WHO Aspartame and Gut Health
Non-nutritive sweeteners have become widely popular due to their low calorie content, yet recent evidence shows their use may lead to health problems such as cardiovascular diseases, glucose intolerance and obesity – with gut microbiomes acting as possible mediators in such instances.
Although many studies show that non-nutritive sweeteners do not alter human glucose metabolism, it remains unknown whether they have an impact on gut microbiome composition. Scientists from the Weizmann Institute of Science addressed this question through a randomized clinical trial in which participants were exposed to saccharin, sucralose and stevia as common non-nutritive sweeteners to see their effect on both human glucose metabolism and gut microbiome composition.
In this study, 17 healthy participants with normal BMI participated in two 14-day treatment periods separated by a four-week washout period, during which they consumed beverages sweetened with either aspartame or sucralose for seven days each time – during each of which their faecal microbiota were analysed by comparing its relative abundance before and after each treatment as well as measuring SCFA concentrations to assess how it affected microbiome’s metabolic capacity.
The results of the study demonstrated that repeated daily consumption of aspartame or sucralose did not alter bacterial communities in participants’ gut, nor did SCFA levels differ between aspartame-treated groups and control groups. On the contrary, regular sucralose consumption significantly reduced phyla counts while having no impact on overall gut bacterial communities or community structures compared with either aspartame or sucrose consumption.
