Still, many people are afraid of artificial sweeteners, but most of what you can hear about them and read these myths. This article will help you separate facts from fiction and learn the truth about sweeteners. Let us draw rational conclusions looking at what scientific research says about it.
Here are four myths about sweeteners.
1. Artificial sweeteners make you fat
We like to blame specific diet components for the fact that we’re fat. We are constantly finding the culprits of obesity prevailing in the world and we hope that removing the ingredient from the menu will make the problem of weight loss disappear.
Remove gluten from your diet – lose weight. Remove dairy from your diet – lose weight. Remove meat from your diet – lose weight.
Artificial sweeteners were not spared either. Their consumption contributes to the development of obesity in the world. However, if we look at the results of the research, we will see that it is exactly the opposite.
In one study, 41 overweight people received sugar-sweetened supplements or supplements sweetened with sweeteners and were asked to continue their normal diet. Within 10 weeks, a group of people receiving sugar-sweetened supplements gained 1.6 kg, of which 1.3 kg consisted of adipose tissue. The group that consumed sweeteners did not change the actual fat mass.
This study is not isolated. In another study lasting 3 weeks, half of the participants received a drink sweetened with corn syrup, the second group of beverages sweetened with aspartame (basically similarly, comparison of coca cola and dietary coca cola) would occur. Sweetened beverages caused people to gain weight, while sweetened with aspartame promoted weight loss.
A study was also carried out on 641 children aged 4 to 11 years. They were randomly assigned for the consumption of artificially sweetened beverages or sweet beverages sweetened with sugar. Within 18 months, children from the sugar-sweetened beverages gained weight, had higher skinfold measurements and a larger waist circumference.
Thus, in general, in intervention studies, it seems that artificial sweeteners, especially in the form of carbonated beverages, do not increase weight.
2. Artificial sweeteners are worse than sugar
It is widely believed that artificial sweeteners are worse than sugar because they cause insulin to rise, but they do not have calories, and in addition, it’s chemistry itself. Initial studies from 1998 showed that when aspartame was directly administered to insulin-producing cells, it did nothing to release insulin.
In 2009, a study was published in which participants were given a sweet fizzy drink or its dietary equivalent. The diet drink had a very small (statistically insignificant) effect on the growth of insulin secretion.
So it seems that most artificial sweeteners really do not cause crazy insulin jumps.
3. Artificial sweeteners will ruin your microbiome
There are speculations and fears that artificial sweeteners can change your microbiome. Changes in the microbiome may result in weight gain. It has been shown in mice that artificial sweeteners in really high doses can cause adverse changes in the microbiome and that this can lead to ‚glucose intolerance’. It turns out, however, that not all artificial sweeteners caused this effect. What’s more, sucrose itself caused the same phenomenon!
These data have not been confirmed in studies conducted on humans.
We can say that there is some evidence in the case of rodents that some artificial sweeteners can change our microbiota, but we have no idea what is happening to humans.
4. Aspartame is poisonous
People call aspartame poison.
Aspartame is metabolized to methanol, which is harmful and can lead to eye damage. Methanol is thought to be toxic.
To make aspartame poisonous, you need to convert it into large amounts of methanol and then into formate.
30 people received aspartame at a dose of 34 mg / kg, 100 mg / kg, 150 mg / kg and 200 mg / kg. This is the equivalent of drinking about 12 to 80 cans of dietary cola daily. At 34 mg / kg, methanol levels were undetectable, but were detectable at doses of 100, 150 and 200 mg / kg.
However, the question remains, who is going to drink more than 12 cans of diet cola daily?
The amount, in this case, is of great importance.
Let’s also remember that every substance can become a poison. It all depends on the dose.
Summary
Based on the results of many studies, it can be concluded that artificial sweeteners do not cause weight gain. In fact, they can help you lose weight and maintain your weight. They do not seem to have significant insulinogenic properties. There is very limited evidence that some of them are altering rodent microbiome at high doses, but this has not been proven in humans. Consumption of sweeteners in reasonable quantities seems to be safe because they have not been shown to have a toxic effect on the human body
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