According to a new study
, artificial sweeteners may disrupt the body’s ability to regulate blood sugar which can result in metabolic changes. This in turn can result in diabetes. This is an interesting study because often people consume sweeteners to avoid this exact metabolic change and it is also relevant because a lot of people our age consume coffee and tea and will add artificial sweeteners.
The study was conducted mostly on mice to see how the artificial sweeteners effected their body, but especially their blood sugar levels. Not only does this metabolic change potentially cause diabetes, but it also can cause obesity. But the study was not conclusive in its finding so we can not say that we are completely positive that artificial sweeteners are directly related to diabetes or other disease that humans may get.
One flaw in the study may be that those in the trial were already over weight so they were already at a higher risk of getting diabetes or other blood sugar level diseases. Or vise versa, some people in the study may be thin and not as at risk as the others. Also, getting diabetes may be a generic trait. So someone’s weight may not play as large of a role in if someone gets diabetes or not as we think.
Also, the article doesn’t give a lot of info on how the study was conducted or who it was conducted. Therefore, we don’t have enough information to know weather or not the test was conducted well or if there are variables that they tested for that we don’t know of. We also don’t know that types of artificial sweeteners were used in this test. Some sweeteners may have gotten different results than others, so to generalize this study doesn’t seem right.
Overall, this study seems to have a lot of flaws in it and doesn’t give enough information to decided if this study should be trusted or not. Until further testing is done into this subject, I would say that our age group is more than okay with using any type of sweetener they chose to for their morning energy burst of coffee.
This topic is very interesting because studies are having a difficult time proving that sweeteners are causing diabetes. Although a rational person may agree. Studied have shown a long term correlation, but can’t prove if diabetes could be caused in the short term.
Hi Kendall! I think it is really interesting what you wrote about. I think more people should read this blog! I know a lot of people who are under the impression that drinking diet sodas or using artificial sweeteners is healthier. Although the study could have more validity and repetition of the study could consolidate the data, I think it is something young people should think about. I personally do not intentionally use artificial sweeteners so it would be interesting if scientists took a group of people who do regularly use sweeteners and a group that doesn’t usually use sweeteners and see the difference over an extended amount of time (an observational study) Here is a link http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/nutrition/healthy-eating/3-advantages-of-artificial-sweeteners.html that describes advantages of using them but I think it is most likely outdated and not a valid enough source to be taken seriously
I wrote a similar blog post about the effects of diet soda on the body and how it negatively can affect a person without necessarily contributing to weight gain. Like you mentioned in you post, I think that the reasons behind artificial sweeteners being dangerous is more due to the effects of the chemical on the body as opposed to the idea of getting fat. In my post, I talked about how the sweetener makes your body “prepare” to accept sugar and high calorie intake, but when it doesn’t get it, your body then digests food irregularly, causing gastrointestinal issues.