Bad news for rats on a diet

Re “Another sour note for dieters,” Feb. 11

A study involving rats can hardly provide solid information about the role of noncaloric sweeteners in human regulation of food intake. First, the rat control group was fed glucose, not sucrose, the sugar humans most often use. Second, saccharin is much sweeter than glucose -- which was the comparison sweetener used in the rat study. Thus, simply on the basis of taste preferences, the rats might be expected to consume more saccharin-sweetened foods. Most important, there are substantive data indicating that people regulate the volume of food consumed, not the calories contained in such food. This study provides some information on food preferences -- but of rats, not people. Extrapolating human risk from rodent studies is rarely of any relevance to human health.

Ruth Kava

Director of Nutrition

American Council on

Science and Health

New York

The observation of weight gain with artificial sweeteners is not new. In research reported in the May 10, 1986, issue of the Lancet, the British medical journal, aspartame (NutraSweet) use was associated with “residual hunger” from the blocking of serotonin in the brain. Sugar increases serotonin, the feel-good hormone. Aspartame and possibly other artificial sweeteners promote hunger and increased food intake. The landmark study in the Lancet has never been reproduced, probably because of the great economic consequences to the food industry.

Jerome P. Helman MD

Venice