High Sweetener Intake Tied to 62% Faster Cognitive Decline Over 8 Years in 12,772 Brazilian Adults

Researchers tracked 12,772 adults averaging 52 years old using baseline dietary questionnaires to quantify intake of aspartame, saccharin, acesulfame-K, erythritol, xylitol, sorbitol and tagatose. Cognitive batteries assessing memory, verbal fluency and processing speed were repeated at baseline, four years and eight years. After adjusting for hypertension, cardiovascular disease and diabetes, the highest-intake group declined markedly faster, with sorbitol showing the strongest per-gram association.

The effect was amplified in diabetic participants, aligning with prior observational data from the Nurses' Health Study and Framingham Offspring cohort that linked artificially sweetened beverages to higher stroke and dementia risk. Mechanistic clues include gut-microbiome shifts altering vagal signaling and hippocampal inflammation observed in rodent models of chronic sucralose exposure. These patterns suggest sweeteners may accelerate rather than mitigate metabolic pathways already strained in diabetes.

Regulatory bodies have so far treated these compounds as metabolically inert. The present findings indicate dose-dependent neurological signals that warrant targeted RCTs measuring neuroimaging and biomarker endpoints before revising acceptable daily intakes. Public-health messaging on ultra-processed foods should now incorporate cognitive risk alongside cardiometabolic considerations.