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Artificial sweeteners -- promoted as aids to weight loss and diabetes1 prevention -- could actually hasten the development of glucose2 intolerance and metabolic3 disease, and they do so in a surprising way: by changing the composition and function of the gut4 microbiota -- the substantial population of bacteria residing in our intestines5. These findings, the results of experiments in mice and humans, were published September 17 in Nature. Dr. EranElinav of the Weizmann Institute of Sciences Department of Immunology, who led this research together with Prof. Eran Segal of the Department of Computer Science and Applied6 Mathematics, says that the widespread use of artificial sweeteners in drinks and food, among other things, may be contributing to the obesity7 and diabetes epidemic8 that is sweeping9 much of the world. For years, researchers have been puzzling over the fact that non-caloric artificial sweeteners do not seem to assist in weight loss, with some studies suggesting that they may even have an opposite effect. Graduate student Jotham Suez in Dr. Elinavs lab, who led the study, collaborated10 with lab member GiliZilberman-Shapira and graduate students Tal Korem and David Zeevi in Prof. Segals lab to discover that artificial sweeteners, even though they do not contain sugar, nonetheless have a direct effect on the bodys ability to utilize11 glucose. Glucose intolerance -- generally thought to occur when the body cannot cope with large amounts of sugar in the diet -- is the first step on the path to metabolic syndrome12 and adult-onset diabetes.The scientists gave mice water laced with the three most commonly used artificial sweeteners, in amounts equivalent to those permitted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). These mice developed glucose intolerance, as compared to mice that drank water, or even sugar water. Repeating the experiment with different types of mice and different doses of the artificial sweeteners produced the same results -- these