Investigators from Massachusetts General Hospital recently discovered why aspartame may not help people lose weight. The report suggests that phenylalanine, a component of aspartame, inhibits enzyme action that prevents metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is a group of symptoms consistent with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Mice that received drinking water with aspartame gained more weight than mice that drank water without it. The mice also exhibited other symptoms of metabolic syndrome. Researcher Richard Hodin, MD, states that because of these findings and other clinical studies, aspartame may not be a beneficial sugar replacement for weight loss or overall health.
Key Takeaways:
- “Sugar substitutes like aspartame are designed to promote weight loss and decrease the incidence of metabolic syndrome
- “People do not really understand why these artificial sweeteners don’t work. There has been some evidence that they actually can make you more hungry and may be associated with increased calorie consumption.
- Our findings regarding aspartame’s inhibition of IAP may help explain why the use of aspartame is counterproductive
“”We found that aspartame blocks a gut enzyme called intestinal alkaline phosphatase (IAP) that we previously showed can prevent obesity, diabetes and metabolic syndrome; so we think that aspartame might not work because, even as it is substituting for sugar, it blocks the beneficial aspects of IAP.””
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/11/161122193100.htm