Event Title

Effect of Non-Nutritive Sweeteners (Artificial Sweeteners) and Nutritive Sweeteners on Fat Mass (FM) and Fat Free Mass (FFM) in Rats

Presenter Information

Jill Knepprath, Minnesota State University, Mankato

Location

CSU Ballroom

Start Date

10-4-2018 10:00 AM

End Date

10-4-2018 11:30 AM

Student's Major

Biological Sciences

Student's College

Science, Engineering and Technology

Mentor's Name

Penny Knoblich

Mentor's Department

Biological Sciences

Mentor's College

Science, Engineering and Technology

Second Mentor's Name

Mary Hadley

Second Mentor's Department

Chemistry and Geology

Second Mentor's College

Science, Engineering and Technology

Description

Obesity increases the risk for many diseases, including diabetes and heart disease. It has been shown in prior research that there is a link between the consumption of sucrose-flavored beverages and obesity. Non-nutritive sweeteners have been used for years as an alternative to nutritive- (sucrose) sweetened beverages and food in order to avoid the increased consumption of calories, but maintain the sweet taste. A concern is that non-nutritive sweeteners may enhance hunger in the consumer, and promote weight gain. A prior study done in this lab investigated the relationship between non-nutritive sweeteners and weight gain. That study found that rats that ate diets sweetened with the non-nutritive sweetener (Stevia) gained more weight than rats that ate the sucrose-sweetened diet. The current study investigated whether the greater gain in mass in the Stevia group was due to fat or fat-free tissue, by comparing it to the sucrose group. Percent fat was analyzed using a chloroform-methanol procedure adapted from Brooks (1998). The lipid was extracted from the homogenized samples of rat carcasses from both groups from the previous study. The percent body fat for each sample was then calculated. . Results: the Stevia-fed rats had a percent body fat of 17.65 +- 0.85 versus 14.13 +- 1.56 in the sucrose-fed rats, but this difference was not quite significant (p = 0.58). Conclusion: Although there was a trend for higher body fat in the Stevia-fed rats, the increase is body mass was likely due to greater overall body growth.