Consuming diet soft drinks artificially sweetened with aspartame could increase a pregnant woman’s risk of delivering prematurely, according to a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Researchers in Denmark interviewed almost 60,000 pregnant women about the types of soft drinks they consumed, and then compared these responses with the results of the women’s births.
They found that women who drank one diet soft drink a day were 38 percent more likely to give birth prematurely – prior to the 38th week of pregnancy – when compared to the women who did not consume any artificial sweeteners. Those who drank four or more diet drinks a day had a 78 percent increase in risk.
The researchers found no similar link between regular sugared soda and early labor, suggesting that it is the artificial sweetener behind the correlation. They hypothesize that the preterm birth could be triggered by the neurotoxin methanol, which is contained in some artificial sweeteners.
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