The artificial sweetener sucralose can alter the body's insulin response, researchers from the Washington University School of Medicine say in the journal Diabetes Care..

Sucralose was previously approved in Canada in 1991 and then in 1998 in the US, where it was sold under the name " Prior to this, sucralose had passed more than a hundred toxicity tests over 13 years, which did not reveal any carcinogenic properties or adverse effects on reproductive function, the nervous system or genetics..

The latest study included 17 severely obese people who did not abuse artificial sweeteners and were not diagnosed with diabetes mellitus..

The first author of the study M. Yanina Pepino, Research Fellow and Professor of Medicine said: " It has some effect and more research is needed to determine what long-term use does."

Participants in the study had an average body mass index (BMI) of about 42, which indicated the third degree of obesity..

Volunteers were given water or sucralose solution before a glucose loading test. The researchers wanted to determine if insulin and blood sugar levels depended on the combination of sucralose and glucose..

The scientists noted that they paid special attention to obese people, because "

It turned out that when study participants drank a solution of sucralose, blood sugar levels peaked compared to a group where people drank only water before consuming glucose.. Insulin levels there also rose by about 20%.. Thus, the body responded by increasing insulin and blood glucose levels to the introduction of artificial sweeteners..

Although an increased insulin response suggests that a person is able to adjust to peak glucose levels, doctors are reminded of the collateral damage: when people constantly secrete high levels of insulin, this leads to type 2 diabetes..

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