Sweeteners
Ironically, NAS may actually be contributing to the obesity and type 2 diabetes epidemic
There are currently 6 NAS (Non-nutritive means non-caloric) approved for use in the U.S.:
| NAS | Brand names |
|---|---|
| Aspartame | NutraSweet, Spoonful, Equal, NatraTase blue, Canderel |
| Sucralose | Splenda, Zerocal |
| Saccharin | Sweet 'N Low, Sugar twin, Sweet Twin, Necta Sweet |
| Advantame | (None) |
| Neotame | Newtame |
| Acesulfame potassium-K | Sunnette, Sweet One, ACE, ACE K |
Most NAS pass through the human GI tract without being digested by the host. Roberts, 2000; Byard, 1973 Thus directly encountering GI microbiota.
Dominant gut phyla include: Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria and Proteobacteria.
Studies have indicated that the composition Claesson, 2012 and function Muegge, 2011 of gut flora are modulated by diet whether a person is healthy and lean, obese Turnbaugh, 2006 Ley, 2006 or has diabetes Qin, 2012. Dietary-modulated alterations have been associated with an increased risk of developing metabolic syndrome. Henao, 2012
Suez et al study results suggest that NAS consumption in both mice and humans (following moderate consumption over several weeks) enhances the risk of glucose intolerance. Also, that these adverse metabolic effects are mediated by modulation of the composition and function of the microbiota. They also noted that "several of the bacterial taxa that changed following NAS consumption were previously associated with type 2 diabetes in humans Qin, 2012; Karlsson, 2013, including over-representation of Bacteroides and under-representation of Clostridiales. " Suez, 2014
Researchers concluded that a couple of artificially sweetened sodas or coffees a day could be enough to influence gut health. Researcher Arial Kushmaro, professor of microbial biotechnology at Ben-Gurion University, headed up an Israeli / SIngapore collaborative study published in "Molecules". Beneficial GI tract bacteria (a strain of E. Coli) were dosed with all six FDA-approved artificial sweeteners, having a toxic effect on them, which made it difficult for them to grow and reproduce. Molecules, 2018
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Clemente, J. C., Ursell, L. K., Parfrey, L. W. & Knight, R. (2012) The impact of the gut microbiota on human health: an integrative view. Cell 148, 1258-1270
Henao-Mejia, J. et al. (2012) Inflammasome-mediated dysbiosis regulates progression of NAFLD and obesity. Nature 482, 179-185
Karlsson, F. H. et al. (2013) Gut metagenome in European women with normal, impaired and diabetic glucose control. Nature 498, 99-103. PubMed
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Molecules 2018; 23(10): 2454 Link
Muegge, B. D. et al. (2011) Diet drives convergence in gut microbiome functions across mammalian phylogeny and within humans. Science 332, 970-974.
Qin, J. et al. (2012) A metagenome-wide association study of gut microbiota in type 2 diabetes. Nature 490, 55-60
Roberts, A., Renwick, A. G., Sims, J. & Snodin, D. J. (2000) Sucralose metabolism and pharmacokinetics in man. Food Chem. Toxicol. 38 (Suppl. 2), 31-41
Suez,J et al (2014 Oct) Artificial sweeteners induce glucose intolerance by altering the gut microbiota. Nature 514(7521):181-6.
Turnbaugh, P. J. et al. (2006) An obesity-associated gut microbiome with increased capacity for energy harvest. Nature 444, 1027-1031
