Artificial Sweeteners Might Be Bad For Your Gut

A study of six artificial sweeteners and ten sports supplements that contain them revealed that the gut bacteria turned toxic with its consumption. The sweeteners aspartame, sucralose, saccharine, neotame, advantame, and acesulfame potassium-k were studied by the researchers at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) in Israel and Nanyang Technological University in Singapore during this collaborative study.

Bad Feeling In The Gut

“We modified bioluminescent E. coli bacteria, which luminesce when they detect toxicants and act as a sensing model representative of the complex microbial system,” says Prof. Ariel Kushmaro, John A. Ungar Chair in Biotechnology in the Avram and Stella Goldstein-Goren Department of Biotechnology Engineering. “This is further evidence that consumption of artificial sweeteners adversely affects gut microbial activity which can cause a wide range of health issues,” he added.

The report by Science Daily says that these sweeteners are used while making food products and soft drinks to reduce sugar content. Unknowingly people are consuming these sweeteners which are even known to be pollutants to the environment. “The results of this study might help in understanding the relative toxicity of artificial sweeteners and the potential of negative effects on the gut microbial community as well as the environment. Furthermore, the tested bioluminescent bacterial panel can potentially be used for detecting artificial sweeteners in the environment,” says Prof. Kushmaro.