flickr.com/ photos/ blmiers2/ 6904758951

Israeli researchers have shown that consumption of noncaloric (artificial) sweeteners may induce glucose intolerance in both mice and humans. It is thought that instead of artificial sweeteners preventing obesity and metabolic disease, the use of noncalorie sweeteners may have increased the epidemic rise in these conditions.

Further research showed that the sweeteners alter microbiota in the gut, and increasing metabolic-syndrome-related parameters. These parameters include increased weight and increased waist-to-hip ratio, raising fasting blood glucose levesv, raising hemoglobin A1c values (the measure of blood sugars over 90 days), and increasing the values in response to glucose tolerance tests. These are all bad outcomes.

We are unsure how much artificial sweetener is okay. One researcher joked that “drinking 17 diet sodas a day is probably a bad idea, but one or two may be okay.”

Interesting research..l’ll keep watching…