Updated on 05/18/2022 at 10:16 am
- Sweetener is a popular alternative to sugar in soft drinks such as Cola, Fanta or Sprite.
- A study by the British Anglia Ruskin University now provides new insights into how unhealthy sweeteners actually are.
Those who pay attention to their figure prefer light products in supermarkets and restaurants. Sweeteners are intended as a low-calorie sugar substitute for sweet enjoyment. But are the sweet alternatives actually healthy? A study by the British Anglia Ruskin University on the Cambridge campus published in “International Journal of Molecula Sciences” Latest knowledge regarding sweeteners.
What are sweeteners?
Sweeteners are sugar substitutes that are either synthetically produced or obtained naturally, for example from plants. In addition to soft drinks, they can also be found in chewing gum or protein powder. They offer the advantage that they have hardly any calories and do not provide a breeding ground for dental diseases such as tooth decay.
According to the study, the supposedly healthier version of soda, iced tea and the like might also have a negative effect on the intestinal flora. The sweeteners might therefore cause intestinal bacteria to penetrate into intestinal cells. The substances significantly disrupt the “interaction between model intestinal bacteria and intestinal epithelial cells,” it says.
Harmful effects known for a long time
Preliminary research has already found that bacteria in the intestine can penetrate the intestinal wall under certain circumstances. The penetration of the bacteria into the bloodstream can trigger various diseases, such as infections and blood poisoning. The current study showed that saccharin, sucralose and aspartame increase the ability of bacteria to attach to and invade gut epithelial cells. Only saccharin appears to have no effect on E. coli proliferation.
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