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Longevity Atlas
Mostly false

„Artificial sweeteners make you as fat as sugar and cause cancer.”

In RCTs swapping sugary drinks for sweetened ones produces weight loss (–1–2 kg, 2022 meta-analysis); the “fattening” claim comes from reverse causation in cohorts (heavier people drink more diet soda). Cancer: aspartame's IARC 2B rating (“possible”, like aloe vera) rests on weak evidence, and EFSA deems 40 mg/kg a day safe (≈ 14 cans). Where caution is fair: sucralose and saccharin alter gut flora in some people and can worsen glucose response (Suez 2022). Water is better — but diet soda isn't sugar.

Sources

  1. Suez J et al. Personalized microbiome-driven effects of non-nutritive sweeteners on human glucose tolerance. Cell (2022) ↗
  2. McGlynn ND et al. Association of low- and no-calorie sweetened beverages as a replacement for sugar-sweetened beverages with body weight and cardiometabolic risk: meta-analysis. JAMA Netw Open (2022) ↗

Last reviewed: 6 September 2026

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