The Claim

Consumption of aspartame at levels above the sex-specific median (16.4 mg/day in men, 18.5 mg/day in women) is associated with a 63% higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes over a 9.1-year follow-up period in a cohort of 105,588 French adults, after adjustment for body weight and dietary confounders.

Source: Artificial Sweeteners and Risk of Type 2 Diabetes in the Prospective NutriNet-Santé Cohort

What the research says

Supports is higher

Support is ahead, but a single strong opposing study can change this.

Supports
59score
Challenges
0score

These are independent scores, not a percentage. Higher-grade studies count more, so a single strong opposing study can outweigh several weaker ones.

Correlation
1 study reviewed
In plain English

Adults who consumed more aspartame than the median daily amount for their sex had a 63% higher rate of developing type 2 diabetes over 9.1 years, compared to those who consumed less, after accounting for body weight and other dietary factors.

See the scientific wording

Consumption of aspartame at levels above the sex-specific median (16.4 mg/day in men, 18.5 mg/day in women) is associated with a 63% higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes over 9.1 years in a cohort of 105,588 French adults, independent of body weight and dietary confounders.

Why this might work

When people consume large amounts of artificial sweeteners, the chemicals change the bacteria in the gut, which then produce substances that make the body less able to handle sugar. This causes blood sugar to stay high for longer and reduces the amount of insulin the pancreas releases, eventually leading to type 2 diabetes.

Supported mechanismbased on 1 study

What the research says

1 study

  1. Study: Artificial Sweeteners and Risk of Type 2 Diabetes in the Prospective NutriNet-Santé Cohort

    This study found that people who regularly drank diet sodas or ate sugar-free foods with aspartame were about 63% more likely to develop type 2 diabetes over nine years, even when researchers accounted for how much they weighed or what else they ate.

Score breakdown, mechanism chain, raw evidence, ideal studies needed & 1 supporting studies

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