Artificial Sweeteners and Diabetes
Artificial sweeteners increase the risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes and are toxic to gut bacteria — sucralose reduces their numbers by 50%.
Artificial sweeteners increase the risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes and are toxic to gut bacteria — sucralose reduces their numbers by 50%.
According to the latest statistics, nearly 40% of adult Americans, more than 18% of adolescents, and almost 14% of children are now not only overweight but obese, with processed foods and sweetened beverages clearly being driving factors.
Unfortunately, many mistakenly believe that artificially sweetened products are a healthy choice that reduces calorie intake. This is far from true.
Over the years, a steadily growing body of research has shown that artificial sweeteners increase the risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes, possibly even more than sugar does.
After a three-week diet high in artificial sweeteners (aspartame or acesulfame potassium) or sugars (glucose or fructose), negative effects were observed in all groups. Blood lipid (fat) levels increased in everyone, but artificial sweeteners also accumulated in the animals' blood, causing more severe damage to the lining of blood vessels.
It is important to understand that, although artificial sweeteners contain no (or very few) calories, they are still metabolically active. Many studies link them to an increased risk of obesity, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, and metabolic syndrome.
Three mechanisms by which artificial sweeteners contribute to metabolic dysfunction:
Artificial sweeteners have substantially different effects on the gut microbiome than sugar. While sugar is harmful because it feeds microbes that damage health, artificial sweeteners are even worse because they are fundamentally toxic to gut bacteria.
In a 2008 study, sucralose (Splenda) reduced gut bacteria counts by as much as 50 percent, specifically targeting those that provide important benefits to human health. As few as seven small packets of Splenda may be enough to negatively affect the gut microbiome.
An animal study published in the journal Molecules in October 2018 showed that aspartame, sucralose, saccharin, neotame, advantame, and acesulfame potassium-K cause DNA damage and interfere with the normal, healthy activity of gut bacteria:
A recent observational study from the American Heart Association (AHA) found that, compared with drinking one or fewer "diet" beverages per week, two or more artificially sweetened drinks per day increased the risk of stroke, heart attack, and early death in women over 50 by 23, 29, and 16 percent, respectively.
The risk is especially high for women with no history of heart disease, those who are obese, and/or African American women. The study included more than 81,700 women aged 50 to 79. The average follow-up period was close to 12 years.
The two best sugar substitutes are stevia and Luo Han Guo. Stevia, a very sweet herb derived from the leaves of the stevia plant in South America, is sold as a supplement. It is completely safe in its natural form and can be used to sweeten most foods and beverages.
Luo Han Guo fruit has been used as a sweetener for many centuries — it is roughly 200 times sweeter than sugar.
A third option is to use pure glucose, also known as dextrose. Glucose has 70 percent the sweetness of sucrose. Unlike fructose, glucose can be used directly by every cell in your body and, as such, is far safer than sugar.
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