Artificial sweeteners aged the brain by over 1.5 years, study says – CTV
September 04, 2025
People who consumed the highest levels of certain artificial sweeteners — equivalent to just one diet soda a day — saw a significant decline in their ability to remember and recall words when compared to people who consumed the lowest levels, a new study found.
“People who consumed the most low- or no-calorie sweeteners showed a 62 per cent faster global cognitive decline than those who consumed the lowest amount — that’s the equivalent of 1.6 — years of brain aging,” said lead study author Dr. Claudia Kimie Suemoto, an associate professor of geriatrics and director of the Biobank for Aging Studies at the University of São Paulo’s Medical School in Brazil.
People in the highest tier consumed an average of 191 milligrams, or about 1 teaspoon, of artificial sweeteners each day. To put that into perspective, one can of diet soda sweetened with aspartame contains around 200 to 300 milligrams, according to the World Health Organization.
A middle tier of people consumed an average of 66 milligrams of artificial sweeteners a day, with the lowest consumption at only 20 milligrams a day, according to Suemoto.
