“The fake sugar is literally (using the word correctly) poison. It may be slow acting. But it’s actively harming you.”
AFAIK, no study has yet managed to definitively, prove any causal relationship between artificial sweetener consumption and any disease or disorder. The best they’ve managed are studies like this that have found correlations, and only weak ones at that.
Go with that if you want to. They are neurotoxic though, so it’s a risk. Sugar is far less toxic.