Are artificial sweeteners better than sugar?

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Artificial sweeteners were made as table sugar substitutes for people that cannot or don't want to eat it. After more than 100 years of use, there is is still a lot of controversy around them. (1) Some people believe it helps them lose weight, some believe it may cause cancer or other illnesses. (2)

Types of sweeteners

There are two types of sweeteners used in foods: non-caloric sweeteners and sugar alcohols. Non-caloric sweeteners like aspartame and saccharine do not add calories to foods and are therefore often used in snack foods. Sugar alcohols like mannitol and sorbitol contain the same amount of calories as sugar. They can be found in chewing gums and hard candies and can cause diarrhea when consumed in larger doses. Artificial sweeteners generally cause less tooth decay than sugar, but sugar alcohols may even help prevent cavities. (2)

Officially approved artificial sweeteners

FDA approved (3):

• Saccharin

• Aspartame

• Acesulfame potassium (Ace-K)

• Sucralose

• Neotame

• Advantame

• Steviol glycosides (natural)

• Luo Han Guo fruit extracts

All of the sweeteners that we use have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration or the European Food Safety Authority, meaning that they don't cause cancer or pose a risk of abnormal fetal development at typical levels of consumption. “What we are less clear on is if they are helpful in terms of metabolism and appetite and weight,” says Allison Sylvetsky of George Washington University in Washington DC. (4)

Health risk

Overweight and obese people tend to consume more artificial sweeteners. According to Sylvetsky, one reason may be the fact that they are far more sweet that sugar (e.g. aspartame - 180 times sweeter; sucralose - 300 times sweeter (5)) and when consumed regularly, they can change people's appetite, so they end up eating more sugary foods. There is also a link between AS consumption and increased risk of type 2 diabetes. (4)

Dangerous aspartame

Aspartame was proven to disrupt the natural processes in the gut of mice and therefore allows toxins to irritate the gut lining and cause mild inflammation that can lead to chronic diseases. It also made the mice gain more weight in combination with a diet rich in fats. (6)

Mixed results

On the other hand, studies often come with results that prove artificial sweeteners to have some positive impact. For example, a study completed in 1988 found that women who were regular users of sweeteners gained on average more weight than non-users. However, overweight and obese women who used sweeteners regularly lost more weight than women of the same weight category that didn't use sweeteners at all. This could mean that sweeteners might help with weight loss only in more extreme cases, and could cause weight gain to women with normal weight.

Conclusion

There are ways how artificial sweeteners can improve but also damage our health. Even the numerous studies taken couldn't bring us a definite answer. We also know that every substance has a different effect on everyone, so it is only our decision what we put into our body. And that makes each of us responsible for our own health.

References:

1. Science History Institute 2010, accessed 16 September 2018, available at <https://goo.gl/w6QpPp>

2. University of Massachusetts, accessed 15 September 2018, available at <https://goo.gl/ayfP34>

3. U.S. Food and Drug Administration 2018, accessed 16 September 2018, available at <https://goo.gl/L3bm76>

4. Tiffany O'Callaghan. Sugar in your diet: The not-so-mouthwatering truth. New Scientist. 2017;(3142):3.

5. Harvard T. Th. Chan 2018, accessed 16 September 2018, available at <https://goo.gl/wpwcWo>

6. New Scientist 2016, accessed 16 September 2018, available at <https://goo.gl/CgQc5V>

image from: <https://goo.gl/nPPU3b>