You’ve read blogs from us before where we’ve addressed “science by press release” and the consumer confusion it may cause.  Today we have yet another example.  Over the weekend, research was presented at the American College of Cardiology’s 63rd Annual Scientific Session & Expo which alleged that diet beverage consumption was associated with increased risk of cardiovascular events among women. The issue?  Reading the headlines alone doesn’t give you the full story – or the facts for that matter.

While the abstract suggests that there is some “connection” between drinking diet soda and heart problems, there are a number of things you should know so you can feel perfectly fine enjoying your favorite diet beverage.  First, it’s important to keep in mind that this is an abstract being presented at a meeting.  What does that mean?  It has not yet been peer-reviewed nor published in a scientific journal.  Because of that, neither the methodology nor the details of the study are available to be fully evaluated. Even more importantly, the lead investigator on the abstract has stated in a number of news articles that they “only found an association, so we can’t say that diet drinks cause these problems.” Maybe you saw that if you got past the headlines.

So what’s our top-line response to this abstract? This study’s actual results do not show that drinking diet beverages causes cardiovascular events among any population.  The lead author also states this in a news release.  Being overweight, however, is a major risk factor for heart disease.  Diet beverage consumption has been shown to help with weight loss as part of an overall weight management plan, with numerous studies repeatedly demonstrating their benefits in helping to reduce calorie intake.

But if you want a deeper dive into the what this research does show based on what is available – as well as what published research has shown when it comes to low-calorie sweeteners and diet beverages – take a few moments to read the background in our our response.

For more information, and to read our other statements and news releases, check out our website.