‘Increased risk’: Warning over cult diet drinks after animal study

A warning has been issued over a cult diet soft drink was linked to cardiovascular disease and disease of blood cells in the brain.

A warning has been issued over a cult diet soft drink was linked to cardiovascular disease and disease of blood cells in the brain.

Karolinska Institutet, and colleagues from China at Shandong University, conducted a study on how artificial sweeteners such as aspartame impact mice and monkeys.

Aspartame is one of the most commonly used artificially sweeteners, found in diet soft drinks such as Diet Coke and Sprite Zero. It’s also found in products such as Extra gum and Equal.

Aspartame was discovered in 1965 and approved for use in Australia in 1986.

The study looked at 12 mice, separated into two groups. One set was fed a high-fat, high-cholesterol diet containing 0.15 per cent aspartame — which is twice the amount human beverages are allowed to have.

Aspartame is the most common artificial sweetener, often found in diet soft drinks. Picture: news.com.au

It's also found in gum. Picture: news.com.au

The other group were fed a diet that contained a 15 per cent regular sugar. The diet went on for 12 weeks.

It showed that the mice that ate the aspartame for 12 weeks showed they had more atherosclerosis in the aorta, the largest artery in the body, compared to the other mice. It also resulted in higher insulin levels. Insulin is a hormone in the pancreas that controls blood sugar. Higher levels are often associated with type 2 diabetes. It also found that an inflammatory protein such as CX3CL1, which can contribute to atherosclerosis, was found.

Mice lacking the receptor for the protein weren’t impacted by the consumption of aspartame. If the results also applied to humans, it could be a target for cardiovascular and stroke drugs.

Some results were verified on the monkeys, but further studies are needed. The study did warn that the mice used were particularly prone to developing atherosclerosis. This means it’s hard to understand how it could impact humans.

“We show that aspartame consumption stimulates insulin release and contributes to atherosclerosis in mice, and which molecules are involved,” Yihai Cao, professor at the Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology at Karolinska Institutet and led the study, said.

A study has warned of possible links to heart illnesses. Picture: iStock

“It’s just an animal study, but we think the results may also be relevant for humans because we see that aspartame affects insulin release in monkeys as well.”

Mr Cao said further investigation is needed to see if other artificial sweeteners have the same impact, and how diet impacts it.

“Human studies are rather difficult to conduct because intake of other foods and beverages can result in insulin release. Different individuals may also respond differently because factors such as age, gender and lifestyle can also affect insulin release,” he said.

Experts have been divided on the study’s findings. Professor Oliver Jones, a chemistry expert at RMIT, said the rats are prone to heart disease.

“Even if aspartame did cause some increase in cardiovascular risk … then that risk would likely be very small compared to things like high fat/high sugar diets and lack of exercise,” he told Daily Mail.

Meanwhile, Professor Mark Wahlqvist said we should stop the inappropriate use of artificial sweeteners.

Originally published as ‘Increased risk’: Warning over cult diet drinks after animal study