Artificial Sweeteners: A Smoking Gun?
When Professor Dana Small, a renowned psychiatrist at Yale University, conducted a study on the effects of artificial sweeteners on the brain and gut, she stumbled upon a shocking discovery. Participants who consumed drinks containing sucralose, a popular artificial sweetener, showed no negative effects. However, the control group, who were given the same drink with liquid carbohydrates added, displayed signs of impaired metabolism. This finding suggested that consuming diet soda with other food could potentially lead to weight gain and glucose intolerance.
Small’s study, published in 2020, added to a growing body of research challenging the common belief that sweeteners are a safe alternative to sugar. It also highlighted the limited understanding scientists have about the physiological impact of the various sweeteners found in everyday food and beverages.
Artificial vs Natural Sweeteners
Artificial Sweeteners:
- Sucralose: Discovered in 1976 and sold under the brand name Splenda, it is about 600 times sweeter than table sugar.
- Aspartame: Discovered in 1965 and marketed as NutraSweet, among others, it is about 200 times sweeter than table sugar.
- Saccharin: First used in 1879 and found in various sweeteners like Sweet’N Low, it is 200-700 times sweeter than sugar.
- Acesulfame K: Discovered in 1967, it is a heat-stable sweetener and flavor enhancer that is about 200 times sweeter than sugar.
Natural Sweeteners:
- Stevia: Derived from the South American plant, it is approximately 350 times sweeter than sugar. Sold as Truvia and other brands.
- Monk Fruit Extract: Also known as Luo Han Guo, this melon-like plant is grown primarily in China. Its calorie-free extract is about 200 times sweeter than sugar.
- Allulose: First identified in the 1940s, it was commercially introduced in 2015. Although less sweet than sugar, it replicates the mouthfeel of sugar.
As Small, now based at Canada’s McGill University, emphasizes, the uncertainty surrounding sweeteners’ impact on human health warrants caution. She believes that the perceived safety of artificial sweeteners is unwarranted due to limited knowledge on the subject.
The evolving understanding of the potential dangers of sweeteners poses challenges for scientists, policymakers, manufacturers, and consumers. As food and beverages companies replace sugar with sweeteners in response to cost-cutting measures and sugar taxes, questions about the safety of artificial sweeteners become increasingly urgent.
A Controversial History
Concerns about the safety of artificial sweeteners have existed since the commercial production of saccharin in 1886. In 1977, a Canadian study linked saccharin to bladder tumors in rats, leading to its inclusion on the US list of known carcinogens until 2000. The World Health Organization (WHO) recently advised against using non-sugar sweeteners for weight loss or maintaining healthy blood glucose levels, citing potential risks of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and mortality.
Last year, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the WHO, classified aspartame as “possibly carcinogenic to humans,” further fueling concerns. Leading researcher Jotham Suez of Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health believes his work and others provide solid evidence of the harmful impact of sweeteners. Suez’s study from last year revealed that four different sweeteners altered gut bacteria and disrupted blood glucose levels.
Although there is ongoing debate about the significance of these changes, nutrition expert Duane Mellor argues that artificial sweeteners should not be relied upon as a dietary solution. Mellor contends that the harms and benefits of sweeteners are often overstated and highlights the importance of a balanced approach to nutrition.
Suez acknowledges the conflicting evidence surrounding sweeteners’ impact on health. He suggests that the effects may vary depending on an individual’s microbiome, the population of microbes in the gut. More research is needed to understand personalized responses to sweeteners, a focus of ongoing studies.
Small, convinced by her own study’s results, has taken measures to protect her family’s health. While she occasionally consumes Diet Coke, she ensures there is a significant gap between consuming the beverage and eating carbohydrate-rich foods. She also prohibits her young son from consuming foods with artificial sweeteners, although this has become increasingly challenging as manufacturers incorporate sweeteners into a wide array of products to reduce costs and calories.
The impact of sweeteners has become a critical concern, as evident from the Chilean study by Natalia Rebolledo, a researcher at the Center for Research in Food Environments and Prevention of Chronic Diseases Associated with Nutrition. The study found that stricter advertising and labeling regulations on high-fat and high-sugar foods led to an increase in purchases of drinks containing sweeteners. Rebolledo’s research in collaboration with the University of North Carolina highlights the rise in sweetener intake among both adults and children, raising questions about the potential effects on young bodies and brains.
Despite the uncertainties surrounding sweeteners, Rebolledo believes that doubts should not deter countries from implementing measures to limit sugar consumption. The detrimental effects of sugar on children’s health and its association with obesity and cancer make these interventions necessary.
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