Non-nutritive sweeteners: no class effect on the glycaemic or appetite responses to ingested glucose

• Published in: European journal of clinical nutrition 2014-05, Vol.68 (5), p.629-631
• Main Authors: Bryant, C E, Wasse, L K, Astbury, N, Nandra, G, McLaughlin, J T
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 631/443/319; 692/700/2814; Absorptivity; Adolescent; Appetite; Appetite - drug effects; Artificial sweeteners; Aspartame; Aspartame - administration & dosage; Biological and medical sciences; Blood; Blood Glucose - metabolism; Blood sugar; Body Mass Index; Carbohydrates; Clinical Nutrition; Epidemiology; Feeding. Feeding behavior; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gastrointestinal system; Gastrointestinal tract; Gastrointestinal Tract - drug effects; Gastrointestinal Tract - metabolism; Genetic aspects; Glucose; Glucose - administration & dosage; Healthy Volunteers; Human subjects; Humans; Hunger; Internal Medicine; Male; Medical sciences; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Metabolic Diseases; Non-Nutritive Sweeteners - administration & dosage; Non-Nutritive Sweeteners - classification; Nutrients; Physiological aspects; Pilot Projects; Public Health; Saccharin; Saccharin - administration & dosage; short-communication; Sweeteners; Thiazines - administration & dosage; Vertebrates: anatomy and physiology, studies on body, several organs or systems; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0954-3007; 1476-5640
• DOI: 10.1038/ejcn.2014.19

There is considerable interest in whether non-nutritive sweeteners are sensed in the gastrointestinal tract to modulate appetitive or absorptive responses to ingested carbohydrate. We determined the effect of a panel of non-nutritive sweeteners, aspartame, saccharin and acesulfame-K, delivered in doses that would be consumed in normal usage. Each was given in combination with glucose, assessing their effect on glycemic responses and appetite in 10 healthy human subjects. There was no additional effect of aspartame or saccharin on the blood glucose response to oral glucose at any time point, although acesulfame-K exerted a small effect. However, none had an effect on perceptions of hunger or fullness. We conclude that there is no consistent evidence that non-nutrient sweeteners, when acutely consumed with glucose in dietetically relevant doses, have a class effect in modulating blood glucose in healthy human subjects. However, acesulfame-K may require further exploration.