Do Artificial Sweeteners in Diet Soda Cause Obesity?

Do Artificial Sweeteners in Diet Soda Cause Obesity?
Ever watch a very large person order a Big Mac, large
fries, and top it off with a Diet Coke?

Ever notice that you rarely see thin people drinking diet
sodas?

I have. And it made me wonder if could there be a link
between diet beverages or artificial sweeteners and obesity.

Research suggests that there is, indeed, a link.

First, our current obesity epidemic has coincided perfectly
with the introduction of large amounts of artificial
sweeteners into our food supply. While we don't know that
one has caused the other, it is suspicious.

For example, the number of Americans who consume products
that contain sugar-free sweeteners grew from 70 million in
1987 to 160 million in 2000.

At the same time, the incidence of obesity in the United
States has doubled from 15 percent to 30 percent across all
age groups, ethnic groups, and social strata. And the
number of overweight Americans has increased from about 30
percent to over 65 percent of the population. The fastest
growing obese population is children.

Next, we know that just the thought or smell of food
triggers a whole set of hormonal and physiologic responses
that prepare the body for food.

Just as in Pavlov's dog experiment, where he trained dogs
to salivate in anticipation of food simply by ringing a
bell, diet sodas and artificial sweeteners act as the bell
for your physiology.

Your brain prepares for food even before your fork or cup
crosses your lips.

This allows you to anticipate and prepare for the arrival
of nutrients in your intestinal tract, improves the
efficiency of how your nutrients are absorbed, and
minimizes the degree to which food will disturb your
natural hormonal balance and create weight gain.

Any sweet taste will signal your body that calories are on
the way and trigger a whole set of hormonal and metabolic
responses to get ready for those calories.

When you trick your body and feed it non-nutritive or
non-caloric sweeteners, like aspartame, acesulfame,
saccharin, sucralose, or even natural sweeteners like
stevia, it gets confused.

And research supports this.

An exciting new study in the Journal of Behavioral
Neuroscience has shown conclusively that using artificial
sweeteners not only does not prevent weight gain, but
induces a whole set of physiologic and hormonal responses
that actually make you gain weight.

The researchers proved this by giving two different groups
of rats some yogurt. One batch of yogurt was sweetened
with sugar and the other was sweetened with saccharin.

They found that three major things happened over a very
short period of time in the rats that were fed artificially
sweetened yogurt.

First, the researchers found that the total food eaten over
14 days dramatically increased in the artificial sweetener
group -- meaning that the artificial sweetener stimulated
their appetite and made them eat more.

Second, these rats gained a lot more weight and their body
fat increased significantly.

And third (and this is very troubling) was the change in
core body temperature of the rats fed the artificial
sweeteners. Their core body temperature decreased, meaning
their metabolism slowed down.

So not only did the rats eat more, gain more weight, and
have more body fat, but they actually lowered their core
body temperature and slowed their metabolism.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: All calories are
not created equal.

The study's most astounding finding was that even though
the rats that ate the saccharin-sweetened yogurt consumed
fewer calories overall than the rats that ate the
sugar-sweetened yogurt, they gained more weight and body
fat.

This helps disprove the conventional view that people will
consume fewer calories by drinking artificially sweetened
drinks or eating artificially sweetened foods.

Despite their name, these are not "diet" drinks. They are
actually "weight gain" drinks!

My bottom line?

Avoid artificial sweeteners, including aspartame,
acesulfame, sucralose, sugar alcohols such as malitol and
xylitol (pretty much anything that ends in "ol"), as well
as natural artificial sweeteners like stevia.

Stop confusing your body. If you have a desire for
something sweet, have a little sugar, but stay away from
"fake" foods.

Eating a whole-foods diet that has a low glycemic load and
is rich in phytonutrients and indulging in a few real sweet
treats once in a while is a better alternative than
tricking your body with artificial sweeteners -- which
leads to wide scale metabolic rebellion and obesity.

So, put that teaspoon of sugar in your tea and enjoy!

REFERENCES:

Swithers SE, Davidson TL. A role for sweet taste: Calorie
predictive relations in energy regulation by rats. Behav
Neurosci. 2008 Feb;122(1):161-73.

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Mark Hyman, MD is a pioneer in functional medicine,
practicing physician and best-selling author. A sneak
preview of his book "The UltraSimple Diet" is available.
See The UltraWellness Blog for more on Artificial
Sweeteners: http://www.ultrawellness.com/blog/