Artificial Sweeteners May Promote Development of Glucose Intolerance and Weight Gain

These NAS-mediated deleterious metabolic effects were reversed by antibiotic treatment, and were fully transferable to germ-free mice upon fecal transplantation of microbiota configurations from NAS-consuming mice. Similar changes were observed in anaerobic cultures of organisms from the gut microbiota that were grown in the presence of NAS.

The investigators identified NAS-altered microbial metabolic pathways that were linked to host susceptibility to metabolic disease, and demonstrated similar NAS-induced microbial imbalance and glucose intolerance in healthy human subjects.

Senior author Dr. Eran Elinav, professor of immunology at the Weizmann Institute of Science, said, "Certain bacteria in the guts of those who developed glucose intolerance reacted to the chemical sweeteners by secreting substances that then provoked an inflammatory response similar to sugar overdose, promoting changes in the body’s ability to utilize sugar. Our relationship with our own individual mix of gut bacteria is a huge factor in determining how the food we eat affects us. Especially intriguing is the link between use of artificial sweeteners, through the bacteria in our guts, to a tendency to develop the very disorders they were designed to prevent; this calls for reassessment of today’s massive, unsupervised consumption of these substances.”

Related Links:
Weizmann Institute of Science
Personalized Nutrition Project