Many people want to lose weight and decide to replace sugar with artificial sweeteners. It seems that even if artificial sweeteners can be of help during diets, they are responsible for developing type 2 diabetes. A new study has reached this conclusion but some already contest this finding.
The study on artificial sweeteners
The study carried out by researchers from the University of Adelaide in Australia investigated if large amounts of no-calorie artificial sweeteners alter the body’s ability to control the glucose levels in the blood.
Type 2 diabetes is associated with obesity and its complications include blindness, strokes and heart attacks.
The study has yet to be published and it was a smile scale one, but the findings are similar to previous research which shows an association between artificial sweeteners and gaining weight.
The study used 27 healthy volunteers and some of them were given 1.5 liters of diet drinks daily in capsule forms of two different sweeteners: sucralose and acesulfame K. The capsules were given three times a day before meals during two weeks. The rest of the volunteers were given a placebo.
After two weeks, the body’s response to glucose was impaired, meaning that the artificial sweeteners reduce the body’s control of blood sugar levels. This could trigger exaggerated post-meal glucose levels in high habitual NAS and thus type 2 diabetes.
The findings of the study were presented at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes in Lisbon. Some experts agreed that the study’s findings are in line with other previous research, while others did not agree with the conclusion.
Some researchers added that type 2 diabetes develops due to environmental but also a genetic factor, some of which are not yet understood. Their opinion was that it is yet too soon to believe artificial sweeteners are responsible for type 2 diabetes.
