Sweeteners
such as saccharin, sucralose, aspartame and stevia are found in most
low-sugar or ‘diet’ products, as well as many ‘normal sugar’ foods and
drinks, so we ma eat them without knowing it.
A small study (2014) showed that artificial sweeteners disrupted the gut bacteria of mice, and that saccharin did the same for 4 out of the 7 people tested, as well as making their blood sugar levels less healthy. Many studies show that people using more artificial sweeteners tend to have a higher BMI and waist circumference.
A small study (2014) showed that artificial sweeteners disrupted the gut bacteria of mice, and that saccharin did the same for 4 out of the 7 people tested, as well as making their blood sugar levels less healthy. Many studies show that people using more artificial sweeteners tend to have a higher BMI and waist circumference.
For the Trust Me, I'm a Doctor programme, 15 volunteers, who did not normally take artificial
sweeteners, all had their blood sugar levels measured (having
fasted for 12 hours), and then were split into two groups. For 7 days, one group
took the daily safe level of saccharin, and the other
group the daily safe level of stevia. Each also gave a stool sample, for gut bacteria analysis.
When retested at the end of the week, the blood sugar levels of the volunteers taking stevia had not changed significantly but 4 of those who had taken saccharin had significantly higher blood sugar levels, which is bad for health, and indicates that saccharin, in a large proportion of people, is doing the opposite of what it promises. The gut bacteria tests showed that those who reacted to saccharin all had a similar bacterial composition to start with, and that they all changed in a similar way. Those who didn’t respond to the saccharin showed much less of a change. Those taking stevia did have a bacterial change, but it was in the opposite direction from those who had a bad response to saccharin.
When retested at the end of the week, the blood sugar levels of the volunteers taking stevia had not changed significantly but 4 of those who had taken saccharin had significantly higher blood sugar levels, which is bad for health, and indicates that saccharin, in a large proportion of people, is doing the opposite of what it promises. The gut bacteria tests showed that those who reacted to saccharin all had a similar bacterial composition to start with, and that they all changed in a similar way. Those who didn’t respond to the saccharin showed much less of a change. Those taking stevia did have a bacterial change, but it was in the opposite direction from those who had a bad response to saccharin.
While the BBC2 study, and the one that preceded it, were both on small numbers of
people, the consistent results – alongside results found previously
in mice – suggest that saccharin is bad for some people,
but no evidence that stevia is. As there is no easy way to find out if you are someone with the specific gut bacteria
composition that saccharin affects, it is best to avoid it. The evidence in mice is that aspartame and sucralose may have
a similar effect. The only results for stevia are from the BBC2 study and do
not show a negative effect, so stevia seems to be the best sugar alternative. On packaging it is sometimes called ‘steviol
glycosides’, which are the sweet-tasting compounds in the Stevia plant
