Daily consumption of Diet Coke may increase the risk of heart attacks, according to scientific research.
Artificial sweeteners, which are also added to yogurt, cereal, and ketchup, are blamed by scientists.
According to experts, those who eat as little as 78mg of caffeine per day, the amount found in half a can of diet soda, are up to ten percent more likely to experience a heart attack.
They were also 20% more likely to experience a stroke, according to the study.
Academics from France cautioned the public that they should not be regarded as a safe replacement for sugar.
The decade-long study of one hundred thousand participants, which was published in the British Medical Journal, adds to the growing body of research suggesting that sweeteners may be harmful to health.
However, independent specialists have cautioned that the relationship between sugar replacements and heart issues is exaggerated, whereas the hazards of sugar are well-known.
Without larger and longer-term trials, it will be impossible to establish a conclusion about artificial sweeteners, they warned.
Manufacturers use artificial sweeteners in tens of thousands of food and beverage items to promote low- or no-calorie variants.
Numerous studies have already established a connection between sweets and weight increase.
Other research has connected overconsumption to high blood pressure and inflammation, both of which are associated with a variety of health problems.
Yet, evidence has been contradictory as to whether the dietary ingredient is responsible for diseases such as cardiovascular disease.
Researchers from the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research analyzed data on 103,388 individuals to determine the cause of this phenomenon.
Participants, with an average age of 42, recorded everything they consumed for three days.
This allowed the consumption of artificial sweeteners to be split down by product, such as beverages, tabletop sweeteners, and dairy, and by type, such as aspartame, acesulfame, and sucralose.
This allowed the scientists to search for a correlation between heart attacks and strokes by comparing the data to medical records.
37% of the cohort incorporated the food additive in their diet, with an average daily intake of 42.5mg, about equivalent to one packet of tabletop sweetener or 100ml of diet soda.
Those who ingested artificial sweeteners were typically younger and more obese than those who did not.
In addition, they were more likely to smoke, be less active, adhere to a diet, and consume more salt, red and processed meat, dairy products, and diet beverages.
All of the characteristics, except age, are believed to contribute to the growth of heart problems, which may have skewed the results.
However, the experts asserted that they took this into account.
Over the course of the nine-year trial, there were 1,502 heart attacks, strokes, occurrences of angina (chest pain caused by inadequate blood supply to the heart), and angioplasties (surgery to widen blocked arteries).
The team discovered that people who ingested the most artificial sweeteners had a nine percent increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
The largest consumers of artificial sweeteners consumed 77.6mg per day, which is equivalent to 180ml of carbonated beverages.
This group was also 18 percent more likely to suffer from cerebrovascular illness, which includes disorders that disrupt blood flow to the brain, such as a stroke.
Aspartame, which is included in sugar-free beverages, ice cream, and salad dressing, was associated with the highest stroke risk.
Researchers acknowledged that their observational study does not prove that artificial sweeteners increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.
They highlight, however, that the study employed “precise” and “high-quality” data.
The team reported in the journal that there appeared to be “no benefit” to heart health from substituting sugar for artificial sweeteners.
They stated, “The data show that artificial sweeteners may constitute a modifiable cardiovascular disease risk factor.”
The findings indicate that these food additives, which are consumed daily by millions of people and are found in hundreds of foods and beverages, should not be regarded as a healthy and safe substitute for sugar, by the existing position of several health agencies.
Nevertheless, analysts identified problems in the conclusions.
Professor Naveed Sattar, a cardiovascular disease expert at the University of Glasgow, cautioned that the “huge variations” in health between people who use food additives and those who do not make it impossible to identify what function it plays.
He stated that the researchers implied ‘very strongly’ that artificial sweeteners may be responsible for poor heart health, despite observational evidence that is ‘weak and perhaps flawed’
Professor Sattar said that studies examining the effect of artificial sweeteners on health have been “contradictory” and that it is not possible to conclude without a long-term and big randomized experiment.
Advocates believe that substituting sugar with sweeteners reduces caloric intake, regulates blood sugar levels, and avoids tooth damage.
However, studies have shown that sweeteners might stimulate appetite and increase the potential risk of weight gain and obesity.
And earlier this year, the same team of French academics working for President Emmanuel Macron’s administration discovered that sweeteners may increase the risk of cancer.
They monitored the food and health of one hundred thousand individuals for eight years. Those who drank artificial sweeteners frequently were 13% more likely to be diagnosed with cancer.
Cancer Research UK and the US National Cancer Institute have stated, however, that there is no evidence that sweeteners cause cancer.
