Artificial sweeteners may alter how the body processes fat
Increased awareness of the health consequences of eating too much sugar has fueled a dramatic uptick in the consumption of zero-calorie artificial sweeteners in recent decades. However, new research presented at the 2018 Experimental Biology annual meeting suggests that sugar replacements can also cause health changes that are linked with diabetes and obesity.
Increased awareness of the health consequences of eating too much sugar has fueled a dramatic uptick in the consumption of zero-calorie artificial sweeteners in recent decades. However, new research presented at the 2018 Experimental Biology annual meeting suggests that sugar replacements can also cause health changes that are linked with diabetes and obesity.
While some previous studies have linked artificial sweeteners with negative health consequences, earlier research has been mixed and raised questions about potential bias related to study sponsorship. This new study is the largest examination to date that tracks biochemical changes in the body—using an approach known as unbiased high-throughput metabolomics—after consumption of sugar or sugar substitutes. Researchers also looked at impacts on vascular health by studying how the substances affect the lining of blood vessels. The studies were conducted in rats and cell cultures.
“In our studies, both sugar and artificial sweeteners seem to exhibit negative effects linked to obesity and diabetes, albeit through very different mechanisms from each other,” said lead researcher Brian Hoffmann, assistant professor in the department of biomedical engineering at the Medical College of Wisconsin and Marquette University.
The team fed different groups of rats diets high in glucose or fructose, or aspartame or acesulfame potassium. After three weeks, the researchers saw significant differences in the concentrations of biochemicals, fats, and amino acids in blood samples. The results suggest artificial sweeteners change how the body processes fat and gets its energy. In addition, they found acesulfame potassium seemed to accumulate in the blood, with higher concentrations having a more harmful effect on the cells that line blood vessels.
“We observed that in moderation, your body has the machinery to handle sugar; it is when the system is overloaded over a long period of time that this machinery breaks down,” said Hoffmann. “We also observed that replacing these sugars with non-caloric artificial sweeteners leads to negative changes in fat and energy metabolism.”
So, which is worse, sugar or artificial sweeteners? The researchers cautioned that the results do not provide a clear answer and the question warrants further study.