What Kind of Health

Impact Does Artificial

Sweeteners Have On
Health?

Abril Vargas

March 19, 2018

Abstract:
 The amount of artificial sugary beverages being drunk a day has increased over the

years. Artificial sugary drinks are being consumed on the regular day. People believe that just

because a drink says its has artificial sugar that its healthy and that consumers are not harming

their body because its not regular sugar being induced in your body. Which is the complete

opposite artificial sugars can not be blinded by the human body. So once a consumer drinks

one drink the human body automatically knows it's not regular sugar they're for that's why

consumers start drinking more than one artificial sugary beverage a day. Artificial sugars are

also know to be 200-300 more sugary than regular sugar. Causing chronical illnesses like

diabetes, high blood pressure as well as liver diseases, the ethnicity is also a factor of likelihood

to develop these illnesses faster. Kids are also being exposed to artificial sugary beverages at

school by having access to vending machines thought their day. Parents are also promoting

artificial sugary beverages to their children by giving them sugary beverages for lunches being

broughten everyday from home. If a particular drink is being provided everyday people desire it

more. If consumers are encourage to drink water and natural juices at home children will also

with drink them without complaining because bodies get used to those drinks and the more the

body wants it the more it wants it.There is a variety amount of sugar sweeteners, Aspartame,

Stevia, Sucralose, Saccharin all being harmful to our bodys. Consumers should all be aware of

what their consuming by read the food and drink labels.

Introduction /Background:

Making natural beverages at home to drink, or preferring water as the number one

beverage choice, has decreased over the years. Children and adults tend to prefer to drink sugar

beverages, or artificial beverages over any other drink. Slowly developing an addiction and the
desire for them. This is causing severe health problems in the human body. Knowing that

consumers have control over their body and that can prevent high blood pressure, liver disease

and obesity but they don't because consumers think “artificial sugar/ non- sugary beverages are

natural or healthier is very wrong. Most of humans are not health literate which is one of the

biggest problems. Every item has a label providing information with the ingredients and nobody

looks at it. The people are to lazy to Google the ingredients they see and don't know what it

means. Because most people think that only people that are on a diet or diabetic should read their

labels on their food and beverages to see what their food contains so that they can lose weight.

My grandmother has diabetes and she drink diet sodas everyday because she thinks their healthy

since the label says “Diet” which is a big mistake because it's still harming herself. Just because

it's an artificial sugar doesn't make it any better. Artificial sugar can actually be more addicting

to the human body than regular sugar. Is the replacement of sweetened beverages/sugar healthy

for the human body? Artificial sugar and sugary beverages contain the same amount of sugar

and that it is both a result of why many people develop health issues because people have no

limit on how much to drink. And were losing the desire for water or more natural apple,orange

juice. Sugary beverages are becoming more and more addicting because they contain artificial

sugars making consumers want to drink more than one drink per day.

Body:

There are a variety of sugar sweeteners including sucrose which is a common table sugar.

Sucrose is a disaccharide which is a molecule composed of two monosaccharides; glucose and

fructose being a natural plant(Adam, Kent, King, Morgan, Ryan, 2017).Excessive amount of
sacroses can causes tooth decay because it fuels the bacteria that produces plaque that causes

cavity decay (Adam, Kent, King, Morgan, Ryan, 2017). Another sugary sweetener is Aspartame,

aspartame is an artificial sweetener which most of their items are labeled “diet” or “sugar free”

( Sathyapalan et al, 2015). The ingredients of aspartame included aspartic acid and

phenylalanine. The negative effects about Aspartame is that it's approximately 200 times sweeter

than sugar.(Sathyapalan et al, 2015) Another sugar sweetener is stevia, stevia if consumed too

much can cause effects on blood pressure (Adam, Kent, King, Morgan, Ryan,2017).As well as

aspartame, stevia is 100-200 sweeter than sugar. The last sugar sweetener is saccharin which is

300-400 times sweeter than sucrose. Causing severe harm to human bodies. Eating sugars

frequently enhance flavor ,increasing the calories but not the nutrients. People prefer drinking

sugary beverages instead of water now because the fact that schools and , restaurants all offer

those beverages containing all types of artificial sugar making people think its healthier but it's as

harmful as normal sugar. Consumers should all be aware of what were intaking and have

limitations on how many beverages were drinking a day and substitute water at all meals. Parents

are teaching younger generation that any beverage that has an orange on the cover is healthy

because it has a fruit without reading the labels on the bottle.

Children are being exposed to sugary drinks early in their life which is a result of why

children are becoming obese early in their life. Sugar free beverages and sugary beverages have

a different saturation on a child's’. Appetite their desire of intaking sugary drinks is higher.

Children tend to prefer a sugar juice over natural water. An article called “The Effect Of

Sugar-Free Versus Sugar-Sweetened Beverages On Satiety, Liking And Wanting: An 18 Month

Randomized Double Blinded Trial In Children”. Did a study during School on several age
groups of children to see if sugar free drink and sugar sweetened drinks had the same amount of

saturation on children.To make up for the children missing calories we can give them healthy

meals or add fruits and vegetables to their lunches. And to reduce the fat that children are gaining

weight we need to employ exercising and changing their meals.

The first study was done on a group of two hundred and three students ages seven to

eleven. During this survey children received 250 ML of artificially sweetened beverages or a

similarly looking and tasting sugar sweetened beverages every day to measure the satiety without

them being aware of which one they got though eighteen months.(Sathyapalan et al, 2015) After

having the drink they took a one to five point scale questionnaire done at zero, six, twelve and

eighteen months which calculated the angle in satiety from before the first one minute and after

fifteen minute after the intake to calculate accuracy. After this study was done the results had

proven that the sugary group wanted their beverages slightly more than the sugar free group

with the 1 point in satiety in the sugar group versus the sugar free.( Lothar, Leim, Kuijper, Katan

and Ruyter ,2013)This is because sugar-sweetened and sugar free beverages produced similar

satiety. The downfall was that children are given sugar-free instead of sugar containing drinks

they might not make up for the missing calories from other sources.This explains the observation

that children in the sugary-free group accumulated less body fat than those in the sugar group. To

improve that study because not all students drink sugar drinks daily and about not just the drink

that kids are consuming but also the effects on the children diet habits and snacks they bring to

school . They decided to give dutch primary children habitually to bring a snack and a beverage

to school every morning break. Then they replaced their drink and changed it instead to one

giving them sugar or non sugary drinks they gave one can per day of non caloric, artificially
sweetened and non carbonated beverages or a sugar sweetened non carbonated beverages. For

them to ensure that the sugar-free and sugar sweetened drinks taste and looked essentially the

same,the cans contained identical looking 250-ML cans provided either, zero or twenty six

grams of sucrose zero or one hundred and four kcal per day( Lothar, Leim, Kuijper, Katan and

Ruyter ,2013).The sugar-free beverages contained thirty four mg sucralose and twelve mg

acesulfame K as sweeteners. After eighteen months the large majority of children were unable to

guess whether they received sugar-sweetened or sugar free( Lothar, Leim, Kuijper, Katan and

Ruyter ,2013) This shows that children intake whatever their parent provides for them. The more

they eat a certain food they want to consume more and more and eventually that's what they

desire most Their snack they had to give it a score of one threw five and write if they liked it or

not. Measuring one minute satiety three minute each day they eat their snack throughout a zero,

twelve and eighteen months. During the survey we found out that seventy seven bought sweet

snacks such as crackers, cookies , or bars which is not what we want because that is not healthy

and it can be adding up with the sugary beverages making our body consume more fat and

therefore seeing a weight gain to occur. ( Lothar, Leim, Kuijper, Katan and Ruyter ,2013).

Twenty percent brought fruits which is something their hoping every parent does to promote

wellness and two percentage brought savoury snacks such as chips and cheese not being a good

food choice. One percent brought bread. Which aren't as healthy either. What this data shows is

sugar beverages are more addicting to children because the extra sugar that was being added.

Also showing that we have to also change our meals because it can also contribute to health

problems. Children eat what their parents give them and if parents let them eat whatever they
want eventually they're going to pressure that instead of natural food because they are sugar

satarachion went up and nothing else will taste better than that.

Not just children are affected by sugar sweetened beverages but also adults. The negative

outcome of consuming sugar sweetened beverages are developing weight gain and other health

problems, therefore consumers are turning to different types of sweeteners like aspartame,

sucralose and saccharin as a way to reduce the risk of sugar sweetened beverages. (Swithers,

2015). However these sweeteners can also be at increased risk of excessive weight gain,

metabolic syndrome and type two diabetes as well as cardiovascular diseases.(Swithers, 2013)

Knowing this, health care practitioners have been really concerned therefore they have provided

that non-caloric, high- intensity sweeteners provide a beneficial alternative in foods and

beverages. This has helped reduce of energy density of foods and beverages. However, doing

this reducing of energy density in this manner also translates into reduced energy intake, lower

body weight and improved metabolic health is. Studies that have been done through forty years

have concluded that high intensity sweeteners are potentially helpful, harmful or unclearly

effective. Therefore, consuming high intensity sweeteners may promote excess energy intake,

increase body weight and other related comorbidities ( Swithers, 2013). This means that

consumers should control the amount of beverages their intake. Instead of drinking four to five a

day everyday. Consumers should drink one once a week. To prevent a long term disease. What's

the difference between high-intensity sweeteners, low-calorie sweeteners, artificial sweeteners

and artificially sweetened beverages are all the same thing. But what is a worry is that the

competition and the availability of artificial sweeteners have been increasing dramatically.
 A study was done at San Antonio Heart study which documented weight change in men

and women over a seven to 8 year period. As a study among participants who were normal

weight or overweight at baseline, risk of weight and obesity were significantly greater in ASB

comparared with those who did not consume ASB. The study done two adolescent cohorts, ASB

intake was associated with increased body mass (BMI) and increased body fat percentage in

males and females at two year follow-up. When the data was put out they found out that SSB

was associated with increased BMI or increased body fat percentage associated with SSB in

females.( Swithers,2013)

A number of studies do show that there is a great risk of metabolic syndrome for

consumers of ASB. As well as a European study at the Health Professional did a study on type

two diabetes and its risk is sugar sweetened beverages was more than double for participants in

the highest quartile of artificial sweetened beverages consumption “compared with non-

consumers, and SSB consumption was also associated with increased risk of T2D”.

(Swithers,2013) With one intake of either Artificial sugary beverages and sugar beverage

sweetener you're at risk of diabetes. Adults are more likely to accounter these . Another factor of

you getting diagnosed includes demographic factors: race/or ethnicity and education; dietary

factor at home, and background history on obesity and diabetes two and metabolic disorders.

When consuming artificial sweeteners we evoke different brain responses compared to

sugar. Humans can trick our brain to think were consuming non sucroses. But if consumers,

consume too much artificial sugary drinks they can't trick our brain anymore and it will know the

difference and just want artificial sweetened beverages. (Clark, Davidson, Martin and Swithers,

2013).Paying close attention to the ability of learning to modulate physiological and neural
signals related to energy “balanced and metabolic regulation may improve our ability to

understand circumstances under which reduction in the energy content of food and beverages”

The desire for them will be too big that they don't want to go back to drinking just water or

making their own juice. Just because a drink has artificial sweetener doesn't mean it's healthier it

is also damaging for the body. Moderation is key with whatever you intake to lessen your

likelihood of getting a health condition.

There are a variety of artificial sweeteners being put into the foods and drinks humans

consume. All affecting the health in a certain way.Saccharin sodium is a type of artificial

sweetener that is sweeter than sucrose but has a bitter aftertaste. Sodium saccharin is the salt

form of saccharin,an artificial sweetener. Like all salts it dissolves into component parts when

dissolved in water. Sodium saccharin is three hundred sweeter than sugar.Sodium saccharin was

first developed in 1878. In the 1970s, a study was done on rats raising the possibility that

sodium saccharin is a carcinogen meaning you're more likely to get bladder cancer. Therefore

they had to start putting a warning label on drinks and foods to warn us about the effects it can

cause. Saccharin sodium is often used to sweeten soft drinks, candy, medicine and toothpaste.

Saccharin can also cause diabetes; the sweet taste of saccharin stimulates an

endocrinological response, to the insulin in your pancreas. And the insulin's job is to transport

sugar into the bloodstream to you body tissues which produce energy. If its not receiving the

sugar because it's being blinded with the artificial sugar and it catches the change this increases

your insulin sensitivity, which then increases your risk of developing diabetes.

Another health condition that saccharin sodium is known to cause in some individuals is

severe allergic reaction, usually because the presence of sulfonamides. Symptoms that may have
as an allergic reaction to saccharin sodium are headaches, difficulty breathing and appearance of

rash or hives and diarrhea.( Lothar, Leim, Kuijper, Katan and Ruyter , 2013). Infants are also

being exposed to the effects of saccharin sodium in baby formula. And if allergic to saccharin, it

can cause irritability and muscle dysfunction. Consumers should alway be aware of what they're

serving their kids and catch onto the symptoms as soon as possible so that medical help can be

provided.

Another health problem that another another artificial sugar can cause is weight gain and

obesity can also be a result of saccharin artificial sweetener intake, stated by the Los Angeles

times. “The sweet taste of saccharin signals your body that it is about to receive a high amount of

calories, and your digestive system prepares for the additional calories.” When the body does not

see the calories coming, the body becomes resistant to this response, which then promotes fat

storage and weight gain( Lothar, Leim, Kuijper, Katan and Ruyter ,2013).

Consumers have to be aware of what they are feeding to our bodies to protect ourselves

from harmful health conditions. Some food that contain Sodium saccharin are canned fruits,

flavored gelatin, dessert toppings, diet sodas, baked good jams, chewing gum, candy and salad

dressings( Lothar, Leim, Kuijper, Katan and Ruyter ,2013). Meaning we are all exposed to

artificial sodium saccharin at some point therefore we should eat more natural foods and less

boxed and container items. And instead of going out to eat we should cook at home. If your

children want candy then you can give them a sugar free option that will satisfy their sweet tooth

or if their life style of eating changes we all start to adapt to it and we start liking it more.

There is not just one type of artificial sugar that we have to be aware of. The healthiest

option known to be is stevia, which is used by people who take blood pressure or diabetes
medicine, according to Mayo Clinic. But t is also a risk that stevia will cause hypoglycemia

which is low blood pressure, or also known as hypotension, which is low blood pressure

consumed with medicine. Stevia is a herb, stevia “extract is hundreds of times sweeter than

regular sugar(Adam, Kent, King, Morgan and Ryan, 2017) Therefore people with diabetes may

be at risk because the fact that they think it doesn't contain sugar so they don't limit themselves.

This can cause their diabetes level to increase and never better themself because the fact that they

are not health literate.

Another artificial sugar consumers have to be aware of is aspartame. Aspartame can

causes migraines in some people. Aspartame is a combination of two amino acids, phenylalanine

and aspartic acid. Due to phenylamine some people cannot consume it because their body cant

metabolize a big amount of phenylalanine. And if so, it can cause retardation. (Adam, Kent,

King, Morgan and Ryan, 2017) .Consumers have choices of what foods to be aware of our health

conditions to be able to know if their able to eat a certain food because your background as well

as ethnicity factors. Children before 72 hours old tested to see if they have phenylalanine.

Phenylalanine also can affect the muscle spasm and can causes Parkinson's’ Disease (Adam,

Kent, King, Morgan and Ryan, 2017) . this is why it's important to go to check up to determine

how to balance individuals foods.

Artificial sweeteners are a risk to everyone because in one​ ​way or another they all

consume it. Even in a tooth paste, toothpaste and lip balm contain it so when we brush our teeth

and put on balm sending hormones to the body that sugar is going to come in but when the body

does not see the sugar coming it has the same effect like if we ate it .The benefit is that

consumers have a choice of how much we consume and how much to take care of ourselves.
They can reduce the amount of artificial sweeteners by choosing food and making foods at home

without having to be eat boxed and canned food. Artificial sweeteners have a similar effect to

regular sugar, consumers are exposed to severe health conditions but we have a choice of how

much we want to consume of it . Being health literate is very important and being aware that

everything has label and they're important, so we should all read them. Aspartame is an intense

artificial sweetener being 200 times swee Multiple Sclerosis, blindness, seizures, memory loss,

depression, anxiety, obesity, birth defects and death, with anxiety (Adam, Kent, King, Morgan

and Ryan, 2017).In a study donde done by a clinic research unit in United kingdom,forty -eight

individuals who have self reported sensitivity to aspartame were compared to forty eight age and

gender matched aspartame non- sensitive individuals.They were given aspartame (100mg)

containing or control snack bars randomly for at least seven days apart (Adam, Kent, King,

Morgan and Ryan, 2017). The main outcome is to measure the acute effect of aspartame

measured using repeated rating of 14 symptoms,biochemistry and metabonomics (Adam, Kent,

King, Morgan and Ryan, 2017).The results showed that Aspartame sensitive and non-sensitive

participants differ psychological at baseline in handling and perceived stress. Urine showed no

difference. Aspartame and control bars affected tyrosine and pheylanie levels equally in both

aspartame sensitive and non sensitive subjects. This shows how psychological aspartame does

not affect health wise it does (Lothar, Leim, Kuijper, Katan and Ruyter ,2013)

Conclusion:

The hypothesis was right even though a beverage says its sugar free, or diet doesn't mean

it is healthy. Artificial sweeteners are sweeter than regular sugar. Being more addicting to the

human body making us consume more of it. Their is not just one type of artificial sugar. Therefor
if customers knew about one but didn't know about how aspartame is also a sugar and still

consume it, will still harm human body.Therefore consumers should research the ingredients

before consuming it. Every single artificial sugar affects different parts of the body. Being able

to read the labels and be aware of what it contains is very important because humans only have

one body and should all take care of it especially because it harming children because they eat

exactly the same food as the parents. Nation should raise the price of artificial drinks, sweetened

drink so consumers won't consume it as much. Also,people should all read food labels because

just because it has a fruit or vegetable on the can doesnt mean its organic or healthy. Sugary

beverages should be consumed in moderation to maintain a healthy lifestyle.