There has been conflicting stories about the use of artificial sweeteners, especially diet sodas. A recent article suggest drinking diet soda does not increase the risk of diabetes (http://tinyurl.com/43j3dck). Well here is some research to suggest that artificial sweeteners can actually increase body fat, which can be a risk factor for Type 2 Diabetes and the Insulin Resistant Syndrome. This is from the Colgan Institute (http://colganinstitute.com/index.php?main_page). So maybe think twice before you decide to guzzle down that next diet soda.
The main sugar substitutes are saccarin (Sweet'N Low), aspartame (Equal,NutraSweet), sucralose (Splenda, Altern) and acesulfame potassium. Sorbital and maltitol are used in "no sugar " ice cream and candy. Erythritol is the most recent, xylitol, cyclamate, and stevia are common. Despite their minimal to zero calories, they all make you put on body fat.
They pile on the pudge for simple physiological reasons. Sweet tastes in the mouth, and in the gut, induce an appetitive response by the brain, and an insulin response by the pancreas.(1-3) Because the artificial sweeteners are much sweeter than sugar, the response is larger than if you use sugar. Insulin is a prime storage hormone. The extra insulin will store as fat all the extra calories you eat because of the appetitive response induced but not satisfied by the chemical sweetener. Studies show definitively that both rats and people fed artificial sweeteners, put on more weight than if they used the equivalent amount of sugar.(1-3)
The artificial sweetener industry does not like being told that they are contributing to the rampant adult-onset diabetes and obesity in the US and Canada. And their ads claim the opposite. But if you examine the science, you will never use an artificial sweetener again.
1. Yang Q.Gain weight by "going diet?" Artificial sweeteners and the neurobiology of sugar cravings: Neuroscience 2010. Yale J Biol Med. 2010 Jun;83(2):101-8.
2. Brown RJ, de Banate MA, Rother KI.Artificial sweeteners: a systematic review of metabolic effects in youth. Int J Pediatr Obes. 2010 Aug;5(4):305-12.
3. Margolskee,R, et al. T1R3 and gustducin in gut sense sugars to regulate expression of Na+-glucose cotransporter 1 PNAS 2007 104: 15075-15080
