OT:Rat Study Links Weight Gain to Artificial Sweeteners; Critics Say No Relevanc

[Guest guest]

This was on the CBS news last night.

I know this has nothing to do with our problems, but I found one

fact that does hit very close to home.

Rat Studies Relevant to Humans? " Hubrich counters that it is far

from clear if the rat studies have any relevance to people " , isn't

this what we have been fighting also?!!! The exact quote last night

was you can't base these findings on one rat study.....

Excuse the pun, but this is definately food for thought.

KC

Do Lo-Cal Sweeteners Encourage Eating?

Rat Study Links Weight Gain to Artificial Sweeteners; Critics Say No

Relevance for Humans

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/02/11/health/webmd/main3817821.sh

tml

(WebMD) It may sound counterintuitive, but replacing sugar with

reduced- and no-calorie sweeteners may make weight control harder, a

small animal study shows.

Rats in the Purdue University study that were fed regular feed and

yogurt sweetened with no-calorie saccharin took in more total

calories and gained more weight than rats fed regular feed and

yogurt sweetened with sugar.

Researchers speculate that over time, reduced-calorie sweeteners

like saccharin, aspartame, and sucralose condition the body to no

longer associate sweetness with calories, thereby disrupting its

ability to accurately assess caloric intake.

This disruption may, in turn, lead to overeating, they note.

" If this is the case in rats, there is little reason to think that

humans don't have this same response, " researcher Swithers,

Ph.D. tells WebMD. " It is possible that consuming these products

interferes with one of the mechanisms that helps to regulate

weight. "

She adds that this could help explain why the dramatic rise in

obesity has occurred at the same time that sales of low-calorie

sweeteners and products containing them have skyrocketed.

Industry Response

But a spokeswoman for the low-calorie sweetener industry was highly

critical of the research, noting that the study involved just 27

rats.

" I think studies like this are a disservice to the consumer because

they oversimplify the causes of obesity, " registered dietitian Beth

Hubrich of the Calorie Control Council tells WebMD.

" It is true that there has been an increase in the use of low-

calorie sweeteners at the same time that we have seen an increase in

obesity, but there has also been an increase in the use of cell

phones and nobody is suggesting that they are causing obesity. "

Rats Ate More, Expended Less Energy

The new study is not the first by Swithers and co-researcher Terry

L. son, Ph.D., of the Purdue Digestive Behavior Research

Center, to link artificial sweeteners with weight increases in rats.

In a study designed to measure energy expenditure, the saccharin-

conditioned rats had slightly lower energy expenditures after eating

a high-calorie meal containing sugar.

" In addition to somehow stimulating food intake, we think that

artificial sweeteners may blunt the energy expenditure mechanism as

well, " Swithers says.

Rat Studies Relevant to Humans?

Hubrich counters that it is far from clear if the rat studies have

any relevance to people, adding that many human studies suggest low-

calorie sweeteners are beneficial for weight loss.

One of the most recent suggested that use of sucralose - the sugar

substitute sold as Splenda - along with increased physical activity,

helped children lose weight, she says.

" I am not aware of any studies in humans suggesting that the use of

low-calorie sweeteners is associated with weight gain, " she says.

Clinical psychologist Abramson, Ph.D., who specializes in

treating patients struggling with weight, agrees that rat studies

may not have much relevance to humans when it comes to appetite and

weight control.

" The issue of food intake and energy expenditure is much more

complicated in humans, " he says.

But he adds that reduced-calorie sweeteners may trigger overeating

in some overweight people, especially those who are binge eaters.

Abramson is a professor emeritus of psychology at California State

University and author of the 2005 book " Body Intelligence. "

" About 30% of obese people are binge eaters, and it may be true that

for some eating artificially sweetened foods trigger binges, " he

says.

By Salynn Boyles

Reviewed by Louise Chang

[Guest guest]

it was nat. geo. nit discovrty channel that had the profram on

fogs,pigs and humans and how close our genitics and most all organs

and funtions are very close to pigs. as far as weight gain, I cant

help but think that maybe that do to increase in toxins were exposed

to daily in the world and our bodies are trying to store more fat to

store the toxins.

--- In , " tigerpaw2c " <tigerpaw2c@...>

wrote:

>

> This was on the CBS news last night.

>

> I know this has nothing to do with our problems, but I found one

> fact that does hit very close to home.

>

> Rat Studies Relevant to Humans? " Hubrich counters that it is far

> from clear if the rat studies have any relevance to people " , isn't

> this what we have been fighting also?!!! The exact quote last night

> was you can't base these findings on one rat study.....

>

> Excuse the pun, but this is definately food for thought.

>

> KC

>

> Do Lo-Cal Sweeteners Encourage Eating?

> Rat Study Links Weight Gain to Artificial Sweeteners; Critics Say

No

> Relevance for Humans

>

>

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/02/11/health/webmd/main3817821.sh

> tml

>

> (WebMD) It may sound counterintuitive, but replacing sugar with

> reduced- and no-calorie sweeteners may make weight control harder,

a

> small animal study shows.

>

> Rats in the Purdue University study that were fed regular feed and

> yogurt sweetened with no-calorie saccharin took in more total

> calories and gained more weight than rats fed regular feed and

> yogurt sweetened with sugar.

>

> Researchers speculate that over time, reduced-calorie sweeteners

> like saccharin, aspartame, and sucralose condition the body to no

> longer associate sweetness with calories, thereby disrupting its

> ability to accurately assess caloric intake.

>

> This disruption may, in turn, lead to overeating, they note.

>

> " If this is the case in rats, there is little reason to think that

> humans don't have this same response, " researcher Swithers,

> Ph.D. tells WebMD. " It is possible that consuming these products

> interferes with one of the mechanisms that helps to regulate

> weight. "

>

> She adds that this could help explain why the dramatic rise in

> obesity has occurred at the same time that sales of low-calorie

> sweeteners and products containing them have skyrocketed.

>

> Industry Response

>

> But a spokeswoman for the low-calorie sweetener industry was highly

> critical of the research, noting that the study involved just 27

> rats.

>

> " I think studies like this are a disservice to the consumer because

> they oversimplify the causes of obesity, " registered dietitian Beth

> Hubrich of the Calorie Control Council tells WebMD.

>

> " It is true that there has been an increase in the use of low-

> calorie sweeteners at the same time that we have seen an increase

in

> obesity, but there has also been an increase in the use of cell

> phones and nobody is suggesting that they are causing obesity. "

>

> Rats Ate More, Expended Less Energy

>

> The new study is not the first by Swithers and co-researcher Terry

> L. son, Ph.D., of the Purdue Digestive Behavior Research

> Center, to link artificial sweeteners with weight increases in

rats.

>

> In a study designed to measure energy expenditure, the saccharin-

> conditioned rats had slightly lower energy expenditures after

eating

> a high-calorie meal containing sugar.

>

> " In addition to somehow stimulating food intake, we think that

> artificial sweeteners may blunt the energy expenditure mechanism as

> well, " Swithers says.

>

> Rat Studies Relevant to Humans?

>

> Hubrich counters that it is far from clear if the rat studies have

> any relevance to people, adding that many human studies suggest low-

> calorie sweeteners are beneficial for weight loss.

>

> One of the most recent suggested that use of sucralose - the sugar

> substitute sold as Splenda - along with increased physical

activity,

> helped children lose weight, she says.

>

> " I am not aware of any studies in humans suggesting that the use of

> low-calorie sweeteners is associated with weight gain, " she says.

>

> Clinical psychologist Abramson, Ph.D., who specializes in

> treating patients struggling with weight, agrees that rat studies

> may not have much relevance to humans when it comes to appetite and

> weight control.

>

> " The issue of food intake and energy expenditure is much more

> complicated in humans, " he says.

>

> But he adds that reduced-calorie sweeteners may trigger overeating

> in some overweight people, especially those who are binge eaters.

>

> Abramson is a professor emeritus of psychology at California State

> University and author of the 2005 book " Body Intelligence. "

>

> " About 30% of obese people are binge eaters, and it may be true

that

> for some eating artificially sweetened foods trigger binges, " he

> says.

>

>

> By Salynn Boyles

> Reviewed by Louise Chang

>