There was a recent article in Cell (a journal) about artificial sweeteners and their correlation to negative health effects: namely, type 2 diabetes and obesity, amongst other related conditions. The paper was written by one person in the “Opinion” section of the paper. This does not set well with me whatever, but there was quite a bit of research laden within the article, so I want to discuss that instead.

Obviously, artificial sweeteners are a dietitian's friend in terms of recommending low-calorie sweetened beverages to someone, especially if they have diabetes. However, more and more dietitians are becoming wary of continuing said recommendations due to advancing research on the negative side effects of consumption. In this article, consumption varied from over 1 serving (1 packet of any given artificial sweetener) to much larger amounts. Therefore, it is hard to say at what level a person has these effects, so keep that in mind.

The main take away from this article is two remarks:

(1) Imaging studies in the human brain have shown that sugar activates pleasure centers in the brain resulting in satisfaction. On the other hand, artificial sweeteners do not have this effect, and may also result in greater consumption. If you are gaining less pleasure from the sweeteners you consume, you are likely to consume more to gain satisfaction. This can make a person reach higher amounts of intake levels that may be correlated with negative effects.

(2) Artificial sweeteners do not stimulate insulin. This means your body does not recognize it as a sweetener, so it does not need to be used for energy. This is the main purpose of why these sweeteners are recommended. They are low calorie, are not used the same way sugar is in the body, and give a sweet flavor. PS: The differences between Truvia, Splenda, Equal, and Sweet-n-Low are basically NONE. They all have different basic derivatives (stevia, sugar, etc), but it is so little of an amount, the compositions are not vastly different that a simple choice is going to make a difference.

The article also points out that compared to no sweetener at all, artificial sweeteners are more likely to be associated with negative health effects. This makes sense, in that you likely follow a healthier lifestyle and consume healthier beverages if you are not choosing ones that have to be sweet.

The article hypothesizes that intake of artificial sweeteners may “trick” the brain into thinking that it is consuming sugar, thus releasing hormones that serve no purpose because sugar is not present in the gut (despite remark #2). This could also lead to its own gamut of negative health consequences.

With all of this said, keep in mind this is an OPINION article from a journal. Some of the research is sound, but it contradicts. Overall, the research is still new and limited. In writing this, I hope that you, the readers, decide on your own what to do with this information. I recommend to limit sugar sweetened beverages to about 10% your weekly consumption, avoid fruit juice entirely, and drink 90% water. Your body will thank you, with no additional research needed on that!

Happy Eating (and Drinking!) -