In order to avoid a few calories, many people chose to use zero calorie sweeteners such as Sweet and Low or Splenda. These sweeteners contain saccharin, or Benzoic sulfimide (C7H5NO3S), which is a “fake sugar” that is in much of our diet foods. However, new studies show that this “diet” food is actually proven to lead to obesity and type 2 diabetes in mice and humans. The sweetener did this by altering microbes in the gut area, a problem that other sweeteners would likely also propose. Researcher Robert Margloskee says this research suggests there are “unintended consequences” of using sugar substitutes. This study was done by giving mice artificially sweetened water, containing saccharin, aspartame, and sucralose, and observing their behaviors over a long period of time. The animals exposed to the fake sugar showed, after 11 weeks, many problems with their metabolism. There were very high levels of glucose in their systems, suggesting that the sweeteners impaired the mice’s bodies’ ability to process actual glucose. Out of the three sweeteners tested, saccharin was shown to have the worst effects and the mice that drank water with glucose had no problems. This study can be related to humans because of previous data we already have available to us. We know that problems with glucose processing, which happens with the intake of artificial sweeteners, is linked with obesity and diabetes.
Submitted by Alexandra Frank
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