In 1978, when Barry White sang "Your Sweetness Is My Weakness," aspartame had been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for four years, and sucralose had been created two years earlier.

A lot of people fell for their sweetness, and it's taken years to uncover the risks that they produce along with their super-sugary taste.

A new study reveals these artificial sweeteners’ association with cardiovascular events such as heart attack and stroke, as well as the need for angioplasty to open blocked arteries.

Looking at information on more than 100,000 adults, researchers found that over a nine-year period, those who used the artificial sweeteners ACE-K, aspartame, and sucralose were at increased risk of life-threatening heart problems.

And those who consumed two or more packets daily were a lot more likely to experience cerebrovascular disease, which can lead to stroke, transient ischemic attack, vascular dementia, or aneurysm.

The findings, published in The BMJ, highlighted aspartame's stronger association with cerebrovascular problems, and sucralose's with heart disease risk (blocked arteries, angina, heart attack). 

Artificial sweeteners in dairy products such as yogurt, as well as beverages and prepared foods of all kinds, show up in 23,000 products worldwide. So make sure to read the ingredients list to check for artificial sweeteners before you buy any packaged or canned foods.

If you need an artificial sweetener, stick with allulose, trehalose, and stevia. They may even be healthful.