The myriad of reasons why artificial sweetners may not deliver on their weight loss promise
Posted on 4 September 2009
Artificial sweeteners enhance the palatability of foods but, unlike sugar, are virtually devoid of calories. The implicit promise here is consuming them, rather than sugar, is a better option for those seeking to control their weight. Now while the idea that artificial sweeteners offer advantages in weight control makes sense, you might be surprised to find that there is really no good evidence to support this notion. Not one single properly conducted study exists in the scientific literature that proves this supposed benefit. There are only two explanations for this: either the studies haven
Published September 4, 2009 . Filed under: Healthy Eating, Low-Carbohydrate/Carbohydrate Restriction, Unhealthy Eating!, Weight Loss
I eat natural foods as far as possible. The main source of artificial sweeteners in my diet is in the form of diet cola drinks (Coke lite). I’ve been drinking it for so long that the “real thing” (original, non diet) just doesn’t taste well. I know that soda drinks simply isn’t healthy. But then neither are fruit juices. So what should one drink in a hot country like South Africa, where hot drinks like coffee and tea just isn’t a real option for most months of the year? (Besides plain water that is…)
September 4, 2009 @ 11:00 am
Ughh!
These are nasty little additions to food. While I concede weakness in (my) passing generalist comments I feel the taste of these things are appalling.
Have hypotheses been reported that certain of them interfere with registration of satiety in the brain?
These rank as worse than sugar (sucrose) in my appreciation but I also have growing concerns over the role of sugar in 21st c. issues.
Sucrose is digested to glucose and fructose. Fructose is distinguished by needing to be metabolised in and by the liver, is it? Though under-read, I’m increasingly concerned.
Artificicial sweeteners proliferate in so many products. They may be marketed as being beneficial or adding value for the consumer but whose interests do they really serve?
You can safely bet that they are economically viable for the manufacturers and that their inclusion may contribute to extended shelf life. Try selecting art. sweetener free lemonade from the shelves. They have slipped en-masse into commonplace products; baked beans, cider, fruit squashes….
Excellent topic (as ever) John. Selectivity of published research is alarming in many ways. Most of those visiting here will be well informed. The people most at risk are busy folks without time to take an extended interest – the majority, and these are no better of that the lab-rats you mention. While unbiased state funded, commissioned, researched and published work is a comparative rarity upon what grounds should we lend our trust to regulators be that here, in Europe or over the pond?
September 4, 2009 @ 11:27 am
Make your own fruit tea, keep it in the fridge and drink that. Put some real lemon in water and refrigerate. Get used to plain water.
September 4, 2009 @ 11:42 am
This is a very interesting topic that deserves more attention from the public, especially those people (especially women) who try to lose weight by using low-fat or no fat dairy products sweetened with artificial sweeteners and diet drinks.
I have read, I think, all your articles and columns, Dr. Briffa, since you first published in the Observer magazine and I think that your articles are very important; your arguments are always backed up by research and are very convincing. Your work should be able to reach a wider audience than the one given by a blog. Is there any hope of a column in a main newspaper?
September 4, 2009 @ 12:27 pm
[...] http://www.drbriffa.com/blog/2009/09/04/the-myriad-of-reasons-why-artificial-sweetners-may-not-deliv... [...]
September 4, 2009 @ 12:52 pm
I have thought for some time that the mechanism for artifical sweeteners leading to weight gain is likely to be around the fact that they fool the body into thinking that it has plenty of sugar in the bloodstream. Therefore the body seeks to put what it sees as excess into fat, which it does as much as it can. Then because this is not real energy/calories, the person consuming the sweetener tends to get hungry very quickly after this, leading to more consumption and more going to fat.
September 4, 2009 @ 1:33 pm
Good article!
Yolande, I was in a similar position to you, drinking lots of diet drinks as my way of taking in fluid throughout the day. I can’t stand full sugar soft drinks because you can practically feel your teeth dissolving. It’s a similar issue with fruit juices. I eventually settled on carbonated water – I realised what I liked about soft drinks was the fizziness and the flavour the CO2 imparted to the water. It might take a day or two to get used to but it’s a much better thirst quencher as you’re just drinking water and CO2, not a whole load of flavourings, colourings and other miscellaneous chemicals as well. Plus, most non-brand carbonated water is a fraction of the cost of soft drinks.
Best wishes
Tar
September 4, 2009 @ 1:56 pm
Does anyone know of a safe, natural sweetner? I’ve heard of Stevia, for example, but never tried it.
September 4, 2009 @ 7:20 pm
@Yolande, Along with the suggestions above re alternatives to plain old water, I also drink unsweetened coconut water. It’s a great thirst quencher and comes in convenient tetra paks. Also makes a great base for a protein smoothie, along with the unsweetened protein powder and plain frozen berries.
September 4, 2009 @ 7:34 pm
@Tim,
In ‘The Low GL Diet Bible@, Patrick Holford advocates ‘xylotol’, a low GL sweetener that does occur naturally in varying degrees in fruit; plums are rich sources, apparently.
As xylitol occurs naturally and by virtue of evolutionary precedent one might anticipate it to be safe. I haven’t looked for it on sale and therefore I have not specifically seen it on sale.
Sooner than be reliant upon artificial sweeteners it makes good sense to make an effort re-educate ones palette and reduce the sweet-tooth.
Sucrose (refined sugar) ought to be regarded with caution because of the fructose component. Does honey constitute a favourable alternative if used in moderation?
Finally, remember a diet generally rich in soluble fibre will partly mitigate the glycaemic load (GL) of simple carbohydrates and sugars by ‘buffering’ the digestion to glucose and the passage of glucose from the gut into the blood. For eg, having included green leaves and/or, say nuts, in a meal will offset the GL impact of a sweet dessert to a degree by potentially and partially smoothing the resultant blood-sugar spike.
Kathleen DesMaisons addresses the addictive nature of sugar (and perhaps hyperinsullinemia) in more than one title. I have scanned a couple of her offerings and I fell she has something to offer in the way of good sense though I had been sceptical over the way some of the arguments were supported.
September 6, 2009 @ 11:52 pm
I am interested in anyone’s experience in becoming ‘hooked’ or addicted to artificial sweetener? i am surely not the only person… i consume ridiculous amounts of the stuff.. and go a bit demented if i try to cut back.. anyone?
September 7, 2009 @ 6:32 am
Chris
Are you (or anyone else) aware of any useful human research regarding the health effects/safety of xylitol. Part of the reason for asking is some years ago we had the promise of a low GI/GL, naturally occurring sweetener. It’s name? – fructose. And look where that got us…
September 8, 2009 @ 2:46 am
[...] Artificial Sweeteners – artificial hope? By getfatgetthin Dr John Briffa raised the issue of artificial sweeteners in his blog of 4th September 2009 headed: The myriad of reasons why artificial sweeteners may not deliver on their weight loss promise”… [...]
September 8, 2009 @ 6:17 pm
John, no, I hadn’t researched xylitol any more than having seen it advocated in the aforementioned book. I agree entirely about cause for caution. The entry in Wikipedia reads as though it could largely have been compiled by those of enthusiastic persuasion.
The claim is that spoon for spoon there are 40% fewer calories than sugar but nothing is mentioned about relative sweetness. For all I know one might need to use 40% more of the stuff to satisfy ones palatte. There is a link in the wiki to the BMJ; it is not available to me.
It would be interesting to understand how this sugar-alcohol is digested and metabolised. There is mention of a laxative effect – perhaps 40% passes out undigested?
I have some additional paragraphs available in the link.
Yolande,
residing in South Africa why not consider ‘rooibos’ (‘redbush tea’); a drink native to that country. Devoid of tannins it does not stew and is refreshing warm, tepid or cold. Devoid of caffeine it is a good way to reduce dependency to that, too. I prepared some yesterday and took it with me to work last night chilled and in a used squash bottle. It is fun to try adjuncts as diverse as your imagination allows. Top of my list are root ginger, mint leaves, lemon, lime etc. I confess I do sweeten but only to the degree of a pea sized blob of honey to a litre or more.
I might try grinding dates, almonds or apricot kernels as alternative sweeteners.
September 8, 2009 @ 6:46 pm
Anyone looking for alternatives to diet pop could try home-made kombucha, water kefir, real ginger beer, or lacto-fermented sodas. A batch takes minutes to make, costs pennies, contains very little sugar, tastes great, and contains probiotic organisms, vitamins and minerals. Starter cultures and recipes can be found online, or in the case of lacto-fermented soda you can make the starter culture yourself.
It’s also worth noting for those concerned about the effect of fizzy pop on teeth that the very high acidity of commercial fizzy drinks is even more disastrous for the teeth than their sugar content – and the acidity is just as high in the diet variety.
September 9, 2009 @ 1:04 pm
I’m under no illusion that sweeteners are beneficial but I still use Splenda in my coffee, it’s about the only thing I need to be sweet and this one has less aftertaste than the alternatives *to me*, YMMV.
Be a bit wary of sugar alcohols, responses may also vary. Some diabetics find some of them may cause a BG spike just like sugar while others are converted directly to loose bowels! It pays to test your own response to the different types.
September 11, 2009 @ 7:40 pm
New Scientist in the their 19th December 2009 end of year issue give some coverage to the quest for the calorie free sweetener and the difficulties ensuing. Link here.
It doesn’t detract me from my belief that refined sweetener, natural or otherwise, is likely to have undesirable consequence. Best to re-educate and wean oneself away from a sweet tooth.
December 28, 2009 @ 9:04 pm