Artificial Sweeteners - not so sweet?

Science Vs

Spotify Studios

Education, Science, Health & Fitness

4.4 • 12.4K Ratings

🗓️ 8 June 2017

⏱️ 50 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Low calorie, no calorie and so sweet. Artificial sweeteners just seem too good to be true. Is there a catch? We dig into two big questions: Do artificial sweeteners cause cancer, and are they making us fat? We talk to Prof. John Glendinning, Prof. Susie Swithers, Dr. Kieron Rooney, and PhD student Jotham Suez about the latest research. Plus we do a fun experiment with PJ Vogt and Alex Goldman from Reply All! Also, please sign up for our brand spanking new newsletter! We’ll share science that’s been blowing our minds, plus great content like the most amazing calculation from an academic of how much bigger 323 African Elephants are than nuclear waste. Head to: https://gimletmedia.com/newsletter/ Our Sponsors:Postmates - New customers get a $100 credit by downloading the app and entering the promo code SCIENCEWordpress - go to wordpress.com/science to get 15% off a new websiteHello Fresh - For $30 off your first week of meals go to hellofresh.com and enter the promo code SCIENCEVS30 Credits: This episode has been produced by Ben Kuebrich, Heather Rogers, Shruti Ravindran and Wendy Zukerman.Kaitlyn Sawrey is our senior producer. We’re edited by Annie-Rose Strasser. Production assistance by Stevie Lane. Fact checking by Michelle Harris. Original music and mixing by Bobby Lord. Extra thanks to Dr. Mary Pat Gallagher, Peter Bresnan, Euromonitor International and ubiome. Selected References:Prof. Susie Swithers’s study on artificial sweeteners and feeding behavior in ratsA 2015 systematic review of the relationship between artificial sweetener consumption and cancer in humansJotham Suez’s study on artificial sweeteners and the gut microbiome Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, I'm Wendy Zuckerman and you're listening to Science Versus from Gimlett Media.
0:05.6	On today's show, we're pitting facts against fake sugar, as we tackle artificial sweeteners.
0:12.0	Ah, and we heard from a lot of you we've thought on our nuclear power episode.
0:18.0	Thank you so much for your comments and please stick around for a few quick clarifications
0:23.3	and corrections at the end of the episode.
0:26.8	Okay, but first, onto sweeter things, artificial sweeteners.
0:36.5	So, artificial sweeteners are no calorie or low calorie sweeteners that flavor
0:42.0	among other things diet sodas. And because they're low-cal, no-cal, so-cal,
0:48.5	for decades advertisers have been licking their lips and promising that these
0:52.8	diet drinks will give us a healthier, happy, go-lucky life.
1:08.8	You just heard Whitney Houston, Elton John and Ray Charles sing the praises of diet sodas.
1:16.0	Literally. And artificial sweeteners aren't just in drinks,
1:20.4	they're in chewing gum, frozen dinners, vitamins, toothpaste, mouthwash, red, granola bars,
1:25.1	yogurt, ice cream, and medications. They used so widely that one study said, quote,
1:31.9	many individuals do not even realize that they are consuming them. End quote.
1:37.7	According to the CDC, one in every five Americans drink diet drinks on any given day.
1:45.2	And one of those Americans, someone who is a very big fan of diet sodas,
1:50.5	is PJ vote. He's a colleague of mine and one of the hosts of Gimlet Media's podcast,
1:58.0	Reply All. Uh-huh. What did you just fill out of your pocket?
2:03.3	Uh, 12 ounces of diet coke. 12 ounces of diet sweetener.
2:07.3	And PJ really likes his diet sodas. I keep one in each side pocket, so I feel like a cowboy
2:13.5	with two pistols. He drinks around six to 10 cans a day. Today it is right now three o'clock,
	...

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