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I know this sounds vague. . . and scary. But, the analysis focused on nearly 60,000 women aged 50-79 and followed them for 9 years. TWO or more diet drinks a day was associated with a 29% increased risk of cardiovascular event (read that: heart attack or stroke) and a 26% increased risk of all-cause death, compared with women with less (or no) diet drink consumption.

This finding is consistent with other information that we’ve known: diet drinks are linked with metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease events. The new information is the strength of the link.

It is postulated that diet drink consumption may disrupt normal feedback mechanisms that help us control our intake of food and other beverages. It may also be that diet drinkers have an unhealthy lifestyle in some other way.

Find more information from the Women’s Health Initiative study.