In mice and people, saccharin upsets gut microbes, glucose metabolism
by Rachel Ehrenberg
1:00pm, September 17, 2014

Eating artificial sweeteners may spur the very health problems that dieters try to avoid. A new multipronged study of mice and a small number of people finds that saccharin meddles with the gut’s microbial community, setting in motion metabolic changes that are associated with obesity and diabetes.

Other zero-calorie sweeteners may cause the same problems, researchers say September 17 in Nature.

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Until recently, most sugar substitutes were thought to pass through the gut undigested, exerting little to no effect on intestinal cells. As ingredients in diet soda, sugar-free desserts and a panoply of other foods, the sweeteners are touted as a way for people with diabetes and weight problems to enjoy a varied diet.

But the new study, led by computational biologist Eran Segal and immunologist Eran Elinav of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, suggests that rather than helping people, the sweeteners may promote problems.

More: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/artificial-sweeteners-may-tip-scales-toward-metabolic-problems

10 Useless Icelandic phrases you should not bother to learn

By Jón Kaldal |Mar 27 2014

While visiting Iceland it's useful to know some key phrases in Icelandic, like góðan dag/good day, takk fyrir/thank you and matseðilinn takk/the menu please. Then you have some you should not bother with. Here are ten.

1. Hvar er næsti McDonald’s? / Where is the nearest McDonald’s?
Nope, no Big Mac for you. There are no MacDonald’s restaurants in Iceland. The fast food chain used to run three outlets in Iceland for a while, but they closed their doors in 2009, the owner maintained it was due to the economic crisis. We believe it was because local burger joints beat off the competition with their tasty burgers (you don’t’ find Starbucks either in Iceland. The local cafes whip up much better coffee drinks).

2. Hvar er næsta lestarstöð? / Where's the closest train station?
There are no trains in Iceland. Domestic travel is by car, plane, boat, bike or foot.

More: http://icelandmag.com/article/10-useless-icelandic-phrases-you-should-not-bother-learn