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by skue
4294 days ago
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For those not aware, other studies have shown that consuming diet soda may actually increase the chance of obesity. So that is not necessarily news. If you are curious, here is a pretty good study (full text): http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1038/oby.2008.284/full More recently, studies have tried to determine whether there is a satiety or protein mechanism that can explain this, whereas this new study demonstrates that gut flora may play a role. This needs to be confirmed, and there may still be other mechanisms at play as well, but it is interesting. (Disclaimer: I do have a healthcare background, but am not a researcher in this field. Would be happy to hear more from anyone who is.) |
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1) Carcinogenicity. Do certain sweeteners cause harmful mutations and increase cancer risk? This is one of the oldest and most frequent allegations, especially against saccharin and aspartame. Mostly inconclusive, though both sweeteners have been exonerated at least as often as they've been accused.
2) Insulin triggering. Artificial sweeteners may not bear the caloric load of sugars and starches -- but do they trigger the release of insulin, just the same? Again, the jury is still out, but certain sweeteners (aspartame, sucralose, and possibly saccharin) are looking suspect.
3) Caloric load. Some sweeteners and putatively indigestible molecules (sugar alcohols, "resistant starches," etc.) may contain more effective calories than in vitro studies predict them to contain. This is because the chemicals aren't digested in the traditional sense, but are fermented and absorbed in the gut. Caloric bioavailability is often different from nominal calorie count. (Indeed, this is the entire principle behind the supposed benefits of resistant sweeteners and starches; those benefits may have been overstated or misunderstood).
4) Disruption or adverse selection of gut microbiota. As detailed in this study. While not all sweeteners have been implicated here, this field of study is only just kicking into high gear. It seems reasonable to suspect that molecules fermented by / consumed by gut bacteria could have some effect on flora composition. Many sweeteners fit that criterion.
5) Other toxicities. Liver or kidney toxicity, neurotoxicity, endocrine disruption, etc. As with carcinogenicity, the jury is still out. Unlikely for some sweeteners that are not metabolized via these pathways. Possible for others. Most sweeteners (all?) on the market right now are generally recognized as safe in this respect, despite popular beliefs to the contrary. Notable exceptions exist for those with rare metabolic or genetic disorders, such as phenylketonuria (aspartame contains phenylalanine).
6) Side effects. Some sweeteners, particularly those in the sugar alcohol family (and sorbitol especially), can cause laxative effects and other GI-related issues. Individual tolerance can vary. Breaking this category out from #4 because the action here can be purely mechanical (i.e., increasing intestinal water absorption).
I'm not a doctor or medical researcher myself. Just an interested nerd. But I have been following this area for awhile. I welcome any corrections, comments, or additions from people more knowledgeable than I am. I assume there are many such people on HN. :)