Artificial sweeteners induce glucose intolerance by altering the gut microbiota

By SugarScience Editor

This groundbreaking study suggests that artificial sweeteners may be a major cause of our epidemic of obesity and diabetes in North America.  A team of scientists found that artificial sweeteners change the huge colony of bacteria in your intestines to favor the harmful bacteria that increase risk for diabetes. Scientists fed 10-week-old mice drinks containing either: saccharin (the sweetener in the pink packets of Sweet’N Low), sucralose (the yellow packets of Splenda), aspartame (the blue packets of Equal), sugar, plain water.

The amount given to the mice was equivalent to four diet sodas per day for a human. After one week, the mice fed diet drinks had higher than normal blood sugar levels in response to eating sugar, while those that drank sugared water or plain water did not. Saccharin, aspartame and sucralose are chemically very different from each other, but they all caused the same abnormal rise in blood sugar. A high rise in blood sugar after eating sugar is called “glucose intolerance”, which is a marker for diabetes and increased risk for heart attacks.



Diabetes mellitus


SugarScience Glossary


Glucose is a sugar we eat. It is found in starch. It is the main fuel for our bodies. It is the sugar measured when we have a blood test to measure the blood sugar.

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