A study published in the scientific journal Frontiers in Nutrition revealed that the sweeteners sucralose and stevia, known as the main alternatives to sugar, cause changes in metabolism that can be transmitted to future generations. The research was conducted by researchers from the University of Chile.
The scientists divided 47 mice, males and females, into three experimental groups. Each group received pure water, water with sucralose or water with stevia during the study period.
Both groups of rodents that consumed the sweeteners presented fecal microbiomes more diverse than normal. The team observed that only male offspring of rats that consumed sucralose showed signs of glucose intolerance.
In the second generation, elevated fasting blood sugar levels were detected in both male offspring of rats that consumed sucralose and female offspring of rats that consumed stevia, demonstrating that the metabolic effects of sweeteners can manifest in different ways between the sexes and be transmitted for at least two generations.
