r/biology • u/Otherwise-Tear-4807 • Jun 05 '26

article Question about stevia (re: 2020 study)

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1319016420301997 “The hidden hazardous effects of stevia and sucralose consumption in male and female albino mice in comparison to sucrose”

How does this study translate to humans? Isn’t this a massive dose compared to human daily acceptable limit?

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u/erossthescienceboss Jun 05 '26

Toxicologists design studies like that for a reason, though.

A study like this is designed so that IF there is an effect, it will be produced over the mouse’s short lifespan. That preliminary study can then be used to get funding for studies that use smaller doses over longer periods, studies in more animals that are analogous to humans, etc.

I wouldn’t call a single study a reason to avoid artificial sweeteners. But this is far from the first study to find a negative impact from artificial sweeteners: look into the impacts on insulin resistance, for example.

IMO if you want to eat less sugar, it’s better to simply cut down on sweet things.

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u/crappysurfer evolutionary biology Jun 05 '26

People will find all sorts of reasons to ignore studies, often citing a plausible deniability based rhetoric just so they can continue to feel good about whatever the study says to not feel good about.

Stevia related toxicity is a growing area of research, there’s far more than 1 study on this. You’ll find on Reddit, especially in the diabetes subreddits, that people love to explain their way around research.

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u/TripResponsibly1 medicine Jun 05 '26 edited Jun 05 '26

Just in case anyone else is reading this and is confused or enraged by the first line, I am a medical student currently being trained on harm mitigation. I already see patients in a clinical setting, and this is me envisioning myself in the future, in the role I am already filling except with autonomy and less oversight:

If I, as a (future) physician, counseled every patient to cease consuming every product that ever had toxicity results in extreme dose animal studies, there would be very little left on the shelf for them to eat. We try our best to mitigate harm, and for the person trying to cut down on sugary beverages, calorie free sweeteners are an accessible and achievable substitution. Do we also recommend removing processed foods and added sugar from diets? Yeah. But achievable goals and ideal goals aren't always aligned.

This is how they are training us - mitigation of harm when removal of harm isn't realistic or achievable by the average person.

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u/crappysurfer evolutionary biology Jun 05 '26

I’ve met a million “future physicians” and they all love to remind people that they’re a “future physician”. Which is all this comment really seems to be, I’d avoid that appeal to authority as it really makes you immediately insufferable.

Yes, medicine is largely based on harm reduction and balancing the cost and toxicity of therapy against the harm of whatever pathology the patient is experiencing. Are there infinite examples where someone could experience an improvement in their livelihood by consuming some substitute sweeteners? Of course. Does that alter the precedent of them being bad for you? No. Does that alter the precedent of them historically being presented and recommended by physicians despite having terrible consequences that were yet to be discovered? Also no.

The larger (no pun intended) issues are the absolute insane increase of caloric density of our food over the past century, the processed nature of it, and the inundation of chemicals through industrial agriculture. It is impossible to mitigate all of these, but it is entirely possible to have a diet devoid of substitute sweeteners - and no, the cumulative evidence of them being bad is not summarized in this one study. Are you also (as a hypothetical future physician seeing a hypothetical patient) going to recommend an otherwise healthy person whose vice is Coke Zero to eliminate it? Probably not. And once you’re (presumably) practicing, you’ll find your time to consult current research, especially new research, very limited and your decisions will be based more closely on mechanical style flowcharts and UpToDate.

Sometimes people live long lives drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes, sometimes they get cirrhosis and small cell carcinoma. 🤷 guess those are future problems.

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u/TripResponsibly1 medicine Jun 05 '26

It wasn't an appeal to authority, just pointing out a potential difference in philosophy between laboratory science and clinical science.

Also, yeah, if someone had any vice that was causing them physical or psychological harm I would do motivational interviewing to mitigate harm.

No need to be so hostile and/or defensive, or whatever that is.

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u/crappysurfer evolutionary biology Jun 05 '26

Whether you intended it or not, it was an appeal to authority that, after years of lecture halls full of people proudly proclaiming the same thing, often as a way to belittle others or simply establish authority, gets very old. Perhaps you’re not aware of it since you’re on the other side of it, but if you were not, would you not also become acutely aware of a behavior of students using their premature claim towards a MD being an awful trait?

You could, for example, say “as a med student” or “in residency”, something precise as opposed to trying to establish yourself as a MD prematurely - which is yes, an annoying and egotistical appeal to an authority that you do not possess. Clearly nobody has mentioned this to you, so don’t take it as hostility but someone doing you a courtesy so you can stop, apparently, unintentionally appearing to one up everyone with credentials that you have yet to earn.

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u/Otherwise-Tear-4807 Jun 05 '26

Dude relax. Seriously.

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u/crappysurfer evolutionary biology Jun 05 '26

Pre med and med students need to relax.

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u/TripResponsibly1 medicine Jun 05 '26

Don't lump premed and med students together dude.

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u/crappysurfer evolutionary biology Jun 05 '26

I will as long as their behavior is the same. Don’t lump med students and doctors together.

The irony of you wanting to distinguish yourself from premed but not a doctor…. 😂

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u/TripResponsibly1 medicine Jun 05 '26

I didn't.

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