Are Artificial Sweeteners Keeping You Fat?

Yesterday we covered much of research regarding the safety of aspartame and most other non-nutritive sweeteners, but what about their affect on weight loss?
 
Are artificial sweeteners keeping you fat?

Again, let’s take a look at what the RESEARCH has to say:

1. Kanders BS et al. An evaluation of the effect of aspartame on weight loss. Appetite. 1988; 11 Suppl 1:73-84.

In this study, two groups were analyzed: diet only and diet plus aspartame. In the end, the diet plus aspartame group resulted in 33% greater weight loss over a 12 week period.

2. Blackburn GL et al. The effect of aspartame as part of a multidisciplinary weight-control program on short- and long-term control of body weight. Am J Clin Nutr. 1997 Feb;65(2):409-18.

In this study, researchers at Harvard Medical School analyzed aspartame’s impact on weight loss and long-term maintenance of lost weight. Over a 19-week period, study participants regularly consuming aspartame lost more weight than those abstaining from its use. Moreover, the aspartame group was able to better maintain lost weight over a 2 year follow-up period when compared to the non-aspartame group.

3. Renwick AG. Intense sweeteners, food intake, and the weight of a body of evidence. Physiol Behav. 1994 Jan;55(1):139-43. Review.

A comprehensive review of the research done on HUMANS “does not support the concept that the consumption of intense sweeteners results in a paradoxical increase in calorie intake and body weight”
What about the idea that non-nutritive sweetener intake triggers one to eat more because it’s sending a sweet signal to the brain without the calories?

4. Van Wymelbeke V, et al. Influence of repeated consumption of beverages containing sucrose or intense sweeteners on food intake. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2004 Jan;58(1):154-61.

In this 2004 study, participants were given either sugar sweetened or aspartame sweetened beverages for one month; effects on food intake were analyzed. The result: the aspartame group did not experience an increase in food intake to “make up” for the calories not consumed in the beverages they drank (i.e. the sugar group consumed more total calories, and obviously, significantly more sugar).

And for those health professionals taking the stance that the use of nonnutritive sweeteners will lessen dietary adherence by causing dieters to crave other sweets, you’d also expect these individuals to recommend avoiding fruits and anything else both sweet and extremely healthful-but they’re not, leaving a huge inconsistency in the argument.

Simply put, in everything I have seen, the exact opposite has been true-the use of nonnutritive sweeteners increases dietary adherence by giving individuals a no-calorie outlet to satisfy the occasional sweet craving. Nonnutritive sweeteners provide a great alternative to sugar-laden beverages and other counterproductive sweet products and further lessen the temptation of resorting to such products to satisfy a sweet craving.

And as you can see, the research on non-nutritive sweeteners and weight loss back this up many times over.

A couple of important things to note:

1.  If you are using “packets”, be it blue, pink, or yellow – all of these have calorie-containing, insulin spiking “carriers” (the most common being maltodextrin).  Because there is less than one gram of these calories (really .8 grams or so), manufacturers are allowed to round down and claim zero grams and zero calories.  This is not a big deal at all assuming you are using one or two packets, but for those who add 10 packets of Equal to their cereal, sorry, you’re only fooling yourself.

2.  I still recommend the bulk of your fluid intake come in the form of good old fashion water.

With that, I’ll wrap up our discussion of artificial sweeteners, aspartame, safety, and weight loss.  In summary, people can talk theory and anecdotes all they want, but the research simply doesn’t validate it.

At least 100 comments and I’ll be back before you know it with more content (perhaps I’ll even do a post on Stevia and Agave)!

Talk to you in the comments section!

Joel

P.S.  My friend Isabel kind of bashes artificial sweeteners in the below video, and while I do NOT agree with that stance, I do agree with just about everything else she shares for losing up to 10% of your unwanted body fat in the next 30 days.  You can check it out here for some eye-opening, actionable tips:

How to lose up to 10% of your unwanted body fat in the next 30 days <——- Click here

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