Sugarfree Food Causes Weight Gain
How & Why Zero Calorie Artificial Sweeteners Add Extra Pounds
Artificial sweeteners don't work as a weight loss technique. Here's how zero calorie sugar substitutes increase weight gain, plus several links to weight loss articles.
A recent study by psychologists at Purdue University reveals that artificial sweeteners are not only ineffective as a weight loss technique, sugarfree foods cause weight gain. Rats that ate yogurt sweetened with zero calorie sugar substitutes consumed more calories, gained more weight, and increased their body fat. Rats that ate yogurt sweetened with glucose (table sugar) did not gain weight or increase their body fat.
If you’ve been wondering why your sugarfree food and low-calorie snacks don’t seem to help with weight loss, this experiment explains why.
How Artificial Sweeteners Cause Weight Gain
Artificial sweeteners don’t raise your core body temperature the same way real sugar does, which leads to overeating after a meal. Zero calorie sugar substitutes also make it harder to burn calories, which is another factor that leads to weight gain.
Saccharin changes the body’s response to food and the ability to regulate food intake. When calories aren't regulated, overeating and weight gain can result. “The data clearly indicate that consuming a food sweetened with no-calorie saccharin can lead to greater body-weight gain and adiposity than would consuming the same food sweetened with a higher-calorie sugar,” say the study authors Susan Swithers and Terry Davidson.
Though saccarin was the artificial sweetener used in this study, Swithers believes that the results could also apply to other sugar substitutes. "[People] may want to consider the possibility that simply switiching to these products isn't automatically going to result in dramatic weight loss," she says.
Swithers also notes that studies on humans are required to determine for sure if artificial sweeteners cause weight gain in people the way they did in rats.
People Who Consume Diet Drinks Have a Higher Risk for Obesity
These researchers point out that their findings match evidence that people who drink sugarfree soda pop are at a higher risk for obesity. Diet drinks have also been connected to more body fat, higher blood pressure, and insulin resistance – all of which put people at risk for diabetes and cardiac disease.
The most effective weight loss technique is eating fewer calories and exercising more. The best way to lose weight is by adopting a healthy, active lifestyle.
Links to Weight Loss Articles:
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American Psychological Association (2008, February 11). Artificial Sweeteners Linked To Weight Gain. ScienceDaily. Retrieved February 11, 2008.
