Consuming large amounts of artificial sweeteners may increase type 2 diabetes risk

Research presented earlier this month at the European Assoc. for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Lisbon, Portugal, suggests that artificial sweeteners can change the body’s response to glucose when consumed in large amounts and could add to the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The study was conducted by Richard Young of the Adelaide Medical School, University of Adelaide in Australia, as well as colleagues from other Adelaide-based research institutions, and aimed to investigate the effects of consuming large amounts of non-caloric artificial sweeteners on the body’s response to glucose.

The researchers recruited 27 healthy subjects who were given a quantity of two different non-caloric artificial sweeteners (sucralose and acesulfame-K) equivalent to drinking 1.5 L of diet beverage per day, or an inactive placebo. These were consumed in the form of capsules taken three times a day before meals over the two-week period of the study. At the end of the two weeks, subjects had their response to glucose tested, examining glucose absorption, plasma glucose, and levels of insulin and gut peptides.

The team found that non-caloric artificial sweeteners supplementation caused an increase in measures of the body’s response to glucose, measured using a technique known as the incremental area under the curve (iAUC). This was greater for both glucose absorption and blood glucose, while the iAUC for the gut peptide GLP-1, which acts to limit the rise in blood glucose after meals, was reduced. None of these measures were altered in those subjects who were given a placebo.

The study determined that just two weeks of NAS supplementation was enough to enhance glucose absorption and increase the magnitude of the response of blood glucose as a result. They therefore concluded that the study “supports the concept that artificial sweeteners could reduce the body’s control of blood sugar levels and highlights the potential for exaggerated post-meal glucose levels in high habitual non-caloric artificial sweeteners users, which could predispose them to developing type 2 diabetes.”

In response to the study’s findings, the International Sweeteners Assoc. released the following statement: “The collective evidence from well-designed human studies supports that low-calorie sweeteners do not adversely affect glycemic control in healthy individuals and in people with diabetes, e.g., by affecting total insulin secretion, glucose uptake and/or glucose utilization either by direct effect or via effects on incretins (gut hormones). In fact, the beneficial effect of low calorie sweeteners in post-prandial glucose is recognized also in a health claim authorized in Europe, further to the scientific opinion by EFSA [European Food Safety Authority]: ‘Consumption of foods with low calorie sweeteners instead of sugar induces a lower blood glucose rise after their consumption compared to sugar-containing foods.’”

Study press release

International Sweeteners Association statement