ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS FOUND TO BE HARMFUL TO GUT BACTERIA

YOU MIGHT WANT TO LAY OFF THAT CAN OF COKE.

Scientists from Israel and Singapore have found six common artificial sweeteners as well as ten sport supplements to be toxic to digestive bacteria. However, this study was done in the lab in test tubes, so you could take this news with… a spoonful of sugar to help it digest. Each sweetener or supplement was tested on different strains of E. coli, which is a common component in the gut ecosystem, and all were found to change the DNA structure of the bacteria, albeit to different extents. While the bacteria may be damaged, the artificial chemicals aren’t in themselves poisonous to humans, although high consumption of such foods has been known to create health issues in people. This particular test, though, does not translate to humans as the concentration of sweeteners the bacteria were exposed to is much higher than what is normally found in a can of your favourite fizzy drink.