Artificially sweetened drinks produced no different response in the healthy human gut to a glass of water, according to a new study published in the journal Diabetes Care.
Researchers at University of Adelaide School of Medicine and the Nerve-Gut Laboratory evaluated gut activity in 10 males after consuming either water or a sweetened beverage—with 52 mg sucralose; 200 mg acesulfame potassium (AceK); or 46 mg sucralose and 26 mg AceK. Ten minutes after consuming the beverage, each drank 75 g of glucose, made up to 300 mL with water, and containing 150 mg 13C-acetate. Blood glucose, plasma insulin, total glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and gastric emptying were evaluated over 240 min.
Results concluded blood glucose, plasma insulin and total GLP-1 concentrations did not change after either water or sweetened drinks prior to glucose ingestion, but all increased after oral glucose.
"We found that the gut's response to artificially sweetened drinks was neutral—it was no different to drinking a glass of water," said senior author Chris Rayner, University of Adelaide's School of Medicine and consultant gastroenterologist at the Royal Adelaide Hospital.
Richard Young, Ph.D., senior postdoctoral researcher in the Nerve-Gut Research Laboratory, said population-level studies have yet to agree on the effects of long-term artificial sweetener intake in humans. Although, prior research has shown an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes in regular- and high-consumers of artificially sweetened drinks.
"Those studies indicate that artificial sweeteners may interact with the gut in the longer term, but so far no-one's managed to determine the actual mechanisms through which these sweeteners act," Young said. "It's a complicated area because the way in which the sweet taste receptors in our gut detect and act on sweetness is very complex."
