Written by Tatjana Djakovic, Staff Writer. In animal studies, mice that recieved saccharin had greater weight gain than the control group. This is because artificial sweeteners do not create a feeling of fullness.
Obesity has been increasing at an alarming rate and it is suggested that by 2030, 51% of the population will be obese, compared to one third of the U.S. population that is currently obese. If obesity were to remain at current levels, the combined savings in medical expenditures over the next 2 decades would be $549.5 billion (1,2). In an effort to reduce the levels of obesity, Americans have turned to the consumption of artificial sweeteners to lower their caloric intake. There has been conflicting information whether reducing the amount of calories by consuming non-caloric artificial sweeteners translates into a lower body weight (3,4).
This current study discusses the findings that consuming non-caloric artificial sweeteners actually results in weight gain rather than weight loss. It is hypothesized that artificially sweetened beverages interfere with learned response that normally contributes to healthy glucose and energy metabolism (5).
In the San Antonio Heart Study consisting of 1,250 men and women, it was reported that participants that consumed more than 21 artificially sweetened beverages per week and were normal weight or overweight at baseline had almost a doubled risk of weight gain and obesity (6). In the Nurses’ Health Study including 88,850 nurses, it was found that the risk for type 2 diabetes was increased by 6% per serving of one artificially sweetened beverage (p<0.001) (7). In another nurse’s health study, it was concluded that hypertension occurred more often in the group that consumed more than one artificially sweetened drink as evidenced by the hazard ratio of 1.38 (p=0.001) (8).
In the past 5 years, there have been few interventional studies that have focused on the effects of artificial sweeteners and weight gain. A study was done on 318 overweight and obese adults who substituted sugar sweetened or artificially sweetened beverages with water in an attempt to lose weight. After 6 months, the groups that drank sugar sweetened or artificially sweetened drinks lost about 1.75 to 2.5% of their body weight, however the group that drank water had a significant reduction in fasting glucose (p=0.019) and improved hydration (p=0.049) (9).
In animal studies, it has been shown that the mice that received the artificial sweetener saccharin, exhibited greater weight gain and altered physiological responses compared to animals that have been fed drinks containing sucrose or water. Consumption of an artificially sweetened drink decreased the body’s ability to initiate a normal metabolic response that signals the arrival of nutrients in the stomach. When artificial sweeteners are consumed, there is no energy boost which usually occurs after a sweet tasting food is consumed. The researchers suggest that artificial sweeteners impair the ability of sweet taste to predict the delivery of calories, and if the regular diet also tastes sweet, the impairment will result in overconsumption of their regular diet. (10).
Consumption of artificial sweeteners alone does not stimulate release of hormones that indicate satiety (feeling of fullness). In a study of 24 obese individuals that consumed regular cola, diet cola, or skimmed milk, it was determined that sugar drinks decreased ghrelin (a hunger stimulating hormone) and increased GIP (glucose-dependent insulinotropic peptide- slows rate of gastric emptying and contributes to satiety), while aspartame had no effects on these hormones (p<0.01) (11).
The author suggests that artificial sweeteners may weaken the body’s natural responses to recognize sweet taste; but that the negative consequences of artificial sweeteners should not be interpreted that sugar should be used in place. Instead, consumption of artificial sweeteners may worsen the negative effects of sugars by weakening the body’s response to sweet taste which may lead to overconsumption.
Source: Swithers, Susan E. “Artificial sweeteners produce the counterintuitive effect of inducing metabolic derangements.” Trends in Endocrinology & Metabolism 24.9 (2013): 431-441.
© 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Posted July 18, 2013.
References:
- Finkelstein, Eric A., Hope Thompson, and William Dietz. “Obesity and Severe Obesity Forecasts Through 2030.”
- Carroll, Margaret D., Brian K. Kit, and Katherine M. Flegal. “Prevalence of obesity in the United States, 2009-2010.” (2012).
- Yang, Q. Gain weight by “going diet?” Artificial sweeteners and the neurobiology of sugar cravings: Neuroscience 2010. Yale J. Biol. Med. 83, 101-108.
- Brow, R.J. et al. Artificial sweeteners: a systematic review of metabolic effects in youth. 2010. Int. J. Pediatr. Obes. 5, 305-312.
- Swithers. S. Artifical Sweeteners produce the counterintuitive effect of inducing metabolic derangments. 2013. Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism. 1-11.
- Fowler, S.P. et al. Fueling the obesitiy epidemic? Artificially sweetened beverage use and long-term weight gain. Obesity 16, 1894-1900.
- Bhupathraju, S.N. et al. Caffeinated and caffeine-free beverages and risk of type 2 diabetes. Am. J. Clin. Nutri. 2013. 155-166.
- Cohen, L. et al. Association of sweetened beverage intake with incident hypertension. . Gen. Intern. Med. 2012. 27, 1127-1134.
- Tate, Deborah F., et al. “Replacing caloric beverages with water or diet beverages for weight loss in adults: main results of the Choose Healthy Options Consciously Everyday (CHOICE) randomized clinical trial.” The American journal of clinical nutrition 95.3 (2012): 555-563.
- Davidson, Terry L., et al. “Intake of high-intensity sweeteners alters the ability of sweet taste to signal caloric consequences: Implications for the learned control of energy and body weight regulation.” The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 64.7 (2011): 1430-1441.
- Mærsk, Maria, et al. “Satiety scores and satiety hormone response after sucrose-sweetened soft drink compared with isocaloric semi-skimmed milk and with non-caloric soft drink: a controlled trial.” European journal of clinical nutrition 66.4 (2012): 523-529.
