Artificial sweeteners reading

1. Could artificial sweetenerspromote diabetes and obesity?
For those whoare diabeticordieting,youmaythinkartificialsweetenersare yourbestfriend.Theyallowyouto
getthe taste of sugar from foodsandbeverageswithoutthe elevatedbloodsugar levelsorcalories.Butanew
studysuggeststhismaynot be the case; artificial sweetenerscouldactuallypromote obesityanddiabetes.
Ratherthan aiding weight lossand treatmentof type 2 diabetes,researcherssay consumption of artificial
sweetenersmay havethe oppositeeffect.
The researchteam,includingEranElinavof the Departmentof Immunologyatthe WeizmannInstituteof
Science inIsrael,recentlypublishedtheirfindingsinthe journal Nature.
Discoveredmore thana centuryago,artificial sweetenersare now foundinanabundance of foodsand drinks
labeled"diet"or"sugar-free,"includingchewinggum, softdrinks,ice creamandyoghurt.
Because artificial sweetenersare lowcalorie and do not contain carbohydrates like sugar (meaningthey are
lesslikelyto increase bloodsugar levels),theyare oftenrecommendedto helpwith weightlossor to treat or
preventmetabolicdisorders,such as type 2 diabetes.
However,Elinavandcolleaguesnote that,althoughsome studiessupportsuchrecommendations,othershave
indicatedthatartificial sweetenersactuallyincrease weightgainandraise the riskof metabolicdisorders.For
example,astudyfromWashingtonUniversitySchool of Medicinereportedby MedicalNewsToday lastyear
claimedthe artificial sweetenersucralose islinkedtoincreasedglucoseandinsulinlevels.
"Despite these controversial data,the FoodandDrug Administration(FDA) approvedsix NAS(non-caloric
artificial sweetener)productsforuse inthe US," the researchersnote.These are saccharin,sucralose,
aspartame,advantame,neotame and acesulfame potassium.
Consumptionof artificial sweeteners 'interfereswithgut bacteria'
In thislateststudy,the teaminvestigatedhow artificial sweetenersaffectedthe metabolismof mice.

2. For 11 weeks,some mice were suppliedwithdrinkingwatersupplemented withanartificial sweetener- either
saccharin,sucralose or aspartame - and glucose,whileothersdrankjustwateralone orwatercontainingonly
sugar.
The team foundthat the mice that drank the water containingglucose and an artificial sweetenerdeveloped
glucose intolerance - elevatedbloodsugar levels - whereasthe mice that drank water alone or water
containingonly sugar didnot.
Theyfoundthat thiseffectwasbroughtonby interferencesingutbacteria."Notably,"the researcherssay,
"several of the bacterial taxathatchangedfollowingNASconsumptionwere previouslyassociatedwith type 2
diabetes inhumans."
Furthermore,onstudying the fecal samplesof mice thatconsumedsaccharin,the teamfoundthatthese mice
demonstratedanincrease inspecificpathways,includingthe glycangradationpathway.Thisiswhere glycans
(polysaccharides) are fermentedtoproduce certaincompounds,includingshort-chainfattyacids.Such
pathways,the researcherssay,have beenpreviouslylinkedto obesity anddiabetes inbothmice andhumans.
Artificial sweeteners 'may have enhancedthe epidemics they were intendedtofight'
Elinavandcolleaguesthenassessedthe effectof long-termconsumptionof artificial sweetenersonhumansby
analyzingthe dataof an ongoingclinical trial involving381 non-diabeticparticipants.
From this, theyfound several associationsbetweenlong-termconsumptionofartificial sweetenersand
increasedweight,increasedwaist-to-hipratio(an indicator of abdominal obesity),higherfastingblood
glucose levelsandincreasedglycosylatedhemoglobinlevels.
The researchersnote thatartificial sweetenerswere widelyintroducedintoourdietstohelpreduce caloric
intake andnormalize bloodglucoselevels.Buttheysaythese findingsindicate thattheymaybe havingthe
opposite effect:
"Togetherwith othermajorshiftsthatoccurred in human nutrition,thisincrease in NASconsumption coincides
with thedramaticincrease in the obesityand diabetesepidemics.Our findingssuggestthatNASmay have
directly contributed to enhancing theexactepidemic that they themselveswereintended to fight.
Moreover,ourresultspointtowardstheneed to develop new nutritionalstrategiestailored to the individual
while integrating personalized differencesin the composition and function of thegutmicrobiota."
Available on:http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/282604.php