Sweeteners, Weight Loss and Brain Fog

When looking to lose some weight, or starting a diet, it is common to use sweeteners as a way of reducing calories.

I have written about the disadvantages of sweeteners for many years, but a new piece of research shows not only are they not effective for weight loss but they could also be giving you memory and concentration issues.

Now, a study published in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, provides more evidence suggesting a correlation between sugar substitute use and cognitive decline.

Sugar substitutes linked to 62% faster decline in thinking, and memory skills

Where it all started

Low-calorie sweeteners and sugar substitutes such as aspartame, saccharin, and xylitol have been used since the early 1900s.

Past studies show there may be potential health risks to using sugar substitutes, including cognitive issues. 

Since the 1970s, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration has approved only six sugar substitutes for food additive use, including saccharin, sucralose and aspartame as well as sugar alcohols like xylitol and erythritol, and plant-based sugar substitutes like stevia and monk fruit.

Previous research shows there are some benefits to using sugar substitutes, including a reduced blood sugar spike for diabetics and they may help protect the teeth from cavities and decay. 

However, there have also been a number of studies showing the potential health risks of sugar substitutes, such as a possible negative impact on the gut microbiome.

Low-calorie sweeteners have been linked to a higher risk of certain health conditions, such as heart attack and stroke.

Important new study on sugar substitutes

This is important both for its scale and length of the study. Researchers recruited more than 12,000 adults from Brazil, with a median age of 52, and scientists followed the participants for an average of eight years. 

They focused on the artificial sweeteners aspartame, saccharin, acesulfame-K, erythritol, xylitol and sorbitol.

Claudia Kimie Suemoto, MD, PhD is associate professor of geriatrics at the University of São Paulo in Brazil and lead author of the study and commented on it in Medical News Today.

“Previous studies had already shown that artificial sweeteners were linked to several health conditions, such as type 2 diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and depression, but their potential impact on cognition had not been investigated.

In our own prior work with the ELSA-Brasil study, we found that higher consumption of ultra processed foods was associated with faster cognitive decline, and many sugar-free ultra-processed foods contain artificial sweeteners,”  

62% faster decline in cognition with sweetener use

At the study’s conclusion, researchers found that study participants who consumed the largest amount of sugar substitutes — an average of 191 mg/day — had a 62% faster decline in their overall thinking and memory skills, compared to those who consumed the least, on average 20 mg/day. 

This means that people in the highest group of sweetener consumption experienced cognitive aging at a much quicker pace than expected, which could increase their risk of earlier impairment later in life.

”Those participants who consumed the largest amounts of artificial sweeteners showed declines in memory and overall thinking skills that were similar to what we would expect after 1.6 extra years of aging.”

It does not mean someone instantly feels older, but rather that their brain function may be aging at a faster pace.

The significance is that even small accelerations in cognitive decline, when accumulated over years, can increase the risk of earlier or more severe impairment later in life.

Cognitive decline and dementia are thought to begin developing decades before symptoms become noticeable, so exposures during midlife may accelerate these processes and have long-term consequences.

Fastest decline occurred in those under 60 who also had diabetes.

While the study cannot prove causation, this magnitude of association raises concern that frequent sweetener consumption is not a harmless habit, and it underscores the need for more research and for people to be cautious with long-term use.

Helpful information:

Losing weight is never easy, and it can certainly be very tempting to turn to something that would seem at first glance to help you with that.

The message I have taken from this new study is that there really is no substitute for a healthy diet and if sweeteners are a must for you then try to cut down their use and frequency.

It is never easy if you have a sweet tooth as I know because I have taken over a year to give up having sugar in coffee!

I am not unsympathetic to why people would turn to sweeteners but cutting anything out suddenly is usually too drastic. It can often lead to consequences you would not have wished for, so please cut down slowly.

If your reason for using them is to lose weight then it is better to focus on a very specific healthy diet that would help you and the most generally acknowledged as effective as the Mediterranean diet.

If however you are concerned about brain fog then a good diet is equally important and ensure you have good hormone balance.

Brain fog in particular is often related to low progesterone levels so Serenity can make a difference to that.

This article can also be helpful.

https://anna.blog.wellsprings-health.com/forgetfulness-brain-fog-and-ageing-whats-normal/