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Sugars and sugar substitutes have been shown to put people at a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes, that is, so far. New research suggests that a sugar substitute may not play a role in the cause of diabetes in healthy adults.
According to a new study published in the journal, Microbiome– led by researchers at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and Ohio State University College of Medicine – says saccharin is one of those artificial sweeteners that should no longer be a problem for diabetes prevention. The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture. (Related: Single Vitamin Doctors Urge Everyone To Take Now.)
Why do artificial sweeteners get a bad rap in the first place?
Saccharin is one of eight artificial sweeteners currently approved by the FDA, says award-winning nutrition expert Toby Amidor, MS, RD, CDN, FAND, and the Wall Street newspaper bestselling author of The Best 3 Ingredient Cookbook.
If you’ve ever sprinkled Sweet n ‘Low in your cup of coffee, for example, you’ve tried the super-sweet stuff. However, due to the increased use of non-caloric artificial sweeteners (NCAS) and sugar alcohols – which are used in many sugar-free and sugar-free food products and drinks – research has repeatedly questioned the safety of these alternative sweeteners.
Aside from the fact that many are turned off by the word “artificial” and are inherently skeptical about whether or not they could cause harm to the body, there is also science that supports these fears.
“Some epidemiological studies and a few intervention studies have shown positive correlations between the consumption of NCAS and the risk of type 2 diabetes and other adverse metabolic outcomes”, George Kyriazis, Ph.D., assistant professor of biological chemistry and Pharmacology at Ohio State and lead author of the study, says Eat this, not that!
Kyriazis says that a high-level study, in particular, conducted primarily in mice, showed that NCAS rapidly induces glucose intolerance – which causes high blood sugar – as indicated by direct and unwanted changes in the composition of certain intestinal bacteria.
“However, from a scientific point of view, these variable results and this ambiguity may reflect differences in the NCAS used, the characteristics of the study population and the diet accompanied, or other methodological considerations related to these reports”, explains Kyriazis. “Our group therefore decided to isolate these external variables and to design a study using both humans and mice that explores the independent effects of saccharin diet on the gut microbiota and glucose regulation.“
“In addition, the European Food Safety Authority, the Joint FAO / WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives, the US FDA and Australia-New Zealand Food Standards and Health Canada all find that saccharin and the seven other low-calorie sweeteners are safe, ”Amidor says.
What did this study find?
The researchers asked 46 healthy adults between the ages of 18 and 45 with a body mass index of 25 (the upper limit for the normal range) to take one of three capsules per day over the course of two weeks. Participants took the maximum acceptable daily amount of saccharin, lactisole (which prevents the tongue from tasting anything sweet), saccharin with lactisole or a placebo.
“We found no effect of saccharin supplementation on glucose regulation and no changes in the gut microbiota of the participants,” Kyriazis explains. “It is important to note here that the saccharin intake that we used in our study nearly double the average intake of the most saccharin-hungry consumers in the United States“
For context, the maximum acceptable daily amount of saccharin is 400 milligrams, which is much more than anyone would consume on a regular basis because the artificial sweetener is significantly sweeter than table sugar.
“Because it is 200 to 700 times sweeter than sugar, it only takes one touch to deliver the same sweet taste as sugar,” Amidor explains. “This study looked at the maximum amount of saccharin, which is far more than anyone would consume at a time.”
Kyriazis adds that it is also important to recognize that their results do not necessarily contradict previous reports showing some harmful metabolic effects of NCAS intake.
“Together, they point out that high consumption of NCAS can have negative health effects related to other physiological or dietary parameters,” he explains. “Therefore, more interventional studies are needed to focus on isolating and identifying the underlying physiological or lifestyle conditions that potentially make the use of NCAS harmful.”
In short, healthy adults who eat foods or drink drinks sweetened with saccharin every now and then shouldn’t be too concerned about unwanted long-term side effects.
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