Artificial sweeteners — such as those used in diet soda — can harm the liver’s detoxifying ability.

Opting for a “diet” beverage over the regular version may not be the health-conscious choice many people think, according to a new study.

Researchers at the Medical College of Wisconsin have found that artificial sweeteners, which replace sugar in many products, can harm some liver function.

Acesulfame potassium and sucralose, commonly known as Ace-K, have been found to impair the liver’s ability to go through the detoxification process and even to process medications properly.

While aspartame, the best-known and most commonly used artificial sweetener, was not included in the study, the findings have important implications for the millions of Americans who regularly drink diet sodas and other similar “sugar-free” products.

“We found that sweeteners affect PGP activity in liver cells at concentrations expected from common food and beverage consumption, well below the maximum limits recommended by the FDA,” said Dr Stephanie Olivier Van Stichelen, head of the research team.

“To our knowledge, we are the first group to decipher the molecular mechanism by which non-nutritive sweeteners affect detoxification in the liver.”

The researchers presented their findings this week at the 2022 Experimental Biology Meeting held by the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

They conducted the research in a laboratory setting where they tested the effect of sweeteners on liver cells.

Both types of artificial sweeteners blocked the work of P-glycoprotein, which helps flush out toxins from the body.

Because proteins affect how the liver metabolizes drugs, they also help the body process drugs.

The researchers note that their findings are still in the early stages of research and these sweeteners cannot be completely deleted.

Diet Pepsi (pictured) uses sucralose as the main sweetener

It is too early to draw general conclusions, as the research was only done in the laboratory and not in humans.

For many Americans who consume products that use these sweeteners, this is still a worrying sign, especially since it’s often considered a healthier alternative to other foods.

Many artificially sweetened products use aspartame, which, while controversial, is considered safe by the Food and Drug Administration.

Aspartame is the sweetener used in Coca-Cola, for example Coca-Cola, while its main competitor, Diet Pepsi, uses sucralose.

The most dangerous sweetener is believed to be Ace-K, which uses Diet Coke in some of its fruit-flavored products.

Chemical sweetener is linked to significant changes in a person’s gut microbiome that can cause chronic inflammation.

There are also more unstable links between chemical and changes in brain functioning, although scientists are reluctant to make connections until more evidence is available.