When you're on a diet, the "no-sugar" label on many packaged foods can be tempting. Sometimes no sugar means not sweetened. And sometimes it means the food has been sweetened artificially. As many as 75% of us in the U.S. consume artificial sweeteners. Sugar substitutes may be safe, but are they a healthy choice? Not if they are causing you to 1) overeat; 2) consume too many empty calories; or 3) neglect nutrients.
If the sucrose (or other sugar) replaced has contributed to the texture of the product, then a bulking agent is often also needed. This may be seen in soft drinks labeled as "diet" or "light," which contain artificial sweeteners and often have notably different mouthfeel, or in table sugar replacements that mix maltodextrins with an intense sweetener to achieve satisfactory texture sensation.
Substituting artificial sweeteners for sugar is an easy way to cut back on calories and thus lose weight, right? Not really. Although sugar substitutes may help you maintain your weight after shedding pounds, they generally will not help you lose weight.
In fact, some studies show they may do the opposite. The latest research on sugar substitutes has led some researchers to believe that consuming products that contain artificial sweeteners may actually encourage you to eat more servings than you would if the food or drinks were sweetened with real sugar. Animal studies have revealed behaviors that suggest sugar substitutes may interfere with the body's natural ability to count calories based on a food's sweetness. When this calorie-counting ability is skewed, you may consume excess calories.
Animal studies have convincingly proven that artificial sweeteners cause body weight gain. A sweet taste induces an insulin response, which causes blood sugar to be stored in tissues (including fat), but because blood sugar does not increase with artificial sugars, there is hypoglycemia and increased food intake the next time there is a meal. After a while, rats given sweeteners have steadily increased caloric intake, increased body weight, and increased adiposity (fatness). Furthermore, the natural responses to eating sugary foods (eating less at the next meal and using some of the extra calories to warm the body after the sugary meal) are gradually lost.
It's fine to treat yourself to something sweet from time to time. In fact, denying yourself sweet foods may increase their appeal and cause you to overeat when you finally satisfy the craving. But because many artificially sweetened foods still contain calories (and some tend to be nutritionally weak), you should think of artificially sweetened foods the same way you think about sugar-sweetened ones and practice moderation with them. Otherwise, a healthy diet could quickly be transformed into a calorie-dense or nutrient-poor one.
Artificial sweeteners may be safe, but are they healthy?
