “three years into the study, the women answered questions about” beverage consumption during the previous three months. The researchers found, “after an average followup of nearly 12 years...that women who drank two or more artificially sweetened drinks a day had a 23% higher risk of having any type of stroke, and a 31% increased risk of having a stroke due to clotting in brain blood vessels, compared to women who reporting drinking fewer than one beverage a week (or none at all).” The findings were published in the journal Stroke. HealthDay (2/14, Mozes) also covers the stor While the results do not suggest that diet drinks directly cause strokes, the association raises alarms about how artificial sweeteners might be affecting the body. These sweeteners haven’t been studied enough yet to provide definitive answers, but work in animals suggests that compounds like saccharin and aspartame may compromise the body’s ability to break down glucose properly, and impaired glucose control can lead to diabetes, a risk factor for heart disease and circulatory problems like stroke. The artificial sweeteners may be altering the bacteria living in the gut, which may disrupt the body’s ability to control glucose. http://time.com/5529119/diet-soda-stroke/