Can artificial sweeteners in diet drinks increase your risk of heart disease?

What's actually in it

Diet sodas, sugar-free gum, protein powders, and low-calorie snacks use artificial sweeteners like aspartame, sucralose, saccharin, and acesulfame potassium. These chemicals taste sweet without the calories of sugar. They show up in thousands of grocery store products, and many people consume them every day without thinking twice.

Your body doesn't treat these sweeteners the same way it treats sugar. They interact with gut bacteria, liver enzymes, and inflammatory pathways in ways scientists are still mapping out.

What the research says

A 2026 study in Naunyn Schmiedebergs Arch Pharmacol found that long-term artificial sweetener exposure increased atherosclerosis risk in animal models. Atherosclerosis is the buildup of fatty plaques inside your arteries. It's the main driver of heart attacks and strokes.

The researchers tracked changes in blood vessel walls and inflammatory markers over an extended exposure period. Animals given artificial sweeteners showed more arterial plaque and higher inflammation compared to controls. The damage wasn't caused by weight gain or blood sugar spikes, which means the sweeteners themselves appear to be the problem.

This adds to a growing pile of evidence that "zero-calorie" doesn't mean zero risk. If you're drinking several diet sodas a day, the sweeteners may be quietly damaging your blood vessels over time.