They are marketed as safer alternatives to sugar, but new research suggests that artificial sweeteners used in commercial production of diet sodas and low-fat desserts are not harmless, DailyMail reports. The researchers found that the chemicals in most sweeteners alter your gut microbiome while making it harder for the cells in your body to absorb sugar.
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Wrong assumption
The team of scientists from Israel and the United States arrived at this conclusion after giving 120 people one of four sweeteners or a placebo for a maximum of three times weekly. The experiment lasted for 14 days and the doses were lower than the recommended limits.
Results showed that those who were given aspartame and stevia –usually used for diet sodas and juices – saw changes in their gut microbiome whereas those who got saccharin and sucralose –often found in low-carb cakes — had reduced sugar absorption ability.
Dr. Eran Elinav, the microbiologist who led the study, told the Times of Israel:
Our trial has shown that non-nutritive sweeteners may impair glucose responses by altering our microbiome. We should not assume [sweeteners] are safe until proven otherwise. Until then, caution is advised.
Sweet poison?
According to the study, published in the journal Cell, sugar substitutes are not less harmful to glucose levels as they have been marketed to be. The scientists argue that sweeteners may have directly contributed to enhancing the epidemic of obesity that they were developed to fight.
Dr Elinav added that their findings strongly challenge the common assumption that sweeteners provide a harmless hit of sweetness without any health cost.
In my opinion as a physician, once it has been noted that non-nutritive sweeteners are not inert to the human body, the burden of proof of demonstrating or refuting their potential impacts on human health is at the responsibility of those promoting their use
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