Are artificial sweeteners harming your gut? | Dr. Eran Elinav and Prof. Tim Spector

ZOE Science & Nutrition

ZOE

Nutrition, Health & Fitness, Education, Science

4.6 • 4.9K Ratings

🗓️ 12 December 2024

⏱️ 66 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Artificial sweeteners are everywhere. They hide in cereal, salad dressing – even in health foods. But are they really a guilt-free way to satisfy your sweet tooth? Or is it naive to think that – because they’re zero calorie – they’re free of consequence? New research shows there is a consequence. And it could be massive. Artificial sweeteners may disrupt the delicate balance of bacteria that live in your gut. You could see ripple effects like chronic disease, weight gain and a weakened ability to process real sugar. Today’s guest is at the forefront of this research. For the last decade, Dr Eran Elinav led breakthroughs on the science behind popular sweeteners. He leads The Institute for Microbiome Research at the Weizmann Institute of Science. He’s published over 100 publications in leading scientific journals. And his lab is on the cutting-edge of gut microbiome research. We’re also joined today by Tim Spector. Tim is one of the world’s top 100 most-cited scientists, a professor of epidemiology, and my scientific Co-Founder at ZOE. You’ll finish today’s episode knowing what's in your sweetener, how it’s affecting you, and where to turn to satisfy your sweet tooth. 🥑 Make smarter food choices. Become a member at zoe.com - 10% off with code PODCAST 🌱 Try our new plant based wholefood supplement - Daily 30+ Follow ZOE on Instagram. Timecodes: 00:00 The truth about artificial sweeteners 01:49 Quick fire questions 04:03 Tim's self-experiment 07:40 What is an artificial sweetener? 09:47 Examples of popular sweeteners 10:45 Detrimental effects of sugar on your health 13:11 Sugar's impact on gut health 16:30 Which factors affect the gut microbiome? 18:44 Full Fat Coke vs Diet Coke 21:05 Do diet drinks help weight loss? 26:00 Calorie restriction diets 28:01 Sweeteners and diabetes risk 35:50 Why your microbiome is a chemical factory 42:15 Not all sweeteners are created equal 49:00 The WHO's view on sweeteners 52:30 Practical advice on chemicals in food 55:05 How to transition off sweet drinks 📚Books by our ZOE Scientists The Food For Life Cookbook Every Body Should Know This by Dr Federica Amati Food For Life by Prof. Tim Spector Free resources from ZOE Live Healthier: Top 10 Tips From ZOE Science & Nutrition Gut Guide - For a Healthier Microbiome in Weeks Mentioned in today's episode Artificial sweeteners induce glucose intolerance by altering the gut microbiota (2023), published in Nature Personalized microbiome-driven effects of non-nutritive sweeteners on human glucose tolerance (2022), published in Cell Acute and two-week effects of neotame, stevia rebaudioside M and sucrose-sweetened biscuits on postprandial appetite and endocrine response in adults with overweight/obesity-a randomised crossover trial from the SWEET consortium (2024), published in EBioMedicine The contentious relationship artificial sweeteners and cardiovascular health (2023), published in The Egyptian Journal of Internal Medicine Have feedback or a topic you'd like us to cover? Let us know here. Episode transcripts are available here.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Welcome to Zoe Science and Nutrition, where world-leading scientists explain how their research can improve your health.
0:07.0	Artificial sweeteners are everywhere. They hide in cereal, in salad dressing, even in health foods.
0:21.6	But are they really a guilt-free way to satisfy your sweet tooth?
0:26.6	Or is it naive to think that because they're zero-calorie, they're free of consequence?
0:31.6	New research shows that there is a consequence, and it could be massive. Artificial sweeteners may disrupt the delicate balance of bacteria that live in your gut.
0:42.3	You could see ripple effects like chronic disease, weight gain, and a weakened ability to process real sugars.
0:49.3	So is it worth it to eat that seemingly innocent low-calorie muffin if it jeopardizes your future
0:55.1	enjoyment of a real muffin?
1:00.4	Today's guest is at the forefront of this research.
1:03.7	For the last decade, Dr. Aran Ilanav let breakthroughs on the science behind popular sweetness.
1:10.3	He leads the Institute for Microbiome Research
1:12.4	at the Weizmann Institute of Science. He's published over 100 papers in leading scientific journals,
1:18.5	and his lab is on the cutting edge of gut microbiome research. We're also joined today by Tim Specter.
1:26.1	Tim is one of the world's top 100 most cited scientists, a professor of epidemiology,
1:30.9	and my scientific co-founder at Zuri.
1:33.7	You'll finish today's episode knowing what's in your sweetener, how it's affecting you,
1:38.2	and where to turn to satisfy your sweet tooth.
1:44.6	Iran, thank you very much for joining me today.
1:47.1	It's a pleasure to be with you, guys.
1:48.9	We have a tradition here at Zoe, Iran, where we always start with a quick, far round of
1:54.3	questions from our listeners.
1:55.9	It's designed to be incredibly difficult for professors because we have these very strict
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from ZOE, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of ZOE and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.