Long-term Study Casts Further Doubt On Diet Soda Ingredient.

Aspartame: A New Study Exploring its Effects

The artificial sweetener aspartame is an ingredient that generates a lot of discussion in the scientific community due to its perceived links with various health conditions. From heart disease to cancer, studies have been conducted in the past to try to find out what happens when we consume certain levels of this ingredient found indiet drinks, and recently the conclusion of a long-term experiment on this subject has only added to the pool of evidence against its use.

One of the Largest Studies of its Kind

Examining the connection between sugar-free drinks and problems with the cardiovascular system in post-menopausal women, this new study is said to be among the largest of its kind. It took place at the University of Iowa over a 9-year period, and the results were announced at the 63rd Annual Scientific Session for the American College of Cardiology in Washington.

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The study observed 60,000 females and their consumption habits concerning diet drinks, and the following notableresults were collated: it was found that a group of female subjects who drank more than two diet drinks each day had a 30 percent higher chance of suffering from cardiovascular problems, while the mortality rate was 50 percentgreater for related diseases.

Building on the Evidence of Previous Studies

While studies of this kind are noteworthy and provide valuable data for the bigger picture, they are ultimatelyobservational, which means that they prove a correlation rather than a definite causative effect. 

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The significance of this study, however, is that the large percentage increase in the chances of cardiovascular problems for the aforementioned group of test subjects and the long-term nature of the experiment means that it can help towards proving causative effects in line with the Bradford Hill criteria.The Bradford Hill criteria lists a set of requirements that need to be met before a correlation can be said to equal a certain causative effect. An example of a weak correlative study would be one that observes the effects of eating a certain type of junk food for a period of time in one person versus someone eating fruit and vegetables. 

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Any adverse effects for the junk food eater would indicate a correlation, but for such a small sample size the results wouldn't prove very conclusive.

The Experiment in More Detail

As mentioned, this study included 60,000 participants, and they were split into four groups. Each would stick to the following consumption habits: more than two diet drinks each day; between five and seven diet drinks a week; at least one diet drink, but no more than four a week; and between zero and three a month.

One part of the experiment was to account for the percentage of deaths due to various diseases and conditions to do with the cardiovascular system. 

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These percentages for each of the four groups were 8.5% for women who drank two or more; 6.9% for a weekly diet of five-to-seven drinks; 7.2% accounted for one to four drinks a week; and 6.8% for those who consumed anything between zero and three diet drinks a month.

Further Experiments Going Forward

With this new study presenting the potential effects of diet drinks, and particularly the ingredient aspartame, it should trigger further experiments and theories on this subject in the future. Currently, there is a number of studies suggesting the negative effects of artificially sweetened soda, focusing on conditions such as kidney function, blood cancer and brain damage. This latest study will certainly add to these current findings.