Sucralose and metabolism
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that a popular artificial sweetener can modify how the body handles sugar. They analyzed the sweetener sucralose in volunteers who are obese people, do not have diabetes and dont use artificial sweeteners regularly, and their results that the sweetener can influence how the body reacts to glucose.
ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS ARE THOUGHT TO MAKE FOODS AND DRINKS TASTE SWEET WITHOUT ANY OF THE OTHER CONSEQUENCES THAT COME FROM SUGAR. BUT NOW STUDYING PEOPLE WHO ARE OBESE, NUTRITION RESEARCHERS AT WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE IN ST. LOUIS HAVE FOUND THAT AT LEAST ONE ARTIFICIAL SWEETENER DOES, INDEED, AFFECT HOW THE BODY SECRETES INSULIN IN RESPONSE TO BLOOD GLOCUSE. JIM DRYDEN REPORTS
WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY NUTRITION RESEARCHER YANINA PEPINO SAYS ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS THAT ARE ADDED TO FOODS ARE SUPPOSED TO MAKE THINGS TASTE SWEET WITHOUT DOING MUCH OF ANYTHING ELSE.
(act) :08 o/c a taste
They have very low, if any, calories. So the idea is just
give a taste, and it will go through your body and do
nothing else than just provide you with a taste.
WE HAVE RECEPTORS ON OUR TONGUES THAT ALLOW US TO TASTE SWEET THINGS, AND SO-CALLED NON-NUTRITIVE SWEETENERS STIMULATE THOSE RECEPTORS, BUT THEY HAVE VIRTUALLY NO CALORIES SO THATS PRETTY MUCH ALL THAT THE SWEETNERS WERE THOUGHT TO DO. BUT RECENT STUDIES IN MICE AND IN RATS HAVE FOUND THAT THERE ARE RECEPTORS IN THE GUT THAT ARE JUST ABOUT IDENTICAL TO THE SWEET-TASTE RECEPTORS IN OUR MOUTHS, RAISING THE QUESTION OF WHETHER NON-NUTRITIVE SWEETENERS MIGHT ALSO BE ABSORBED INTO OTHER PARTS OF THE BODY AND AFFECT HOW ORGANS LIKE THE LIVER OR THE PANCREAS DO THEIR JOBS, WHICH IS EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED IN SOME ANIMAL STUDIES. THE FINDINGS RAISE CONCERN BECAUSE PEOPLE ATTEMPTING TO LOSE WEIGHT OFTEN CONSUME THINGS THAT CONTAIN THESE SWEETENERS, BUT PEPINO SAYS SEVERAL STUDIES IN PEOPLE FAILED TO REPRODUCE THE FINDINGS FROM ANIMALS.
(act) :12 o/c by itself
Most of the other studies were done in healthy, lean individuals,
and in most of the studies, they did it just giving the sucralose
alone, or the artificial sweetener alone, by itself.
SO PEPINO GAVE THE SWEETENER SUCRALOSE, COMMERCIALLY KNOWN AS SPLENDA, TO A DIFFERENT POPULATION OF PEOPLE.
(act) :20 o/c non-nutritive sweeteners
We also decided to study a different population. We decided we
wanted to study obese individuals because they are the ones who
most frequently are recommended to get into these healthier diets,
trying to control for their sugars. And we also, I was very interested
and I wanted to study people that were naïve, or non-regular users,
of non-nutritive sweeteners.
THATS BECAUSE IF THE SWEETENERS WERE HAVING AN EFFECT, IT WOULD BE HARDER TO IDENTIFY IT IN PEOPLE WHO USED THEM ON A REGULAR BASIS. PEPINO RECRUITED 17 PEOPLE WITH OBESITY WHO DIDNT USE THESE SWEETENERS AND BROUGHT THEM IN FOR A COUPLE OF VISITS.
(act) :11 o/c during pregnancy
Some people, on the first day, they received sucralose some
people received water just 10 minutes before they got this
glucose load that is like what you have when you do an oral
glucose tolerance test, like during pregnancy.
THAT EXPERIMENT SHOWED THAT SUCRALOSE DID INFLUENCE HOW PEOPLE PROCESSED GLUCOSE THAT THEY HAD CONSUMED.
(act) :13 o/c the sucralose
Those days that they drank sucralose 10 minutes before the
glucose load, we found that there was a higher peak for the
glucose, and we found that the response of insulin was
significantly higher the day that they drank the sucralose.
PEPINO SAYS WHETHER THE RISE IN SUGAR AND INSULIN LEVELS IS GOOD OR BAD STILL ISNT KNOWN, BUT SHE SAYS ITS CLEAR FROM THIS STUDY THAT SUCRALOSE IS DOING SOMETHING.
(act) :12 o/c other consequence
We only know that, that its not inert, that at least for this
population, we cannot hold still the idea that its something
sweet that you put in your mouth, and it will go without any
other consequence.
PEPINO AND HER COLLEAGUES REPORT THEIR FINDINGS IN THE JOURNAL DIABETES CARE. IM JIM DRYDEN
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