Side Effects Of Artificial Sweeteners

Do you know what are artificial sweeteners and what are their effects and side effects? In most of commercial products, starting from cola and carbonated beverages, and ending up with low-fat yogurt, various artificial sweeteners and sugar substitutes like sucralose, aspartame, saccharin, acesulfame potassium, or others are used. They are considered advantageous because, in contrast to sugar, artificial sweeteners have fewer calories and do not contribute greatly in weight gain. Food manufacturers and their main distributors assure all their customers that artificial sweeteners are safe and harmless, and using them can be good for almost every modern person. However, scientists do not stop talking about side effects of artificial sweeteners and warn us against extensive use of these type of sweeteners.

In particular, the experts at Center for Science in the Public Interest based in Washington, D.C., published the findings of their studies which include scientific evidence of strong links between artificial sweeteners and some types of cancer. Actually, these artificial sweeteners side effects were discovered and thoroughly studied back in 1960s and 1970s. Several researches of those times suggested that using artificial sweeteners like saccharin and cyclamate can cause cancer in lab rodents. The same concerns raised in regards to using other artificial sweeteners including acesulfame potassium, aspartame, and others. At the same time, a great deal of scientists (who had no connections to food industry and personal interest in promoting artificial sweeteners) underlined that the mentioned estimations of the risks were based on extremely high daily consumption of sugar substitutes, making these side effect of artificial sweeteners a bit unrealistic.

Besides, there are increasing concerns about the fact that using artificial sweeteners too often can cause imbalances in how our body takes sweet taste. It is a known fact that most artificial sugar substitutes are actually much sweeter than real sugar, that is why using artificial sweeteners can change the function of our taste receptors, substantially increase the demands of our body as to sweet foods and stimulate our cravings for much sweeter foods. These are very serious side effects of artificial sweeteners because they can lead to increased consumption of sweet foods and seriously affect our daily calorie intake. As a result, much more weight management efforts will be required for every one of us to support our health and keep our body mass in norms, and the rates of obesity will go on rising.

David Ludwig, a chief of the New Balance Foundation Obesity Prevention Center at the Children’s Hospital Boston, supports this theory about artificial sweeteners side effects. He said that using too much sweet foods produced with very sweet sugar substitutes will result in decreasing consumption of natural foods like fruit, vegetables, beans, cereal, and others which are considered the healthiest and the most useful. Ludwig refers to the findings of a recent study which has shown that the rodents who were fed on saccharine consumed much more calories compared to the rodents fed on sugar and glucose. It is very important for everyone of us to be informed about the side effects of artificial sweeteners, as well as understand the risks and danger linked to daily consumption of such kind of artificial sugar substitutes.

Author Info: Hi! My name is Carla and I am a 5th year medical student at HYMS. I am interested in alternative medicine and I have done months researching the topic of herbal medicine. Besides, I like interviewing people and learning more about their experiences with one or another type of herbal treatments. I am willing to contribute to this site with my knowledge, and I would be happy to help you out to the best of my ability with any specific questions or problems related to alternative medicine.

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