Posted on 06/25/2021 12:37:42 PM PDT by Red Badger
New research has discovered that common artificial sweeteners can cause previously healthy gut bacteria to become diseased and invade the gut wall, potentially leading to serious health issues.
The study, published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences, is the first to show the pathogenic effects of some of the most widely used artificial sweeteners—saccharin, sucralose, and aspartame—on two types of gut bacteria, E. coli (Escherichia coli) and E. faecalis (Enterococcus faecalis).
Previous studies have shown that artificial sweeteners can change the number and type of bacteria in the gut, but this new molecular research, led by academics from Anglia Ruskin University (ARU), has demonstrated that sweeteners can also make the bacteria pathogenic. It found that these pathogenic bacteria can attach themselves to, invade, and kill Caco-2 cells, which are epithelial cells that line the wall of the intestine.
It is known that bacteria such as E. faecalis which cross the intestinal wall can enter the blood stream and congregate in the lymph nodes, liver, and spleen, causing a number of infections including septicaemia.
This new study discovered that at a concentration equivalent to two cans of diet soft drink, all three artificial sweeteners significantly increased the adhesion of both E. coli and E. faecalis to intestinal Caco-2 cells, and differentially increased the formation of biofilms.
Bacteria growing in biofilms are less sensitive to antimicrobial resistance treatment and are more likely to secrete toxins and express virulence factors, which are molecules that can cause disease.
Additionally, all three sweeteners caused the pathogenic gut bacteria to invade Caco-2 cells found in the wall of the intestine, with the exception of saccharin which had no significant effect on E. coli invasion.
Senior author of the paper Dr. Havovi Chichger, Senior Lecturer in Biomedical Science at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU), said: "There is a lot of concern about the consumption of artificial sweeteners, with some studies showing that sweeteners can affect the layer of bacteria which support the gut, known as the gut microbiota.
"Our study is the first to show that some of the sweeteners most commonly found in food and drink—saccharin, sucralose and aspartame—can make normal and 'healthy' gut bacteria become pathogenic. These pathogenic changes include greater formation of biofilms and increased adhesion and invasion of bacteria into human gut cells.
"These changes could lead to our own gut bacteria invading and causing damage to our intestine, which can be linked to infection, sepsis and multiple-organ failure.
"We know that overconsumption of sugar is a major factor in the development of conditions such as obesity and diabetes. Therefore, it is important that we increase our knowledge of sweeteners versus sugars in the diet to better understand the impact on our health."
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More bad news for artificial sweetener users More information: Aparna Shil et al, Artificial Sweeteners Negatively Regulate Pathogenic Characteristics of Two Model Gut Bacteria, E. coli and E. faecalis, International Journal of Molecular Sciences (2021). DOI: 10.3390/ijms22105228 Provided by Anglia Ruskin University
I’ve been wary of artificial sweeteners for awhile. I steer clear of soft drinks to begin with as they’re empty calories. For a sugar substitute, I’ve found the natural stevia leaf extract to be petty good.
An aside from this article.
I used to be an avid Nutrasweet/fake sugar user until I began to have severe dizziness episodes that would wipe me out energy wise for hours and sometime days. I began to realize they happened during times that I was working on losing weight and restricting my calorie intake. Was it low blood sugar from not eating as much etc etc? No.
Eventually I realized it was ingesting these sweeteners that were causing it. I would ingest them and be down sometimes for days with dizzy episodes. Very scary actually the huge cause and effect by ingesting just a few swallows of something with it in it--not even a large amount. And I was very ill.
Yes. Stevia has been my saving grace ;D.
i use stevia as well. i avoid the artificials.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglia_Ruskin_University
call me when they get a teaching hospital....Meh
No soft drinks for me either. I use liquid stevia drops in my morning (organic) coffee.
Did you know that coffee beans are among the heavily pesticide-sprayed crops? My local supermarket carries organic coffee in the bins. You grind your own coffee with grinder set to right fineness for your pot.
Heck I knew this years ago, that’s why I stopped using Splenda.
-SB
Lately my sodas have been sparkling water, like La Croix, Bubly or Waterloo. They have flavors like lemon, lime or grapefruit, but no sweeteners. I tried an HEB store brand diet soda last week and really found it to be cloyingly sweet. I doubt I will drink diet sodas again.
Black tea, no sweetener. Water.
Stevia tastes like saccharine.
Whoa, that sounds bad. I’ve given up Diet Coke and Coke Zero.
So that’s been gone almost completely and absolutely since President Trump called for a response to Woke Coke.
I make a lot of good homemade plain English type iced tea these days, sometimes with lemon.
Rather than citing "3 common sweetners", it would have been more helpful for the article to explicitly specify the sweeteners in question.
The amount of bullhooey in this article is amazing. They really did an excellent job of utter nonsense and junk science. Bravo!
I’ve been using them for as long as they have existed, if they are gonna kill me, at least I won’t die young. I’m 76 now.
Good for you. I had a nice run with them for years before clear problems. So good for you. 76 :D. Enjoy!!! Oddly it seems the older I get the shorter life really is.
Me too been drinking diet soda since 2000 and lost about 20 pounds.
Splenda in my coffee every morning. I feel fine.
and Cher screams Rasis !!!!
Stevia is bitter.
Use Truvia, which is a pure form of stevia plus erythritol . Or Keto Sweet which is a granular version of erythritol.
Coffee beans are NEVER sprayed.
Coffee fruits are, then they are removed so that the pit, the “coffee bean,” can be used.
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