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Artificial Sweeteners Make You Fat
| August 2, 2010 | |
| Dr. Gary Huber : Head Medical Ego |
Even when we take in artificially sweetened foods that do contain some calories it creates a response that is in excess of the calories consumed. It actually stimulates more appetite and more calories consumption in other meals leading to weight gain. The actual results reported were as follows:
We found that reducing the correlation between sweet taste and the caloric content of foods using artificial sweeteners in rats resulted in increased caloric intake, increased body weight, and increased adiposity, as well as diminished caloric compensation and blunted thermic responses to sweet-tasting diets. These results suggest that consumption of products containing artificial sweeteners may lead to increased body weight and obesity by interfering with fundamental homeostatic, physiological processes.
Translation: fooling the body with excessive sweeteners resulted in increased calorie intake at subsequent meals as their appetite was stimulated, increased weight gain and fat deposits, lowering of metabolism so fat burned less efficiently.
So if we are discussing “health” and you ask me what is the best artificial sweetener to use then I have to in all honesty say . . . NONE of them are healthy and all of them will cause weight gain.
It’s boring and predictable but whole foods are the best and if you wean yourself off of the saturated sweet taste of the Standard American Diet and learn the delights of the sweet taste of natural foods in their natural state then you are on your way to weight loss and better health.
I help people lose weight every day and I get to see the excited looks on their faces and hear of the wonderful stories of how they now sleep better, feel better, have less joint ache, and much, much more. I tell them to be “students of their body” and pay attention to what signals they are hearing from their body when they replace processed, sweetened crap with whole food.
They are all smiling and living better lives.
We all should be.
We all can be.
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[8 Comments] [8 Comments]
This is junk science, by the way. I am surprised the Enquirer posted this on its site. Of the claims made, some are fully outright fabrications from an oft repeated internet chain letter by Nancy Markle in 1999 (there is no link to brain cancer at all). Others are not supported by relevant clinical studies (it makes you eat more and fain weight). At best this claim is inconclusive.
There are few food additives that have been more thoroughly vetted by the FDA than aspartame.
Sorry Jason,
No internet chain letter, and no junk science. The case for aspartame is so bleak that you have to be living in a cave not to be aware of the scientific literature. I would recommend you start with a simple overview prepared by neurosurgeon Dr. Russell Blaylock who outlines the case against aspartame in short order in his book “Excitotoxins”. It’s not comprehensive but it is short and sweet (pardon the pun) and offers some scientific references for your initiation. There are numerous studies linking aspartame to migraine headaches, seizure disorder and other neurological problems. So explore the length and depth of aspartame and you will find mountains of data. Go to Google Scholar and just type in “aspartame, cancer” and you will see hundreds of studies.
Happy hunting,
Dr. Gary Huber
This is a great article! I chew a lot of sugar-free gum (sweetened with aspartame)to keep from snacking throughout the day. Could this have an impact on my weight or contribute to sleep issues?
Hi Kerry,
Sadly yes, this small but consistent exposure is not your friend. There are other better options out there and although no artificial sweetener is good for you there are other choices that are far less dangerous.
Good health to you,
Dr. Gary Huber
Is Stevia considered an “artificial sweetener” in this category?
Hi Rachelle,
Stevia is a natural plant product so it is not a synthetic chemical and is certainly better than many of the other choices. Whether or not it causes weight gain is a question that hasn’t been answered fully to this point. It is essentially a “non-caloric” sweetener and so the principles that drive weight gain with other non-caloric sweeteners may also be in place with stevia. So the jury is out but I have no fear of stevia being harmful. If you struggle with weight then you might experiment with and without stevia to see if it affects you adversely on the scale. And keep working to reduce your need for sweetened taste. Find the real natural sweet taste of foods in their natural state.
Good luck,
Dr. Gary Huber
Look up the studies published on Nutrasweet’s website in thei reference list. Check out the first one in the caqtegory of obesity by Blackburn, et al. (1997) and read it. You will find those using aspartame sweetened soft drinks lost 9.9kg versus those drinking sugar sweetened soft drinks losing 9.8kg over a 3 year period, hence aspartame does not, despite having near zero calories, lead to greater weight loss as the factual evidence proves. Dont be mislead by the model they use to predict future outcomes as it is unreliable and would be provable with facts if it were true. By the way, notice that these companies using aspartame always refer to statements by the FDA (USA) or FSA (UK) instead of saying themselves that it is safe. These companies are not stupid, they know they are liable for false claims so they rather refer to an independent agency who is not accountable to anyone like the FSA, who is only accountable to parliament, a bunch of corrupt politicians who could care less about us.
I think the case is clear that there are no benefits for those wanting to lose weight. Notice the coca cloa company says on its webpage:
“Can sweeteners help me manage my weight?
When consistently used as part of an active, healthy lifestyle that includes a sensible, balanced diet and regular physical activity, sweeteners may help with weight control, but they don’t in themselves necessarily lead to weight loss.”
(http://www.coca-cola.co.uk/health/lowdown-on-aspartame-artificial-sweeteners.html)
There you go, as part of a bla bla diet, sweeteners MAY help…
Safety:
“There is no sound scientific evidence that is accepted by food safety authorities linking aspartame, or other low- and no-calorie sweeteners, to cancer in humans.”
(http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/ourcompany/hal_sweeteners_misperceptions.html#)
Well waht do we have here, “no sound scientific evidence THAT IS ACCEPT, so simple have the FDA reject evidence which is sound and al is fine, always good to have these governement agencies that tell us what to believe and can magically disappear facts and nullify the effects deadly poisons have on us, thank you FDA, FSA. You are my heroes
Reference:
Blackburn, G. L. (1997) The effect of aspartame as part of a multidisciplinary weight-control program on short- and long-term control of body weight, American journal of Clinical Nutrition, 65 (2), pp. 409-418.