In a new study researchers find diet drinks are more harmful to health than drinks sweetened with sugar and may risk stroke or dementia.
A team of scientists from Boston University conducted the study and said the diet drinks should not be regarded as a healthier alternative and it is urged to be more inclined to water or milk.
About 4,400 adults over the age of 45 were studied to know how the diet drinks affect our body as it accounts for a quarter of the sweetened beverages market and believed to be healthy.
Details of the study are published in the American Heart Association’s journal Stroke. It writes those who had at least one diet drink a day were more likely to develop dementia by 2.9 times and more at risk of strokes too compared to those who had none of the drinks.
More research is needed into the area considering how often people intake the diet drinks, said senior fellow in the department of neurology at Boston University School of Medicine, Matthew Pase.
He further added, “Although we did not find an association between stroke or dementia and the consumption of sugary drinks, this certainly does not mean they are a healthy option.”
Earlier this year in January researchers from Imperial College London said the diet drinks are no better at aiding weight lost compared to the full fat drinks.
The researchers added diet drinks are in fact encouraging obesity as it triggers sugar receptors in our brain and this leads to craving sweet food.