Zero-calorie sweeteners can still lead to diabetes and obesity

Increased awareness of the health consequences of eating too much sugar has fuelled a dramatic risein the consumption of zero-calorie artificial sweeteners in recent decades.

But this new study is the largest examination to date that tracks biochemical changes in the body, using an approach known as unbiased high-throughput metabolomics – after consumption of sugar or sugar substitutes.

Researchers also looked at impacts on vascular health by studying how the substances affect the lining of blood vessels. The studies were conducted in rats and cell cultures.

'Despite the addition of these non-caloric artificial sweeteners to our everyday diets, there has still been a drastic rise in obesity and diabetes,' said lead researcher Brian Hoffmann, PhD, assistant professor in the department of biomedical engineering at the Medical College of Wisconsin and Marquette University. 'In our studies, both sugar and artificial sweeteners seem to exhibit negative effects linked to obesity and diabetes, albeit through very different mechanisms from each other.'