File this under:
I’m not surprised.
But all the same, a new medical study shows us the disturbing proof that eating foods and drinking diet drinks with artificial sweeteners in them actually changes how your body is able to handle glucose… increasing your risk for Type 2 Diabetes.
Makes sense… you are basically training your body to have an abnormal response to sugar by feeding it artificial sweeteners. What I didn’t know is how quickly your body slows down it’s insulin response and begins to abnormally uptake glucose in the gut and concentrate it in the bloodstream.
Two weeks! Two weeks is all it took for a significant change in the absorption of glucose and an altered response from your gut making too little of glucagonlike peptide 1 (GLP-1… which helps our body limit the rise in glucose after a meal.)
The Study:
(presented at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes Annual Meeting on September 14, 2017… and found online here)
- 60 healthy participants who did not already habitually consume artifical sweeteners were enrolled in this double blind, randomized, parallel group clinical study
- Participants fasted overnight and underwent an endoscopy with intraduodenal glucose infusion and small bowel biopsy, at both the onset and conclusion of the two week study
- Study participants took capsules three times a day before meals… the capsules either contained placebo or a combination of artificial sweeteners (such as Sucralose and acesulfame L, both commonly found in diet beverages) for 2 weeks and had their glucose absorption, insulin production and gut hormones (including GLP 1) measured, in addition to the gut biopsies.
- The amount of artificial sweetener consumed in the double blind study was equivalent to drinking just over a liter of diet beverage a day (1.2 L) for two weeks
The Results:
- After two weeks, the participants who consumed the artificial sweeteners had increased absorption of glucose — 20% more glucose absorbed than absorbed by the placebo group.
- Participants taking the artificial sweetener also had their plasma glucose levels increase by 24% over placebo
- GLP-1 response from the gut (which limits the rise in blood glucose after meals) decreased by 34% in the artificial sweetener group
- This means that while the folks consuming artificial sweeteners had bodies that were taking up more glucose and dealing with a higher spike in blood levels of glucose after meals, their gut was responding in a decreased, desensitized way, releasing less insulin and allowing glucose levels to rise unchecked
- Participants consuming artificial sweeteners took up more glucose into their bloodstream but made less insulin in response to the higher levels of glucose… basically a diabetic response.
The bottom line?
It only took two weeks of consuming artificial sweeteners to develop this abnormal response to glucose and increase participants diabetes risk.
Say it with me: two weeks!!! Wow.
This, after this medical study published on January 2, 2013 in JAMA that revealed disturbing brain changes after consuming fructose and sucrose.
When study participants drank glucose, the brain blood flow increased in the centers of the brain that signal feeling full, satiated, satisfied and rewarded. Basically, the body was able to signal when in felt satisfied and gave the feedback naturally to stop consuming.
But… when study participants drank fructose, there was actually no effect to these areas of the brain, which tricks your brain into thinking that you haven’t even consumed anything.
No feeling full. No feeling quenched. Meaning… no satisfaction and no urge to stop consuming.
Considering fructose is added the vast majority of the sugary drinks we drink on the market (sodas and fruit juices and sports drinks alike) it is yet another reason to put down those beverages when you are trying to lose weight.
Fructose has also been shown in previous studies to promote insulin resistance, insulin intolerance, and abnormal fatty deposits in the liver! Yuck!
Sucrose is a 50/50 blend of glucose and fructose… so take care to avoid sucrose as well as any high-fructose corn syrups in the ingredient list.
When you are drinking a soda with fructose or sucrose in it and eating a snack — guess what?
Your brain is being selectively numbed to the fact that you are consuming.
So you over-consume beyond what would normally satisfy you.
You can’t even feel it!
It’s not your fault AT ALL — your brain literally can NOT alert you when it is full, nor give you normal, natural feeling to stop eating.
If you make only this ONE CHANGE, starting today, of decreasing or eliminating fructose, sucrose and artificial sweeteners from your diet, you begin to retrain your body to let you know when it is full and you retrain your body to respond appropriately to glucose…
…decreasing your chance of sliding into diabetes and metabolic syndrome.
You get yourself back in touch with your own desires and your own body’s ability to metabolize sugar.
Here is a challenge for you — try drinking only water today. Drink water every time you are thirsty, every time you are hungry, and throughout the day even when you are not hungry or thirsty.
I’ll join you… (uh… after my morning coffee… sweetened with real sugar!)
xoxoxo, Laura