Study: Women who consume 2 diet drinks a day more likely to die

MANILA, Philippines - While thinking that opting for a diet drink instead of the regular one is doing your body right, it actually doesn't, a study claims.

Tufts University study led by Gitanjali Singh, Ph.D found out that artificial sweeteners cause heart failure, diabetes, high blood pressure and other health problems in women.

The study, published in  the journal Circulation and previously presented at the American Heart Association Council on Epidemiology and Prevention in 2013 observed 59,614 women participating in the Women’s Health Initiative Observational Study. The population was divided into groups, depending on how often they consume diet drinks (defined as a 12-ounce artificially sweetened beverage, including sodas, fruit drinks, sports/energy drinks).

After being observed for 8.7 years, the researchers found out that those who drink more than two artificially sweetened beverage for a day are 50 percent more likely die from a heart-related disease than women who had less than one diet drink per week.

Another interesting finding is that their increased rates of cardiovascular problems remained the same even after controlling data such as habits like smoking, drinking beer and exercising.

Previous studies have blamed aspartame for this. Aspartame is a chemical sweetener that is often used to equate sweetness yet lowers the calories in the food or beverage. According to different studies, more and more consumers equate the chemical with neurological poison. Dr. Joseph Mercola, a renowned osteopathic physician and web entrepreneur said on his blog that aspartame intake in the long run may lead to brain cancer, birth defects, seizures, diabetes and even emotional disorders. -Alixandra Caole Vila