I have clients asking me about artificial sweeteners and its effects on metabolism, cancer, epilepsy, you name it. So I decided to delve into the arena of artificial sweeteners and try to get a grasp on its effects, benefits and consequences of regular use. What I got was just the tip of the ice burg when it comes to all the differing opinions and studies related to this topic. So what I have here are a few excerpts from a few articles I thought to be the most straight-forward and clearly written in their explanations.
Side Effects
According to the National Cancer Institute, the definition of an artificial sweetener is; “Artificial sweeteners, also called sugar substitutes, are substances that are used instead of sucrose (table sugar) to sweeten foods and beverages. Because artificial sweeteners are many times sweeter than table sugar, smaller amounts are needed to create the same level of sweetness.”
The article on the National Cancer Institute website continues…
“Is there an association between artificial sweeteners and cancer?
Questions about artificial sweeteners and cancer arose when early studies showed that cyclamate in combination with saccharin caused bladder cancer in laboratory animals. However, results from subsequent carcinogenicity studies (studies that examine whether a substance can cause cancer) of these sweeteners have not provided clear evidence of an association with cancer in humans. Similarly, studies of other FDA-approved sweeteners have not demonstrated clear evidence of an association with cancer in humans.
What have studies shown about a possible association between specific artificial sweeteners and cancer?”
From here I can only send you to the website where the article breaks down the above question in detail. http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/artificial-sweeteners
Metabolism and Blood Sugar Levels
“My particular concern is that artificial sweeteners are 200 to 13,000 times as sweet as sugar, and that is a potent stimulus for turning a sweet tooth into a fang,” Dr, David Katz told Oprah.
A few things I found on Wikipedia
A 2005 study by the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio showed that increased weight gain and obesity was associated with increased use of diet soda in a population based study. The study did not establish whether increased weight leads to increased consumption of diet drinks or whether consumption of diet drinks could have an effect on weight gain.[7] DeNoon, Daniel J. Reviewed by Charlotte Grayson Mathis MD. “Drink More Diet Soda, Gain More Weight? Overweight Risk Soars 41% With Each Daily Can of Diet Soft Drink”, WebMD Medical News (2005), accessed 2007-06-25
Animal studies have indicated that artificial sweeteners can cause body weight gain. A sweet taste induces an insulin response, which causes blood sugar to be stored in tissues (including fat), but because blood sugar does not increase with artificial sugars, there is hypoglycemia and increased food intake the next time there is a meal. After a while, rats given sweeteners have steadily increased caloric intake, increased body weight, and increased adiposity (fatness). Furthermore, the natural responses to eating sugary foods (eating less at the next meal and using some of the extra calories to warm the body after the sugary meal) are gradually lost.[8] Swithers SE, Davidson TL (2008). “A role for sweet taste: calorie predictive relations in energy regulation by rats”. BehavNeurosci 122 (1): 161-73. doi:10.1037/0735-7044.122.1.161.
The following are a few excerpts from an article on Women To Women .com; the exact web page is listed at the end of the article.
Sugar substitutes and the potential danger of Splenda
by Marcelle Pick, OB/GYN NP
Short-circuiting the insulin spike
Basically, artificial sweeteners confuse your brain. The enzymes in your mouth begin a cascade that primes your cell receptors for an insulin surge, and when it doesn’t arrive your brain feels cheated. That’s why most diet sodas are loaded with caffeine – so you’ll still feel a jolt.
But even if your brain is distracted momentarily, soon enough it wants the energy boost you promised it – and you find yourself craving carbohydrates. In one study, people who used artificial sweeteners ate up to three times the amount of calories as the control group. But again, this is individual. It all comes down to the brain’s perception of calories, which can get thrown off whenever artificial ingredients are substituted for whole food.
In my practice I’ve seen that many patients are better able to break their addiction to sugar and maintain weight loss with the help of sugar substitutes. This is probably because insulin is not involved. Also, the substitutes are hundreds of times sweeter than sugar, so you may use less of them. In certain cases, I think moderate use of artificial sweeteners is okay – as long as you feel well.
But you should know that sugar substitutes don’t have to be artificial. There is another way!
Stevia and sorbitol – natural alternatives to artificial sweeteners
Other countries and diabetics have both taught us a lot about controlling insulin naturally. For many years, diabetics have used products sweetened with polyalcohol sugars like sorbitol, xylitol, malitol, and mannitol. These are natural sweeteners that do not trigger an insulin reaction. (Xylitol can be derived from birch tree pulp.) They have half the calories of sugar and are not digested by the small intestine.
While most polyalcohol sugars have no side effects, sorbitol is a natural laxative and can cause diarrhea, irritable bowel syndrome, bloating and flatulence.
For this reason, we recommend the herb stevia (Stevia rebaudiana) over sorbitol as a natural sweetener to our patients. Known in South America as the “sweet herb,” stevia has been used for over 400 years without ill effect. Stevia has been enormously popular in Japan, where it has been in use for more than 20 years, now rivaling Equal and Sweet’N Low. It’s 200-300 times sweeter than sugar, so just a small portion of stevia will sweeten even a strong cup of tea.
We’ve known about stevia in the US since 1918, but pressure from the sugar import trade blocked its use as a commodity. Today stevia is slowly gaining steam as a sugar substitute, despite similar hurdles. The FDA has approved its use as a food supplement, but not as a food additive due to a lack of studies. Stevia can be used for anything you might use sugar in, including baking. It is naturally low in carbohydrates. You can buy stevia at most health food stores and over the web. There will always be those who have a sensitivity to a substance, but based on reports from other countries it appears to have little to no side effects. For women who want to move through their cravings for sugar without artificial chemicals, stevia is a great option.
More importantly, you can do a lot to support your body in other ways to reduce your dependency on sugar and sugar substitutes – something I encourage every woman to do. Once your body returns to its natural state of balance, you may find that you can toss out those artificial sweeteners and put sugar in its proper place: where you have control over it and not vice-versa.
Artificial sweeteners are chemicals, not food! They have no calories because they don’t nourish your body in anyway – they’re toxins your body has to clear, or, depending on how well you detoxify, store. But if you can’t live without your diet drink, don’t beat yourself up about it. Accept it and give your body extra support elsewhere.
http://www.womentowomen.com/healthyweight/splenda.aspx
Low Glycemic Sugar Alternatives
There is yet another approach to all this once you have curbed your sweet tooth and sugar cravings and that is to go low. Another sweetener that your body can process but that does not create an insulin spike is agave nectar. This is the syrup from the agave cactus that is used to produce tequila. Every alcoholic beverage is created from fermenting a sugar and these sugars have different effects in the digestive and metabolic system. Agave nectar (found in most health food stores and Trader Joe’s) is a perfect alternative because it can give your brain the sugar effects it wants (mostly) but without there being the risk or spiking of an insulin response. Agave nectar still contains carbohydrates in the form of sugars, just that these sugars in small doses are not as reactive as regular table sugar, high fructose corn syrup, etc… This also means, that your brain will not crave the “real deal” if you try to fool it with the non-sugary, sweetness-only stuff.
Also, a great fruit that can help curb your sugar cravings are berries. Berries tend to be low on the glycemic index and also provide a nice assortment of vitamins and anti-oxidants. And again, these are not fooling the brain of sugar, you are getting sugar that in low quantities will not create an insulin response.
Bottom Line
As you can see there is quite a bit of information and studies out there related to artificial sweeteners and natural sweeteners. Everyone is different and your body’s response to any kind of sugar, artificial sweetener or low glycemic carbohydrate will be different. It is a matter of experimenting on what works for you and you alone based off activity, metabolic type, current health conditions, potential family health inheritance issues and how sugary/sweeteners make you feel overall. One thing I always encourage all my clients to do is 1. Get rid of the sweet cravings and 2. Get rid of the processed food cravings. Once these two dietary roadblocks are conquered, eating clean won’t feel like a chore or a punishment because your system will start to feel so much better on real foods, and I mean real foods 95% of the time.