Artificial sweeteners

Wow. Who knew that my dad’s unfounded claims about sweeteners would eventually be reinforced with actual evidence? I know I shouldn’t be surprised, but I can’t help it, lol.

Artificial sweeteners are often used by people who are concerned about calories and are looking for alternatives to sugar. My father after being diagnosed a diabetic, was advised to cut down on a lot of sweet things; something which his diet did not lack. His major obstacle became his tea drinking as my dad couldn’t drink his tea without an extraordinary amount of sugar in it. Yet at the same time he wasn’t willing to cut down on the number of cups he was drinking and so we were stuck in a bit of a quandary.

The alternative that was suggested to my father was to use artificial sweeteners. I think he took them for a whole two weeks before he declared in a sad voice that it just wasn’t the same and would have sugar again even if it was going to be ½ a teaspoon.

Even though I am not a tea or coffee drinker, logic would suggest that ½ a teaspoon of sugar in a full mug of tea even after being equally dispersed by stirring, would NOT allow the taste of sugar to be detected. Therefore by this logic, surely ½ a teaspoon or sugar or none at all – how would you know the difference? Clearly it matters to my father, lol.

Anyhow back to the point I was making – this study, please click on the link to read more.

And for more information on the university study, please click here.

A study on artificial sweeteners suggests that they may actually cause weight gain, which obviously is bad news for those calorie counters.

In an animal study, the behaviour of rats was studied with regards to eating habits. The rats were split into two groups; one group consumed yoghurts sweetened with sugar whilst the group consumed yoghurt sweetened with an artificial sweetener called saccharin. The rats were then provide with an unlimited supply of food in order to prevent any bias in the study i.e. the rats entering starvation mode due to limited food therefore altering the body’s metabolism and appetite regulation.

The study results indicated that saccharin group gained more weight and ate more calories compared to their counterparts that were fed the sugar sweetened yoghurt. Furthermore after a certain period of time, the saccharin groups didn’t attempt to regulate their weight thus proving that sweeteners have a longer lasting effect than sugar.

The group hypothesis that when an individual experiences a sweet taste, the body’s metabolism increases in anticipation that a sweet high calorie meal was on its way. With a sweetener, the anticipated food does not arrive thus confusing the body and so problems with appetite regulation can occur. Interesting, isn’t it?

Yet on the other hand there are still studies out there that show sweeteners can help lower weight in a calorie controlled diet. So, what should you believe? Personally I’d say that eating healthily and naturally from start is a much better option and it prevents other surplus/ side issues from occurring. I class a healthy diet as a diet that does include fat and sugar but in moderate amounts, plus the avoidance of artificial sweeteners and preservatives.