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Do Sweeteners
Help or Hurt Weight Control?
Grabbing a diet soda may seem
like a smart choice for the calorie-conscious consumer. But a
new study suggests that products containing artificial sweeteners
have the potential to actually promote weight gain.
A recent Purdue University study
suggests that artificial sweeteners (like the kinds found in
diet sodas) might lead to biological or behavioral changes that
make weight control more difficult, instead of easier. Putting
this study within the context of overall research, however, we
have little reason to believe that calorie-free sweeteners cause
weight gain. How much they actually help weight loss may vary
depending on how people use them.
Also important to note, the aforementioned
study did not involve people; it was a laboratory study involving
17 rats. In the five-week long experiment, rats given yogurt
sweetened with zero-calorie saccharin consumed more total calories
(and gained more body fat) compared to rats that ate sugar-sweetened
yogurt.
The psychologists who performed the study theorize that when
our body tastes sweetness it prepares itself for a calorie load.
If sweetness comes without calories – as is the case with
artificial sweeteners – we keep on eating or reduce our
calorie-burning metabolic activity. |
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For now, however, these theories
are little more than speculation. And many researchers are quick
to point out that a small, brief study involving rats cannot
be used to form conclusions about humans.
True, there has been other research to support the hypothesis
that artificial sweeteners thwart weight control efforts. But
these findings are the result of observational studies that show
that artificial sweetener use is more common in overweight than
normal weight people. These types of studies can show us associations
between people and behaviors, but they cannot prove that sweetener
use causes overweight. In fact, it is highly likely that people
who are overweight or are gaining weight might be more likely
to choose diet soda and other foods with artificial sweeteners
in an effort to control their weight.
Other studies refute the concerns
about sweeteners. In a 10-week study of overweight men and women,
subjects who were given a sugar-containing supplement increased
their calorie consumption and gained body weight and fat, while
those given a supplement with a low-calorie sweetener showed
a small decrease in sugar consumption, body weight and body fat.
One of the few longer-term studies
to examine this hypothesis involved obese women in a weight control
program. Some women were asked to consume and some to avoid
artificially sweetened foods and drinks during a 19-week weight
loss program and throughout a 2.5-year follow-up period. Initial
weight loss was similar, but the artificial sweetener group showed
better weight maintenance during follow-up.
For now, studies provide little
reason to fear that non-calorie sweeteners increase appetite
or cause weight gain. Eating foods or beverages that contain
artificial sweeteners can help your weight control efforts, but
only if you use them wisely (for example, substituting them for
higher-calorie foods to decrease overall calorie consumption).
However, if using these sweeteners becomes an excuse to indulge
in other high-calorie foods or to skip the physical activity
that is so important to health and weight control, you will probably
see no benefit.
Of course, “diet” drinks
and foods are not essential. You could just as easily cut calories
by swapping your soda for water, coffee or tea rather than a
diet variety. Alternatively, you might put the focus on optimizing
your nutrients and skip the zero-calorie snack foods altogether
for a low-calorie piece of fruit with beneficial vitamins, minerals,
fiber and phytochemicals. |
