Do Artificial Sweeteners in Diet Soda Cause Obesity?

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Article Title:

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Do Artificial Sweeteners in Diet Soda Cause Obesity?

Article Description:

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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.

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Distribution Date and Time: 2008-04-07 11:00:00

Written By: Mark Hyman, M.D.

Copyright: 2008

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Do Artificial Sweeteners in Diet Soda Cause Obesity?

Copyright © 2008 Mark Hyman, M.D.

The UltraWellness Blog

http://www.ultrawellness.com/blog

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, son 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 Depression: http://www.ultrawellness.com/blog/