The Cost Of Artificial Sweeteners For Our Health

The word artificial is defined as something created by humans and not naturally occurring. Usually, things that are artificial are chastised as something not authentic and societies even harmful. This, however, has not been the case for artificial sweeteners. Artificial sweeteners are seen everywhere and are used by many people as an alternative to real sugar in order to lower their calorie count. Although artificial sweeteners are endorsed by many dietitians and health professionals, like many artificial and real substances they have a downside. According to various studies artificial sweeteners have many effects and even sometimes exaggerate the negative effects of sugar. Before delving into the problems associated with artificial sweeteners, there must be an understanding of where these sweeteners come from and the different types of sweeteners. The first and oldest form of artificial sugar was discovered in 1879 by two scientists working at Johns Hopkins University. Ira Ramsen, who had studied chemistry in Germany after studying at Columbia University, had returned to the US to work in Johns Hopkins to work in chemistry. Constantin Falhbery came to Johns Hopkins on behalf of a Baltimore firm. He was hired to do studies on sugar due to this work with Russian sugar exporters. One night after work in the laboratory, Fahlberg had sat down to eat dinner. As he ate a roll, he noticed that the roll was extremely sweet. After he noticed this, he tried eating other things and they happened to all be sweet. Fahlberg realized that he had spilled something in the laboratory and forgot to clean it off of him before the day was over. He returned to the laboratory and tested everything that the compound came in contact with. According to Hicks,” Finally he found the source: an overboiled beaker in which o-sulfobenzoic acid had reacted with phosphorus (V) chloride and ammonia, producing benzoic sulfimide.” This remarkable discovery mistake would change the sweetening industry forever, thus sparking an era of many different artificial sweeteners and alternatives. Although artificial sugar had just one form at its beginning in 1879, various forms of the sweetener were created in the following century. The first artificial sweetener saccharin is represented the compound C7H503NS. This compound is considered to be 200 - 700 times sweeter than pure cane sugar.

Another commonly used artificial sweeteners is aspartame, which is represented by the compound C14H18N2O5 and is about 200 times sweeter than sugar. Another FDA approved sweetener is sucralose, which is represented by the compound C12H19CL3O8 and is about 600 times sweeter than pure sugar cane. Another, fairly new artificial sweetener is Neotame. This sweetener is represented by the compound C20H30N205 and is 7000 - 13000 times sweeter than sugar. All of these sweeteners provide adequate alternative to the sweet taste of sugar how wherever, just like anything there is a downside. These artificial sweeteners, just like sugar, have negative effects on the health of people despite their supposed dietary benefits. Out of all of the negative effects that artificial sweeteners can cause, arguably the most servers is a higher risk of metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is a plethora of symptoms such as high blood pressure, increased blood sugar levels, excess body fat and increase and abnormal cholesterol levels. All of these different symptoms can occur together and cause an increased risk of stroke, heart disease and other diseases. According to Susan Scutti, “Recent studies suggest that those who drink artificially-sweetened beverages may have double the risk of metabolic syndrome, compared with non-consumers”. Specifically, the use of sucralose is known to create body fat associated with metabolic syndrome. Scientists at George Washington University conducted a study in which they simulated sucralose concentration in the blood of a person who consumes a large amount of the sweetener. They found that this concentration created genes associated with inflammation and fat production. Another sample of biopsies from people who consumed low calorie sweeteners showed an over expression of genes that create inflammation and other inflammatory conditions. Along with metabolic syndrome, artificial sweeteners could also be linked to causing problems in how the body functions overall. According to Business insider, a study on rats conducted that showed that specifically, the sweetener aspartame and acesulfame - k, lead to malfunctions in the body. The sweeteners cause severe muscle breakdown in the rats. The scientists conducting this experiment hypothesize that this breakdown was caused by the rats tapping into their muscles as an energy source due to the sweeteners providing no nutrition. Although this study was conducted on rats, many scientists believe this effect could be possible for humans too due to their similar bone structure as the rats. Another effect of artificial sweeteners, ironically, is the risk of type two diabetes.

Although these sugars are used by dietitians to combat this condition, various studies have found that artificial sweeteners can lead to a high risk of type two diabetes. Researchers from the Medical college of Wwisconsin and Marquette Uuniversity also tested diets high in artificial sugar on rats and found results that suggested negative health results leading to type 2 diabetes. The rats began to experience effects on how they process fat and used energy. They also began to have high localized concentrations of acesulfame potassium in their bloodstreams. Along with this study, various other studies conducted have shown that people who consume at least one diet drink a day that uses artificial sweeteners were found to be at an increased risk of developing type two diabetes. These artificial sweeteners that were discovered by accident, have become so widely used that nearly any restaurant you walk in to has a small tray of them at each table. Although these sweeteners are promoted heavily, much like anything else in life they have negative consequences. Multiple health robles have been associated with the use of too much of these sweeteners. Metabolism syndrome and risk of type two diabetes, there very thing these sweeteners are used to combat, have been linked to their consumption. This goes to show that the problems caused by sugar may not be as easily treated as scientists believe. The problems associated with sugar goes much deeper than just the sweeteners. These problems are linked to various aspects of people's lives who suffer from these conditions. Instead of looking at this one aspect researchers should focus on a wide range of aspects causing dietary health conditions.