Sugar, Image Courtesy of Peenat, www.freedigitalphotos.net
Excessive sugar consumption can lead to obesity and increases the risk of heart disease, dementia, and other health problems. Many people substitute artificial sweeteners for sugar in the hope of losing weight and improving their health, but studies suggest that these products have the opposite effect:
- A Purdue University study found that animals given artificially sweetened foods gained more weight (primarily fat rather than lean muscle) than animals eating naturally sweetened foods.
- A survey conducted by the University of Texas Health Science Center found that diet soda consumption was linked with significantly increased risk of obesity.
- Both the large-scale Nurses’ Health Study and a study of nearly 80,000 women conducted by the American Cancer Society linked weight gain to artificial sweetener use.
- The San Antonio Heart Study, which included nearly 4,000 women, found that regular consumers of artificial sweeteners are heavier, on average.
Artificial Sweeteners and Weight Gain
Why do artificial sweeteners appear to cause weight gain? Our bodies are programmed to seek nourishment, and it’s possible that when we promise to deliver calories by eating something sweet but cheat our bodies by failing to provide those calories, intense food cravings are triggered to make up for the calorie deficit. Also, because they are sweeter than real sugar, artificial sweeteners may train the body to demand a higher level of sweetness, and to be less easily satisfied.
An additional problem with artificial sweeteners is that they don’t rev up the metabolism the way real sugar does, so consumers of artificial sweeteners may be more prone to storing calories than burning them.
Artificial Sweeteners and Alzheimer’s Disease, Stroke, and Cancer
In addition to the increased risk of obesity, the findings of more recent studies indicate that regular long-term consumption of artificial sweeteners can adversely affect the brain’s hippocampal area, which is critical to memory and learning, and that artificially sweetened foods and beverages may increase the risk for Alzheimer’s disease. In a recent prospective cohort study, Pase et al. (2017) found that the risk of Alzheimer’s, other forms of dementia, and ischemic stroke all rose in conjunction with artificial sweetener consumption, while sugar consumption did not increase the risk of dementia or stroke. The authors controlled for possible confounding variables such as overall caloric intake, diet quality, smoking, physical activity, gender, age, and education level, so the findings should not be attributable to anything other than artificial sweetener consumption.
Many people have also expressed concerns that artificial sweeteners may increase the risk of developing cancer, though research on a possible link between artificial sweeteners and cancer has yielded mixed results thus far.
There is also some evidence that one of the most commonly used artificial sweeteners, Aspartame, may cause a wide variety of problems in susceptible people, including headaches, nausea, seizures, and depression. Some people say they have had unpleasant symptoms after consuming other artificial sweeteners as well, but there hasn’t been sufficient research conducted to draw any firm conclusions about this. While some of the less popular sweeteners may be safer than Aspartame, well-conducted studies done by independent researchers (researchers not working on behalf of the artificial sweetener industry) are needed to determine whether they cause health problems.
Overall, the evidence from the research that has been conducted so far indicates that artificial sweeteners are not the best choice for weight loss because the body demands real food, and they may have adverse health effects. However, eating loads of sugar isn’t a good idea either. The best solution is to eliminate sugar and sugar substitutes from the diet entirely or consume real sugar but in lower quantities to prevent cravings.
For more food and nutrition articles, visit the main Food and Nutrition page.
References:
- Fowler, S. P., Williams, K., Resendez, R. G., Hunt, K. J., Hazuda, H. P., & Stern, M. P. (2008). Fueling the obesity epidemic? Artificially sweetened beverage use and long‐term weight gain. Obesity, 16(8), pp. 1894-1900.
- Kovacs, B., MS, RD,& Shiel Jr., W.C., MD, FACP, FACR (Medical Editor). (2020). Artificial sweeteners. MedicineNet.
- Ludwig, D. S. (2009). Artificially sweetened beverages: cause for concern. Journal of the American Medical Association, 302(22), pp. 2477-2478.
- Pase, M. P., Himali, J. J., Beiser, A. S., Aparicio, H. J., Satizabal, C. L., Vasan, R. S., … & Jacques, P. F. (2017). Sugar-and artificially sweetened beverages and the risks of incident stroke and dementia: a prospective cohort study. Stroke, 48(5), pp. 1139-1146.
- Yenigün, S. (2018). Artificial sweeteners: Worth the risk, Aspartame and Alzheimer’s disease. KASAV International Journal of Health Sciences, 1(2), pp. 25-30.