Study Finds No Link Between Sweetened Drinks and Dementia Risk in Older Adults

The study, published in JAMA Psychiatry, was led by Hui Chen and colleagues from the Department of Nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston. It explored whether the consumption of sweetened beverages is linked to dementia risk among adults aged 65 years and older.

While prior research has tied high intake of sweetened beverages to negative health outcomes—such as obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease—data on their relationship with dementia remains limited. This study aimed to clarify whether these drinks influence cognitive decline in later years.

The researchers pooled data from 10,974 participants aged 65 and above across six large U.S. cohort studies: the Health and Retirement Study, the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study, the Chicago Healthy and Aging Project, the Rush Memory and Aging Project, and both the original and offspring cohorts of the Framingham Heart Study. Beverage intake was assessed using validated food frequency questionnaires. Follow-up for dementia outcomes extended over an average of 10.7 years.

The key findings of the study were as follows:

• Over 116,067 person-years of follow-up, 2,445 participants developed dementia.
• No significant association was found between sweetened beverage intake and dementia risk.
• The pooled hazard ratio (HR) per serving per week was 0.99 for sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) and 1.00 for artificially sweetened beverages (ASB).
• Comparing the highest level of consumption (≥1 serving per day) to the lowest (<1 serving per month) also showed no significant difference in dementia risk.
• These results were consistent across all subgroups and study cohorts.
• Adherence to a Mediterranean diet was linked to a lower risk of dementia.
• The findings highlight the importance of overall dietary patterns in supporting cognitive health.

The authors stressed that while their findings suggest no harmful cognitive effects from late-life SSB or ASB consumption, the impact of early-life exposure to these beverages remains unclear. They recommended further research to explore whether consumption earlier in life might influence dementia risk later on, especially given the known adverse effects of sweetened beverages on metabolic health.

The authors concluded, "Late-life intake of sweetened beverages did not appear to raise dementia risk among older adults in this extensive multicohort analysis. However, due to potential long-term metabolic consequences, limiting sweetened beverage consumption throughout life remains a prudent public health recommendation."

Reference:

Chen H, Ding Y, Dhana K, et al. Sweetened Beverages and Incident All-Cause Dementia Among Older Adults. JAMA Psychiatry. Published online June 18, 2025. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2025.1230