Artificial sweeteners may not be safe as an alternative to sugar- breaking latest news

Still a study that raises doubts, but no definitive conclusions. There is no evidence that sweeteners, chosen by millions of people around the world because they are lower in calories than sugar, are carcinogenic. A large French study again suggests a possible legame between artificial sweeteners and increased cancer riskbut the same authors of the survey underline in the conclusions that the danger rises slightly and above all that the research has several limits.

Many foods and beverages (including those sold as dietetic) contain artificial sweeteners, the potential harm to health of which has been under discussion for years, while the scientific community continues to investigate, but the European Food Safety Authority Safety Authority – EFSA) has so far ruled out a certain link between artificial sweeteners and tumors. Even in this new French survey, the evidence that emerges is, albeit interesting, relative and inconclusive – comments Riccardo Caccialanza, director of the Dietetics and Clinical Nutrition Unit at the IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo Foundation in Pavia -. Since the 1990s, research has continued to be carried out which has not reached a definitive conclusion. What we do know that chemical additives in general are not healthy and are not a real solution to keeping weight under control. To limit the chances of developing a neoplasm (as well as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and many other serious pathologies) it is rather important to keep away overweight and obesity, sedentarity, follow a balanced diet, adequate in caloric content and with a not excessive amount of sugar. . These are factors that we know for sure increase the danger of getting sick, as dozens of studies on millions of people around the world have now shown.

The recent study

In the recent survey, published in the journal PLOS Medicine, French researchers from the French National Institute for Health and Medical Research (Inserm) and the Sorbonne University analyzed the data of 102,865 adults participating in the NutriNet-Sant study, which since 2009 has been collecting self-related information. reported by people who adhere about their medical history, diet, lifestyle and various other health information. By comparing the cases of cancer diagnosed over the years and the news broadcast on the consumption of sweeteners, the scholars have deduced that artificial sweeteners (in particular aspartame and acesulfame k) slightly increase the risk of cancer by 13%, especially breast and breast cancer. types of cancer linked to being overweight. The French authors themselves, however, report important limitations starting from the fact that all the data derive from what the interviewees declared – says Caccialanza -. Furthermore, in observational studies it is not possible to evaluate cause-effect relationships, but only risk associations and the definitive conclusion to which they arrive that further confirmations are needed in order to re-evaluate the possible carcinogenicity of sweeteners.