Can artificial sweeteners cause cancer risk?

Many of us avoid sugar and prefer to have artificial sweeteners considering they will help lose weight. Well, to an extent it’s true, but as per the latest study, these artificial sweeteners are associated with increased cancer risk as well. Yes, you heard us right! A new study published in the journal 'PLOS Medicine', states that artificial sweeteners are associated with increased cancer risk. Read to know more about the study and its findings. (Image: istock)

As per the study, published in the journal 'PLOS Medicine', some artificial sweeteners are associated with increased cancer risk. To evaluate the potential carcinogenicity of artificial sweeteners, researchers analyzed data from 102,865 French adults participating in the NutriNet-Sante study. The NutriNet-Sante study is an ongoing web-based cohort initiated in 2009 by the Nutritional Epidemiology Research Team (EREN). For this, participants enrol voluntarily and self-report medical history, sociodemographic, diet, lifestyle, and health data. Researchers gathered data concerning artificial sweetener intake from 24-hour dietary records. (Image: istock)

After collecting cancer diagnosis information during follow-up, the researchers conducted statistical analyses to investigate the associations between artificial sweetener intakes and cancer risk. They also adjusted for a range of variables including age, sex, education, physical activity, smoking, body mass index, height, weight-gain during follow-up, diabetes, family history of cancer, as well as baseline intakes of energy, alcohol, sodium, saturated fatty acids, fibre, sugar, whole-grain foods, and dairy products. (Image: istock)

Also Read: This is why artificial sweeteners make you feel hungry

The researchers found that enrollees consuming larger quantities of artificial sweeteners, particularly aspartame and acesulfame-K, had a higher risk of overall cancer compared to non-consumers (hazard ratio 1.13, 95 per cent confidence interval 1.03 to 1.25). Higher risks were observed for breast cancer and obesity-related cancers. The study had several important limitations; dietary intakes are self-reported. Selection bias may also have been a factor, as participants were more likely to be women, to have higher educational levels, and to exhibit health-conscious behaviours. (Image: istock)

According to the authors, "Our findings do not support the use of artificial sweeteners as safe alternatives for sugar in foods or beverages and provide important and novel information to address the controversies about their potential adverse health effects. While these results need to be replicated in other large-scale cohorts and underlying mechanisms clarified by experimental studies, they provide important and novel insights for the ongoing re-evaluation of food additive sweeteners by the European Food Safety Authority and other health agencies globally." (Image: istock)

With ANI inputs

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