Aspartame has been linked to dementia

Majority view

High intake of artificial sweeteners, including aspartame, has been associated in observational and experimental research with cognitive decline and higher risk of dementia, but there is no established, consensus-level causal link showing that typical aspartame consumption causes or clearly leads to dementia in humans.

Credible dissent

Some experimental and computational studies, especially in animals and in silico models, suggest plausible neurotoxic mechanisms by which high or prolonged aspartame exposure could contribute to Alzheimer’s‑related pathology and cognitive impairment.[1] Epidemiologic studies have reported associations between artificially sweetened beverages and increased risk of stroke and dementia, and between artificial sweetener intake and faster cognitive decline.[4][5][6][8] However, major regulatory and health organizations and many clinical commentators emphasize that these data are observational, confounded, and insufficient to establish that aspartame itself causes dementia or that normal intake levels are harmful to cognition.[2][6][7] Some popular and institutional summaries explicitly state that aspartame and other artificial sweeteners cannot be said to directly cause dementia or Alzheimer’s disease on current evidence.[2][3][7]