The absurd amount of money and time that has been spent on studies around artificial sweeteners should tell you its probably safe. Everyone has been dying to find a smoking gun here for decades and it never happens.
What do you mean by "politicized"?
>Remember that the beneficiaries of those approvals are people who know the most about these chemicals and are motivated to avoid learning more or disclosing what they know.
That's basically the status quo for how every new product gets approved.
The same is true for added sugar, so the sweeteners are not better than sugar.
The glaring problem is that diet sodas are often consumed as part of an unhealthy diet, alongside unhealthy fast food burgers and fries, and that best explains why you'd see the increase in diabetes and cardiovascular issues. Occam's razor.
The study by itself doesn't really prove causality though.
I guess this is overall good for my health, because I can no longer drink soft drinks or eat most processed foods.