One of the things I struggle with in this post and other posts is the lack of emphasis on living healthier lives. No one would consider diet products healthy. Maybe they have a neutral effect. I would agree that diet products are healthier than their alternative. I think the key in all of this is promoting healthy nutritional practices.
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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180 comments - add yours
@ Liz:
OOPS this was suppose to be a reply to Lisa who said LisaReply | Quote
From what I understand artificial sweeteners cause a false insulin spike…meaning your bodys ability to burn fat is blocked. Now the interesting thing is your body is preparing for the sugar it thinks it going to get….when it doesnt get any results…whamo….carbohydrate cravings set it because your body is looking to now satisfy that false insulin spike. Now for the die-hard pop drinkers, the interesting thing is our blood is more alkaline…pop is extremely acidic. No worries drinking your pop….just know that you need to drink…oh…about 30 glasses of water to neutralize the acid you just put into your body. The pancreas produces bicarbonate to neutralize acid. If the body cannot keep up with neutralizing the acid by its natural buffers, the body begins to form fat as an insulator to help protect the vital organs from being eaten by the acid. Even if you are not fat from drinking your pop you are still putting strain on the pancreas…thus potentially leading to diabetes. However, I digress….artificial sweeteners are setting you up for weight gain
Hi Joel,
I cannot tell you how much all your research have helped me in sorting out my own fears with regard to sweetners – I do however see that you mostly focus on aspartame – so I was wondering what is your view on splenda?
Something totally not to this topic – I had followed a lifestyle plan a few years ago which indicated that you should not eat anything for the 5 hours in between your meals, and you were also not allowed to drink any fruit flavoured drinks (even when it has 0 calories) or coffee/tea with milk in it – because it affects your release of growth hormones in between meals which will slow down your ability to burn fat .
My question now – is this possible/true – I have lost 25 pounds and kept it off for 5 years – now I gained it back because of many reasons and even though I tried the new “diet tricks” of eating frequent small meals I cannot seem to loose the weight again? Does this make any sense?
I still cannot believe you are promoting this. This is an insult. Unbelievable.
I would love for Joel and Isabel to have a debate on this topic!
I wish she would write a comment on this post.
Usually I love reading Joel’s posts but not about this subject.
I have to agree with Isabel De Los Rios way of thinking this time!
My sister was told by her doctor to give up diet sodas not because of the sweetener but because of the high sodium content. Another friend of mine was the told the same thing. Apparently the sodium levels are pretty high. I don’t know I’ve never buy them. What do you think?”
Excellent topic Joel! from my point of view why even bother trying to support artificial sweeteners at any level?
A person really believes in fitness and can be shown there are no short cuts except hardwork to fitness..artificial sweeteners shouldn’t even come into it …
OK people are weak and need the easy convenient sweet hit ..but take a tougher road “EAT AN APPLE”…
So I don’t care if artificial sweeteners are bad or good for you there are better natural choices (not a fan of Stevia)
I would never suggest to anyone to put any chemicals into their body
Its too easy to become a toxic dumping ground.
Thanks for reading this.
Raymond
I am a medical doctor and I have never heard such rubbish as this explanation by lisa
What text did you get this rubbish from? Do you have even a basic understanding
Of Acid- base balance in the human body? You people use the word acid to freely
And loosely that it makes no sense. Please give me the name of the text you
Sourced your info from. Fat protecting your organs from acid? How on earth would blood get to your organs if fat stopped it? How do you think “acid” travels in the body? Please take some basic biology lessons before you spill this rubbish on
The internet. Joel, I can’t believe you let her off so lightly talking that crap. People come to you to get beyond the “bull” and people like this confuse those who are looking for a real answer to their problems. Thanks for the science onsweeteners Joel. It is time we move from the mythological to what is actually backed up by science. Would you let a doctor treat you with real science if you are acidotic, or with this wishy washy science told by lisa?
@ Bananna: this clown obviously never did science. What on earth do you mean by small quantities? Milligrams? Micro grams? Nanograms? First get an try to define what you mean by small quantities of battery acid before putting this crap to Joel who at least understand the concept of small quantities. And why the hell would you want battery acid? At least aspartame makes things taste better. Baterry acid?
Great Research Joel.
You’re an example for us fitness professionals.
Thanks for sharing it!
Joel,
Thanks for the cited research on artificial sweeteners. One thing we all have to keep in mind is that in the field of medicine, as in other scientific fields, what was taken as scientific fact for years, is often times found to be wrong with further research. That is the scientific process. First theorize, then hypothesize, test, report conclusions based upon results. However, science is rarely ever exact. There was a study done by the Adkins Diet Center for Research, unfortunately I don’t have the citation, that showed that aspartame had an insulin response similar to sugar, whereas Splenda and Sweet-n-Low did not. Spiking insulin tends to lead to conversion of glucose to triglycerides and storage as adipose tissue, as you know.
So, we’re often left with confusing data and have to rely on “experts” for advice. Unfortunately, everyone has an opinion, and here is mine: in general, if it’s artificial, the body may not know what to do with it, so moderation is the key.
Very interesting, Joel.
I respect your research, but question the extent of it. You have only included studies that validate your argument. What about the FDA study in the ’80’s that identified more than 90 side effects of Aspartame use? One must also ask, if there are no risks to the use of Aspartame, why is there so much evidence (anecdotal or otherwise) to suggest that it’s effects on our bodies are far from benign?
I understand that we must decrease our sugar consumption, but that we crave sweetness. Can you look at the healthier alternatives?
I for one would not dream of risking my health to look good.
This article was awesome. Thank you! It’s a topic no one has ever really covered before with any scientific data to back up the claims. I’m glad we finally got a good clear answer on this. I really didn’t want to give up my Diet Dr. Pepper!
Well, you wanted 100 comments… It looks like you got more than you bargained for. I haven’t seen a topic raise so much controversy and debate. Still, I like a healthy argument but a lot of these people need to calm down. Research is what it is. A study in an environment that quite possibly is different from yours. I support trying anything out. Wanna try fasting? Go ahead! Wanna try cutting out sweeteners for a month and see how it goes? Be my guest. Anyway. We feel you Joel and a lot of these comments are unfounded and personal. Just shrug it off and if all else fails, there’s always Roman to comfort you XD
I did some research. It was as I expected. These positive research papers are coming from people connected to the aspartame industry, and they have conflict of interest problems. The damage aspartame can do is considerable. One of the top experts in the field of excitotoxins has been quite specific about the horrendous consequences. That’s Dr. Russell Blaylock, who is a board certified neurosurgeon and has blown the whistle on toxins like this before. If you want to feel good about poisoning your body, feel free, but don’t reassure other people like you’re doing. That is unconscionable. Perhaps aspartame has already destro6yed your reasoning ability!
@ Dave:
I see you are not beyond using logical fallacies to discredit the people who disagree with you. The one you used here, poisoning the well, is typical. You accused people who think artificial sweeteners are bad of believing crop circles are caused by UFOs. With reasoning like that, I wouldn’t expect your evaluation of the evidence to be particularly valid. And I have to note that as a member of the Establishment medical profession you have been subjected to decades of indoctrination anyway, into things like pharmaceuticals are beneficial.
Please do some in depth research. It will do you a world of good.
Great article again Joel, looking through the comments; its clear many people have differing opinions, in some cases very different, on the subject of Aspartame and its perceived health implications.
I don’t drink Tea or Coffee so don’t have a requirement for added sweetness in my beverages and try to look more to fruits for a sweetness hit in my daily nutrition.
What I am taking from your series of posts is that while I should not fear the occasional diet soda, I should still look to water as my main source of hydration.
I am not for or against Joe’s views on aspartame, but as someone who’s involved in Human Sciences I feel that some of the posts against Joe’s article border on the ridiculous.
It’s fair enough to disagree with what Joel is saying. But rather than attacking him personally, why isn’t anyone finding some research to counter the points he made? An anecdote of ‘I drank a can of diet coke and got a headache’ does not mean that aspartame is a lethal poison. At least Joe has gone to the trouble to find some research. If you’re truely in the nutrition or medical profession you will have access to the reseach, so why not share it?
By the way a review article is just that. A review of availible articles (for or against). If they are in reputable journals they will have been peer reviewed by EXPERTS. The idea that major food industries have a influence over these Journals is ridiculous.
@ Joel Marion:
Yeah like this one, I think it is quite true, my daughter the personal trainer agrees too. I have been using stevia but now I am trying to use just milk in my coffee and no sweetner at all, milk is sweet enough, then the subject of the sodas, ewww i do like Fresca, but I have been trying to have one just on Friday and that is instead of vodka and Fresca.
Hi Joel,
Good post! As always I appreciate your taking up relevant topics and providing
food for thought. I use them as opportunities to get my facts straight through
some of my own research. I myself had been a diet coke / splenda fan. More
than a year or so ago I switched to plain water and stevia. I take artificial
sweetners sparingly and don’t think an occasional can or two of aspartame
sweetened soda can damage organs.
All of us worrying about carcinogenic effetcts of man-made chemicals
consumption should consider, e.g. how much stress we put our livers through
due to our alcohol intake.. or all the hormonal mess we expose ourselves to
by leading a stressful life and popping mindless medications. If we could
quantify all these, drinking an occasional soda pop would hardly seem
unhealthy. That being said, a significant fraction of people on this planet can’t ensure their drinking water completely free from toxins. On the other hand,
like someone here said, we can have many more reasons to blame aspartame
for our miseries if we punch our diet soda with rum or accompany diet soda
drinking marathons with long sessions of TV watching!
@Galina: Americans do not live longer than other countries. Read statistics :-) and looks to me obesity is superior than elsewhere. I don’t think this makes a great point to sustain aspartame :-)
hey Joel,
I for one appreciate the information you provide for us. We all have a brain and no one has to do anything they do not want to do.I think everything in moderation is ok. I too drink a diet coke or pepsi when i go out to eat every weekend but i keep it clean during the week this way it balances things out.
After all everything about being fit has to do with WILL POWER if people dont have that than there is not much anyone one can do for them.
John Cotton wrote:
ASPARTAME is extremely poisonous, and here is why one of the toxic ingredients of it is wood alcohol. When the temperature of
ASPARTAME exceeds 86 degrees F, the wood alcohol in it is converted to Formaldehyde, and then to formic acid, which in turn causes folic acidosis.
FORMALDEHYDE is grouped in the same class of poisons as Cyanide and Arsenic which are very deadly toxins. The only difference is, Formaldehyde kills quietly, and it takes a little longer. And, in the process of killing people, it causes all kinds of neurological problems. There are 92 documented symptoms of Aspartame Poisoning leading to coma and death.
The majority of these symptoms are neurological, because the ASPARTAME attacks and destroys the nervous system. One of these symptoms is Lupus, which has become almost a! s rampant as Multiple Sclerosis, especially with Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi drinkers.
Tatal bullshit – sorry!
Only 10% of the aspartame is converted into methanol in the small intestine, and immediately reconverted into formaldehyde and then to formic acid.
This quantity is absolutely minimal and it is impossible it makes any damage to the organism. [cifr. Butchko HH, Stargel WW, Comer CP, et al. (April 2002). “Aspartame: review of safety”. Regul. Toxicol. Pharmacol. 35 (2 Pt 2): S1–93]
Also please take care that both methanol and formaldehyde are both natural bi-products of our metabolism and naturally processed by the enzymes of our intestine. It doesn’t matter how they are categorised by chemists OUTSIDE of our intestine; INSIDE of it, and in that quantities, they are absolutely natural.
I don’t know where you copy this things from, but you should at least do your minimum duty diligence which is, checking at least WikiPedia – a very simple thing to do – before posting this idiocy.
Have a nice evening.
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Hey, it’s Joel! So you want to know a little more about me, huh? Well, I’d be happy to oblige :-)
I guess it all started back in 2001 (my freshman year of college) when I was just a “skinny fat” 19-year old kid. At the time, I was spending close to 2 hours a day in the gym (now my workouts last about 30 minutes), and despite my efforts, you’d probably never guess I worked out a day in my life by looking at me...