Say "No" to Splenda?

[OldGuy]

Interesting.

Lab study ties artificial sweetener to weight gain
Rats fed food with saccharin added more body fat, researchers found

WASHINGTON - Using an artificial, no-calorie sweetener rather than sugar may make it tougher, not easier, to lose weight, U.S. researchers said Sunday.

Scientists at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, studied rats that were fed food with the artificial sweetener saccharin and rats fed food with glucose, a natural sugar.

In comparison to rats given yogurt sweetened with glucose, those that ate yogurt sweetened with saccharin went on to consume more calories and put on more weight and body fat.

The researchers said sweet foods may prompt the body to get ready to take in a lot of calories, but when sweetness in the form of artificial sweeteners is not followed by a large amount of calories, the body gets confused, which may lead to eating more or expending less energy than normal.

"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 high-calorie sugar," Purdue researchers Susan Swithers and Terry Davidson wrote in the journal Behavioral Neuroscience, published by the American Psychological Association.

"Such an outcome may seem counterintuitive, if not an anathema, to human clinical researchers and health care practitioners who have long recommended the use of low- and no-calorie sweeteners as a means of weight control."

Other artificial sweeteners such as aspartame that also taste sweet but do not lead to the delivery of calories may have similar effects, the researchers said.

"Animals may use sweet taste to predict the caloric contents of food. Eating sweet noncaloric substances may degrade this predictive relationship," the researchers wrote.

"With the growing use of noncaloric sweeteners in the current food environment, millions of people are being exposed to sweet tastes that are not associated with caloric or nutritive consequences," the researchers added.

The research was the latest to examine the question of whether artificial sweeteners -- used in many soft drinks and other foods — help or thwart those trying to lose weight. Various studies have offered mixed results.

Industry responds

The new research drew criticism from the food industry.

"This study oversimplifies the causes of obesity," Beth Hubrich, a dietitian with the Calorie Control Council, an industry association representing companies that make low- and reduced-calorie foods and beverages, said in a statement.

"The causes of obesity are multi-factorial. Although surveys have shown that there has been an increase in the use of 'sugar-free' foods over the years, portion sizes of foods have also increased, physical activity has decreased and overall calorie intake has increased," Hubrich added.

The council also said findings in animal studies may not be applicable to people, which the researchers acknowledged.

Davidson said by e-mail that the implication of the council's statement "that they, too, are interested in the health of the public seems insincere."

"If they were sincere, one might expect that they would be alarmed by findings from animal or human models suggesting that their products might be contributing to the obesity epidemic that continues to expand and do its damage," Davidson said.

Copyright 2008 Reuters. Click for restrictions.

Source

[DirtyMartini]

From what I've read, since non-caloric sweeteners don't trigger an insulin response, you don't get the sense of satiety that you would with sugared foods (and it doesn't work the same in beverages as it does in food, like yogurt). So if you're not watching what you're eating and you're just digging away at that 40oz tub of sugar-free yogurt, you'll eat more of it than you would if it had sugar if you're relying on satiety to tell you when to stop.

[Mark57]

The article doesn't say who funded the research, but I'm guessing it was ADM and other HFCS producers.

What a crock of shit.

[OldGuy]

The study

Paid for by grants from the National Institute of Health and Purdue University.

[RobLL]

My suspician is that if someone tries to get all of the sweets that they used to have, substituting the various low calorie sweeteners they really are not in a frame of mind to be curtaining their appetite for bad foods. I have several recilpes for things sweetened with Splenda, but I am not using it very often, and have been losing weight slowly and regularly.

[gobbla]

I kind of think the research is overlooking some of the more obvious...more calories = more fat, the sweeter something is the more of it you're likely to eat = more fat....artificial sweetener tends to be sweeter to the pallet than plain old sugar.

You can drink an ass load of crystal light VS orange juice and not get fat.

[Cynic]

Originally Posted by gobbla

the sweeter something is the more of it you're likely to eat = more fat....artificial sweetener tends to be sweeter to the pallet than plain old sugar.

Are you saying a sweet taste drives a compulsion?

In a way, I would agree, but you also seem to convey an addictive property of the taste.

[Alcoholiday]

Originally Posted by Cynic

Are you saying a sweet taste drives a compulsion?

In a way, I would agree, but you also seem to convey an addictive property of the taste.

in my opinion, i think eating/drinking sweet things lends itself to more consumption.

[Lost Dog]

Originally Posted by Alcoholiday

in my opinion, i think eating/drinking sweet things lends itself to more consumption.

I agree. The more diet soda I drink, the more cravings I get, which could lead some people to more consumption.

But, if you know what you're in for, then artificial sweetener is just a tool to reduce calories/sugar.

I think if the rats counted calories, they would have been fine.

[Cynic]

Originally Posted by Alcoholiday

in my opinion, i think eating/drinking sweet things lends itself to more consumption.

I agree, only in that most/all sweet things don't give a feeling of satiety, as a steak or a bowl of oatmeal w/ fruit would.

However, there is a distinction. Most sweet things, such as a donut, don't last long in the belly, have little to no nutritional value and breakdown, absorb and metabolize quickly.

So, are we seeing a placebo effect? Something more mental than physical?

[Espi]

That's what I thought too.
Given the fact that most people and nearly all organisms tend to stay at the same weight provided they aren't eating calorie dense foods,there's a powerful yet subtle mechanism going on. Also, in the history of mankind we've never had sweet tasting foods that didn't have calories. But at the same time, such foods were only temporarily available. So gorging on those foods was logical and not really harmful since after all, they were only temporarily available.

It makes sense that things go awry when you eat foods that taste sweet.. it induces overfeeding.

For the record, I'm really digging sweetened omelettes and coffee. But I don't have more than one or 2 of either in a day.

[smoddelm]

The researchers noted that the effect may not simply be due to eating more;

"...the body gets confused, which may lead to eating more or expending less energy than normal." Slows the metabolism?


Speculation regarding its effect on eating is nothing new. See many of the links here:

Aspartame Dangers, Side Effects, (Nutrasweet, Equal) FDA, disease poisoning.

[gobbla]

I agree that over-eating may not be the only cause. I'd argue that it's almost certainly the primary cause. It's hard for me to get worked up about something when one group eats more than another and the overeating group gains more weight. No crap, right?

I can't back up the "sweet leads to over consumption" so you can throw the argument in the trash if you're looking for legitimate data . I'd bet money that if you had two equal items and one was sweetened and the other wasn't (say sweet tea vs unsweetened for example) most people would consume more of the sweeter version. That might go for sweet potato's topped with sugar\cinnamon VS sour cream.

Totally agreed with Roland on the "if the rats counted calories everything would be good". Excess calories will bite you in the ass every time.

[Cynic]

Originally Posted by smoddelm

The researchers noted that the effect may not simply be due to eating more;

"...the body gets confused, which may lead to eating more or expending less energy than normal." Slows the metabolism?


Speculation regarding its effect on eating is nothing new. See many of the links here:

Aspartame Dangers, Side Effects, (Nutrasweet, Equal) FDA, disease poisoning.

You should have sited the whole paragraph:

The researchers said sweet foods may prompt the body to get ready to take in a lot of calories, but when sweetness in the form of artificial sweeteners is not followed by a large amount of calories, the body gets confused, which may lead to eating more or expending less energy than normal.

Words like "may" are no better than "might" or "maybe." They indicate an uncertainty.

It would be wise to avoid labeling artificial sweetners as the devil, just as it's wise to avoid labeling HFCS or sugar alone as the devil. Perhaps the real devil is a lack of self-control.

The jury is still out.

[LisaS]

The researchers said sweet foods may prompt the body to get ready to take in a lot of calories, but when sweetness in the form of artificial sweeteners is not followed by a large amount of calories, the body gets confused, which may lead to eating more or expending less energy than normal.

usually these kinds of paragraphs are the researchers speculating as to causes of what they found - and setting up future research topics - do the same/similar study but measure BMR & calories consumed to see which accounts for the increased weight.

[ZachL]

In the study, was the amount of food consumed/calories consumed controlled? I assume it was, otherwise of course the conclusions are not valid. In other words, the rats had to have eaten the same number of calories (or possibly less, while consuming the no-calorie-sweetened foods) on either type of food in order to eliminate the possibility that the rats are eating a greater volume with the artificial stuff.

[LisaS]

there's a link to the study up earlier in the thread and all of the dietary methods and controls are delineated there.