Artificial sweeteners may increase appetite

Sometimes, the remedy can be worse than the disease. Many of us choose to resort to artificial sweeteners such as saccharin, since they contain fewer calories than sugar. However, paradoxically, although it is real that they have a lower caloric load, they can have the opposite effect to what is sought and contribute to weight gain. This is shown by a study that has had the collaboration of the Charles Perkins Center at the University of Sydney and the Garvan Institute for Medical Research.
on the Increase of the appetite

To verify the effect that the sweetener has on the organism, these researchers fed a group of fruit flies with a diet of yeast and sucrose or with the synthetic sweetener used in various foods Light. The data revealed that the insects that took a diet without sugar for five days consumed 30% more calories.


Once this diet was removed with artificial sweeteners, the fruit flies returned to a level of caloric intake similar to that presented before starting this diet. Another of the data obtained in this study was that these insects had a greater desire to consume real sugar and greater sensitivity in taste receptors.

The sweetener causes a sensation of famine

After monitoring the expression and effects of the components involved in the regulation of appetite and energy, the researchers identified in the brain of the flies a neural network that seems responsible for the hunger-inducing effects of artificial sweeteners. That is, the agents that interfere with an evolutionarily ancient interaction between insulin, taste neurons and reward circuits of the brain, causes the body to seek food.


"We have found that within the reward centers of the brain sweet taste is integrated with the energy content," Greg Neely, one of the researchers of this work, said in a press release. "When sweetness and energy are unbalanced for a certain time, the brain recalibrates and increases the total calories consumed."
In other words, when the brain detects a lower intake of sugar, it responds by generating a sense of famine that forces the body to consume more food. With which ultimately the opposite effect is achieved that is sought with the consumption of sweeteners since more weight is gained by ingesting more calories.

Sweeteners and metabolism problems

This study wanted to test if these effects found in the fruit fly could be repeated in other organisms such as mice. These animals after seven days with a diet of sweeteners, showed a growth in food consumption of 50 percent. However, the researchers warn that it is too early to fully extrapolate these results to humans.


However, it is not the first time that a study points out sweeteners are harmful to the metabolism. A work published in Nature showed that these products can alter human intestinal activity and cause the absorption of calories. Other research on sweeteners and diabetes appeared in The Diabetes Journal points out that the consumption of sweeteners impairs the body's ability to process normal sugar.

This ultimately ends up causing problems in the metabolism and assimilation of sugar, which can lead to diabetes. However, as Professor Neely points out, these studies should not be taken as a ban on sweeteners, but as a demonstration that they are not safe and that they should be the subject of further studies to determine their consequences.

Damián Montero

Video: ????Artificial Sweeteners Cause Weight Gain, Cancer & Brain Death


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