The effects of artificial sugars on the human body
Austin Losinger
Skyview high school

The effects of artificial sugars on the human body
In today’s world we see big brand companies like Pepsi and Coca-Cola attract people using the word “Diet” or “Zero”. A Recent survey from Health Day News showed that 1 in 5 Americans drink at least one soda a day. Brigham Young University surveyed Americans and found out 20% drink more diet soda now than 15 years ago. Due to the increasing amounts of diet soda, it’s important to know the truth behind the soda and what the soda contains. The question is what are the chemical impacts in artificial sweeteners on the health compared to the natural sugars? The hypothesis made is if artificial sugars are added to food or drinking products, than if will negatively affect are body than the food or drinking product using a natural sugar.
Literature Review
In Chang K (2014) summary article reviews that artificial sweeteners may disrupt the body’s ability to replace blood sugar which can cause metabolic changes that can lead to diabetes. Issues and Controversies (2010) article reviews that artificial sweeteners aren’t a safe alternative to sugar. Dennis B (2014) summary article reviews that artificial sweeteners might be triggering, high blood sugar levels in some people, eventually causing diabetes and obesity. Ma j., Chang, j., Checklin, H. L., Young, R. L., Jones, K. L., Horowitz, M., & Rayner, C.K. (2010) summary article reviews the effect of artificial sweetener, sucralose, on small intestinal glucose absorption in healthy human subjects. Janes, S. H. (2005) summary reviews the dangers of artificial sweeteners. Chang K (2014) reviewed a study that was done mostly on mice, to back up their assertion that the sweeteners alter the microbiome, the population of bacteria that is in the digestive system. The different mix of microbiomes changed the metabolism of glucose, causing levels to rise higher after eating and to decline more slowly than they otherwise would. It was found that changes in the microbiome had linked to obesity and diabetes. The studies show that we should step back and reassess our extensive use of artificial sweeteners. Other studies were shown that people who drank more diet soda also weighed more (Chang, K 2014). In another test mice were given Saccharin, Sucralose or aspartame added to drinking water. Other mice were given plain water with added glucose for the same amount of time. After a week, there was little change in the mice given sugar water, but the group given the artificial sweetened water developed intolerance to glucose which is the body not able to cope with large amounts of sugar, eventually causing more serious illnesses like Type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome (Chang, K 2014). These findings do show that artificial sweeteners have an effect on the body. Dennis B (2014) reviewed an experiment that was done and it was found that several of the most widely used types of non-calorie sweeteners in food and drinks – saccharine, sucralose and aspartame- caused mice to experience increased risk of glucose intolerance, a condition that can lead to diabetes (Dennis, B 2014).The same scientist also monitored 7 human volunteers who did not typically use artificial sweeteners but were given regular doses of saccharin over the course of a week. 4 out the 7 developed significant glucose intolerance. Contentious debate goes on over the potential health benefit and risk of artificial sweeteners, which are among the most common food additives and are consumed by hundreds of millions of people around the world (Dennis, B 2014). The findings in the article show that artificial sweeteners have an effect on the body. Ma, j et al (2010) reviewed a lab on rodents to see the effects of artificial sweeteners on them. It was found that it stimulates glucose absorption by enhancing apical availability of the transport GLUT2. A lab was done on