A recent study concluded that artificially sweetened soft drink consumption was associated with a higher risk of stroke and dementia. The preliminary research did find a link between daily intake and increased risk, but the chain of evidence is not as strong as has been widely reported. When all health and lifestyle factors that could have an influence on risk were taken into account, the researchers actually found no link between artificially sweetened drinks and risk of dementia, and the link for strokes was inconsistent. Read more