Study suggests association between consuming artificial sweeteners and increased cancer risk
Date:
March 24, 2022
Source:
PLOS
Summary:
Artificial sweeteners reduce added sugar content and corresponding
calories while maintaining sweetness. A new study suggests that some
artificial sweeteners are associated with increased cancer risk.
FULL STORY ========================================================================== Artificial sweeteners reduce added sugar content and corresponding
calories while maintaining sweetness. A study publishing March 24 in PLOS Medicine by Charlotte Debras and Mathilde Touvier at the French National Institute for Health and Medical Research (Inserm) and Sorbonne Paris
Nord University, France and colleagues suggests that some artificial
sweeteners are associated with increased cancer risk.
==========================================================================
Many food products and beverages containing artificial sweeteners are
consumed by millions of people daily. However, the safety of these
additives has been a subject of debate. 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).
Participants enroll voluntarily and self-report medical history, sociodemographic, diet, lifestyle, and health data. Researchers gathered
data concerning artificial sweetener intake from 24-hour dietary
records. 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, fiber, sugar, whole-grain foods, and dairy products.
The researchers found that enrollees consuming larger quantities of
artificial sweeteners, particularly aspartame and acesulfame-K, had
higher risk of overall cancer compared to non-consumers (hazard ratio
1.13, 95% 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 behaviors. The observational nature of the study also
means that residual confounding is possible and reverse causality cannot
be ruled out. Additional research will be required to confirm the findings
and clarify the underlying mechanisms.
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."
Debras adds, "Results from the NutriNet-Sante' cohort (n=102,865)
suggest that artificial sweeteners found in many food and beverage
brands worldwide may be associated with increased cancer risk, in line
with several experimental in vivo / in vitro studies. These findings
provide novel information for the re- evaluation of these food additives
by health agencies."
========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by PLOS. Note: Content may be edited
for style and length.
========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Charlotte Debras, Eloi Chazelas, Bernard Srour, Nathalie
Druesne-Pecollo,
Younes Esseddik, Fabien Szabo de Edelenyi, Ce'dric Agae"sse,
Alexandre De Sa, Rebecca Lutchia, Ste'phane Gigandet, Inge
Huybrechts, Chantal Julia, Emmanuelle Kesse-Guyot, Benjamin Alle`s,
Valentina A. Andreeva, Pilar Galan, Serge Hercberg, Me'lanie
Deschasaux-Tanguy, Mathilde Touvier.
Artificial sweeteners and cancer risk: Results from the
NutriNet-Sante' population-based cohort study. PLOS Medicine,
March 24, 2022; DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1003950 ==========================================================================
Link to news story:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/03/220324143800.htm
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