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The study’s findings were striking.
这项研究的结果异乎寻常。
Two sweeteners (aspartame and stevia) were found to have no significant effect on blood sugar.
研究发现，两种甜味剂(阿斯巴甜和甜菊糖)对血糖没有显著影响。
However, the other two (sucralose and saccharin) raised blood sugar in all participants who consumed them.
然而，另外两种甜味剂(三氯蔗糖和糖精)使所有食用这些甜味剂的实验参与者的血糖水平提高了。
(Within the sucralose group, some participants’ blood sugar levels reacted much more strongly than others, suggesting that physical responses to certain sweeteners may be highly personalised.)
(在三氯蔗糖实验组中，一些参与者的血糖水平比其他人反应强烈得多，这表明身体对某些甜味剂的反应可能是高度个人化的。)
Elinav’s findings on sucralose and saccharin go against decades of public health orthodoxy, which says artificial sweeteners have no effect on blood sugar.
伊莱纳夫关于三氯蔗糖和糖精的发现与几十年来公共健康的正统观念相反，人们普遍认为人造甜味剂对血糖没有影响。
What’s more, all four sweeteners tested were found to alter the human microbiome – bacteria in the gut – in ways associated with high blood sugar.
而且，研究发现，这四种被测试的甜味剂都会以与高血糖相关的方式改变人类肠道中的微生物群。
These changes were not seen in the control groups.
而对照组中没有观察到这些变化。
What this tells us, Spector explained, is that none of these sweeteners are “inert” in the human body, as was previously thought.
斯佩克特解释道，这告诉我们，这些甜味剂在人体内都不是像人们以前认为的那样是“惰性的”。
“They do affect our gut microbes, even stevia, which may be the best of a bad lot,” said Spector.
斯佩克特说: “它们确实会影响我们的肠道微生物，甚至甜菊糖可能是一堆有害微生物中破坏力最强的。”
What should we make of these findings?
我们应该如何看待这些发现?
Prof Erik Millstone, who works in science policy research at the University of Sussex and has been studying the effects of sweeteners on human health for nearly 40 years, echoed Spector’s take.
埃里克·米尔斯顿教授在苏塞克斯大学从事科学政策研究，近40年来一直在研究甜味剂对人类健康的影响，他赞同斯佩克特的观点。
He praised the Cell study as providing “overwhelming evidence” that these four sweeteners “are not metabolically inert, as many had previously assumed”.
他称赞这项刊登在《细胞》杂志上的研究提供了“强有力的证据”，证明这四种甜味剂“不像许多人之前认为的那样，具有代谢惰性”。
Other experts I spoke to were more cautious.
我采访过的其他专家态度则更为谨慎。
Prof Marion Nestle, professor of nutrition at NYU, told me that the science was “impressive”, but also that she felt we didn’t yet know enough to claim that sweeteners could have a big impact on glucose responses via microbes, given the sheer complexity of the human microbiome.
纽约大学营养学教授马里恩·奈斯特告诉我，这一科学研究“引人瞩目”，但她也认为，鉴于人类微生物群的复杂性，我们还没有足够的知识来宣称甜味剂可以通过微生物对葡萄糖(血糖)反应产生重大影响。
Barry Popkin, distinguished professor of nutrition at UNC in North Carolina, agreed that it was “an important study”, but that he preferred to look at “the full set of studies” on sweeteners rather than focusing on just one.
北卡罗莱纳州的北卡罗来纳大学杰出的营养学教授巴里·波普金也认同这是一项“重要的研究”，但他比较关注有关甜味剂的“全套研究”，而非只盯着一项研究。
Elinav’s work is not the first piece of science to suggest that some sweeteners may raise blood sugar.
伊莱纳的研究并非第一个表明某些甜味剂可能会提高血糖的科学研究。
For nearly 20 years, Susan Swithers, professor of neuroscience and behaviour at Purdue University, has been studying the effects of artificial sweeteners on rodents.
近20年来，普渡大学神经科学和行为学教授苏珊·斯威瑟斯一直在研究人工甜味剂对啮齿类动物的影响。
Her lab has found that rats given artificial sweeteners experience blood sugar spikes, and that they also “eat more of their regular diet, gain extra weight and are fatter than rats given dietary supplements sweetened with a caloric sugar”.
她所在的实验室发现，服用人造甜味剂的老鼠血糖会飙升，而且，这些老鼠“与服用含糖膳食补剂的老鼠相比，比平时吃得更多，体重更重，且身形更胖。”
In other words, in rats, sweeteners had the opposite effects to what one might expect: they increased blood sugar and seemed to lead to weight gain.
换言之，甜味剂对老鼠产生的效果与人们可能预期的相反: 甜味剂导致老鼠血糖升高，似乎也导致老鼠体重增加。
