Artificial sweeteners are increasingly used as a substitute for sugar as they achieve the same level of sweetness in a product while contributing little to no calories.
Sweeteners may be safe, but are they healthy? Food manufacturers claim sweeteners help prevent tooth decay, control blood sugar levels and reduce our calorie intake.
According to a new study, consuming artificial sweeteners could do more harm than good as they may make you feel hungry and actually eat more. Researchers identified a new system in the brain that senses and integrates the sweetness and energy content of food.
You may think you’re doing the right thing by eliminating sugar from your life, but replacing it with a sweetener can be more detrimental to your health.
The University of Sydney reported in a new study published in Cell Metabolism that, "Both animals and humans have suggested that consuming artificial sweeteners [sucralose, specifically] can make you feel hungry and actually eat more."
Billions of people worldwide consume artificial sweeteners and they are prescribed as a tool to treat obesity, despite little being known until now about their full impact on the brain and in regulating hunger, researchers said.
"Artificial sweeteners can actually change how animals perceive the sweetness of their food, with a discrepancy between sweetness and energy levels prompting an increase in caloric consumption," said Herbert Herzog from Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Australia.
Also revealed was that hyperactivity, decreased sleep quality and insomnia was elevated with consumption of artificial sweeteners. These behaviors are often displayed in those fasting or in a mild state of starvation and have been linked with artificial sweeteners in other human studies.
With artificial sweeteners recommended as an aid to control weight without substantial evidence on how they impact the brain or regulate hunger, the new findings highlight that artificial sweeteners may add to the risk of obesity rather than assisting in reducing the risk through weight control.
However, research into sweeteners and appetite stimulation is inconsistent. Also, there is little evidence from longer-term studies to show that sweeteners lead to increased energy intake and contribute to the risk of obesity.
Disclaimer: This is a nonprofit blog. My objective, as a young girl born in 1999, is just to share my passion for Medicine by giving the world some information about the latest tendencies in this field. Please click on the links below to obtain a more detailed information about the articles I have used as a source.
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