Gut Instincts
Does diet soda cause Type II diabetes? There are a couple of studies that suggest as much and now a hypothesis, yet to be tested, about how un-sugar could trigger a response to chronically too much sugar has emerged.
In "Stomach's Sweet Tooth" published online at ScienceNews the author considers the evidence for the proposition that artificial sweeteners essentially cause confusion in the body's metabolic processes by sending one signal via the tongue and another via previously unknown taste receptors in the stomach and intestines. How the release of various hormones and enzymes in response to the stomach and intestines "tasting" sugar when none is present might lead to diabetes or metabolic syndrome is unknown but apparently a large amount of research into the question is underway.
The long under-appreciated gut is now thought to be the largest hormone-releasing organ and the body's "second brain" with more neurons than than the spinal cord. And there's a new word for the study of this system: Neurogastroenterology. Neurogastroenterology?! We certainly live in interesting times.
