Popular diet staple may speed up brain aging by over a year

That “fridge cigarette” might be accelerating your cognitive decline.

A new study out of Brazil determined that popular sweetening agents in items like Diet Coke could cause the brain to age 62% faster than brains with less exposure. And the numbers are even more startling for younger people and those with diabetes.

Over eight years, the researchers looked at the effects of common artificial sweeteners like aspartame, saccharin, acesulfame-K, erythritol, xylitol, sorbitol and tagatose on the brain function of over 12,500 adults with an average age of 52.