[attach id=268068 size="medium"]Non-caloric or reduced-calorie food and beverages interfere with the body’s learned responses.[/attach]
New Research by Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, the US, shows that diet beverages may not be the healthy choice to manage weight that they appear to be.
Susan Swithers, a Purdue professor of psychological sciences and a behavioural neuroscientist, reviewed and evaluated the most recent research on high- intensity sweeteners to see whether consuming them may result in overeating, weight gain or other health problems, despite having zero or low calories.
Her findings were published in Trends in Endocrinology & Metabolism. She said: “Although it seems like common sense that diet sodas would not be problematic, that doesn’t appear to be the case.
“Findings from a variety of studies show that routine consumption of diet sodas, even one per day, can be connected to higher likelihood of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, metabolic syndrome and high blood pressure, in addition to contributing to weight gain.”
The concerns about these chemical sweeteners have been around for many years; they seem too good to be true, and that would now appear to be the case.
Paul Howard, co-creator of the British DietAssist programme, said: “Diet drinks are a psychological nightmare, as they give the dieter the impression that they are doing something positive to help them lose weight.
“In reality, as we have long suspected, artificial sweeteners confuse the body’s natural mechanisms that control calorie intake based on the sweetness of what is consumed. This is because artificial sweeteners taste up to 50 times sweeter than sugar.”
Howard continues: “So the reality is, as this study shows, that far from taking a positive step towards weight loss they are actually travelling in the opposite direction. If their goal is to lose a stone (6kg) in weight they might find themselves putting on a stone instead.”
Diet drinks are a psychological nightmare, as they give the dieter the impression that they are doing something positive to help them lose weight
Data from a number of studies, also reported greater risk of type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and metabolic syndrome, which is related to diabetes and cardiovascular problems, for consumers of artificially sweetened beverages.
Some data indicated that those who consumed artificially sweetened beverages had double the risk of metabolic syndrome compared to non-consumers.
Research also shows that non-caloric or reduced-calorie food and beverages interfere with a body’s learned responses.
The assumption is that fewer calories means less weight gain.
Research shows that frequent consumption of high-intensity sweeteners may have the opposite effect by confusing the body’s natural ability to manage calories based on tasting something sweet.