Artificial sweeteners could make you fat

Artificial sweeteners‚ which are commonly used in diet products like cool drinks or chewing gum because they are low in kilojoules‚ may promote fat accumulation instead of control it, new research suggests.

Promoting artificial sweeteners for weight loss and health has long been controversial.

Research has shown that sweeteners are an effective sugar substitute for controlling weight gain‚ however‚ studies like the latest one from George Washington University in DC, are finding the hidden risks to using sweeteners.

The principal investigator‚ Professor Sabyasachi Sen‚ said: “We believe that low-calorie sweeteners promote additional fat formation by allowing more glucose to enter the cells‚ and promotes inflammation‚ which may be more detrimental in obese individuals."

He warned that there was increasing scientific evidence that sweeteners like sucralose played havoc with the body’s metabolic system.

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He and his team tested sucralose on stem cells taken from human fat tissue in a lab. The cells were given a sucralose dose similar to that found in the blood of people who drink the equivalent of four cans of diet soda a day. The results showed signs that the cellular mechanisms were changing to make more fat.

The scientists analysed abdominal fat from eight people who consumed low-calorie sweeteners‚ four of them obese and the other four a healthy weight.

This group had increased transport of sugar into their cells and an overexpression of fat-producing genes compared to people who did not consume sweeteners.

Also‚ the people who used sweeteners had more than double the expression of sweet taste receptors in their fat tissue.

Sweeteners are typically sweeter than sugar. For example‚ the widely used artificial sweeteners aspartame – found in products like Canderel‚ Equal‚ Nutrasweet and diet cool drinks – is 200 times as sweet as sugar but has only 4kCal/g in energy‚ according to NICUS (Nutrition Information Centre of the University of Stellenbosch).

Dr David Ludwig‚ an obesity and weight-loss specialist at Boston Children’s Hospital‚ affiliated to Harvard University‚ is concerned that people accustomed to sweeteners would become attracted to artificially flavoured sweet foods with less nutritional value instead of healthy‚ nutritious foods which are less sweet.

NICUS recommends the public use moderate amounts of sweeteners and use a variety‚ rather than one product for long periods‚ and that people read product labels to know what sweeteners they are consuming. - TMG Digital/TimesLIVE