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Artificial Sweeteners Associated With Weight Gain, Heart Problems In Analysis of Data From 37 Studies (npr.org)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from NPR: The theory behind artificial sweeteners is simple: If you use them instead of sugar, you get the joy of sweet-tasting beverages and foods without the downer of extra calories, potential weight gain and related health issues. In practice, it's not so simple, as a review of the scientific evidence on non-nutritive sweeteners published Monday shows. After looking at two types of scientific research, the authors conclude that there is no solid evidence that sweeteners like aspartame and sucralose help people manage their weight. And observational data suggest that the people who regularly consume these sweeteners are also more likely to develop future health problems, though those studies can't say those problems are caused by the sweeteners.
The review, published Monday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, looked at 37 studies. Seven of them were randomized trials, covering about 1,000 people, and the rest were observational studies that tracked the health and habits of almost 406,000 people over time.
The review, published Monday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, looked at 37 studies. Seven of them were randomized trials, covering about 1,000 people, and the rest were observational studies that tracked the health and habits of almost 406,000 people over time.
The direct effect of artificial sweeteners on insulin levels (as described by GP) seems to be unsubstantiated. There is, however, an Israeli study demonstrating an effect of artificial sweeteners on gut bacteria, which in turn does result in increased blood sugar levels.
Also, the negative effect of those sweeteners seems to be very apparent if you compare their usage on a national level (try finding a non-light product in a US supermarket, for example) with the prevalence of obesity (US way worse than other countries). I've often been flabbergasted by this, looking at the rows and rows of light products and the humongous people buying them and thinking "guys, wake up, this is obviously not working!". Not only is it not helping, it's actively making things worse.