Sweeteners & Brain Health: Wake-Up Call?

A new study looking at sweetener use and cognitive health raises the question of how much sweetness we need in our diets. We know cutting back on sugar is a good move... how harmless are our sugar-free sweetener choices?

My mission is to empower people to achieve real health through real food, and I often recommend sugar alternatives as part of this lifestyle. Should I be?

💛 My Love Affair with No-sugar Sweeteners

One of the biggest reasons people resist a low-carb or real-food approach is the dread of giving up their favorite sweet treats. I can speak from personal experience. I put off my healthy diet for six full months because I wanted cake at Christmas.

Well, here is a news flash: Sugar is not the only thing that tastes sweet.

Oh, you know this already, right? Like the chemicals they use to sweeten the pink stuff?

True, but did you know about the other natural sweeteners? They may have science-y names like "erythritol," but they are as natural as sugar... without causing blood sugar spikes.

The angels sang the first time I made a keto mug cake using Swerve.

I don't break out the erythritol every day, but it's nice to know it is there when I need it.

And then I read a new study.

🍬🧪 What the study found

A recent observational study reported in Prevention on January 30 followed adults over time and found that higher intake of sweeteners was associated with faster cognitive decline. You can read the full summary here: https://www.prevention.com.

The research followed more than 12,000 adults for approximately eight years, with cognitive testing conducted at multiple points throughout the study. The tests assessed key domains of cognition, including memory, verbal fluency, and overall cognitive function.

Participants were grouped by their intake of low- and no-calorie sweeteners, which included both artificial sweeteners (such as aspartame and saccharin) and sugar alcohols (including erythritol and xylitol).

The findings were striking:

⚠️ Participants in the highest intake group experienced cognitive decline at a rate about 62% faster than those in the lowest intake group.

⚠️ Even those in the middle intake group showed a 35% faster rate of cognitive decline compared to the lowest group.

To put that into practical terms, the “higher intake” category was roughly equivalent to about one diet soda per day, not extreme or unusual consumption.

Yikes!

It is time to send my Swerve to the trash bin?!

‼️ Important context and limitations

Before drawing conclusions, it’s important to understand what this study can and cannot tell us. There are many grains of salt:

🧂This was an observational study. It can identify associations, not cause and effect. The findings do not prove that sweeteners cause cognitive decline.

🧂 Dietary intake was self-reported. Participants estimated their own sweetener consumption, which can introduce recall error or underreporting.

🧂 Sweeteners were grouped together. The study analyzed total intake of low- and no-calorie sweeteners as a category. It did not isolate the effects of individual sweeteners, so we cannot say whether one sweetener is more or less problematic than another.

🧂 Other lifestyle factors were not fully controlled. People who consume more diet beverages or sweetened products may differ in other ways, such as smoking, exercise habits, sleep quality, stress levels, or overall diet quality. These factors could also influence cognitive outcomes, and they were not included in this study.

Taken together, these limitations mean the study should be interpreted with caution. It provides a signal worth noticing, not a final verdict.

😕 So what do we do with this?

Once we understand the limits of the study, we can breathe a little easier.

This is not a smoking gun.

There is no need to run around with our hair on fire.

But it is a timely reminder.

A real food, clean low-carb approach is built around nutrition first, not sweetness first, regardless of the source. A nutrition first approach places protein and natural fat at the heart of every meal. Sweets are never the foundation of the plate.

Whether sweetness comes from sugar or a non-sugar sweetener, building an entire eating pattern around sweet flavors works against the goal of steady health. I believe that trying to recreate every sugar (and starch!) heavy favorite with a "keto-friendly" version is a recipe for frustration and, ultimately, failure to achieve health goals.

Sweets have their place, as a treat, not a staple.

🧠 Brain Connection

This study focused on cognitive decline, not weight, blood sugar, or dental health.

It is increasingly clear that what we choose to eat, and how often, contributes to the long arc of cognitive function.

This research does not give final answers. But it reinforces a growing body of evidence that how we eat today influences how our brains function tomorrow.

🐾 PSA for Pet Lovers!

While we are talking about sweet things... a reminder about chocolate.

I knew it was toxic to dogs.

I've never heard that it was toxic to... cats?

But, then, cats don't go around eating stray food like dogs do.

Except for my girl, Charlie.

She helped herself to the mister's leftover ice cream and chocolate sauce. She is fine, thank goodness, but it was a frightening reminder about the impact of food on health.

Another reason to be mindful with sweets, in every sense.

☀️ Real Food First!

I have made my share of keto-friendly fat bombs and cookie bars.

Did it hurt my brain? Who knows?

But I suspect overall, those treats were far less damaging than the steady stream of processed carbs I'd lived on for decades.

We do the best we can with the information we have and move on.