Study: Artificial Sweeteners may cause Weight Gain

Artificial sweeteners are not the best replacement for sugar, according to scientists. A recent study suggests that the consumption of no-calorie sweeteners might make you gain weight just when you are aiming to shed it.

Scientists at the Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana believe that a sweet taste sans calories may make the body crave extra food.

On studying rats that were given food containing artificial sweetener saccharin and rats that were fed food with glucose, a natural sugar, it was found that the former went on to consume more calories and put on more weight and body fat.

According to the researchers, sweet foods may prompt the body to prepare to be given a lot of calories, but when sweetness of artificial sweeteners is not accompanied by a large amount of calories, the body gets confused, which may lead to consuming more or expending less energy than normal.

"The data clearly indicates that consuming a food sweetened with no-calorie saccharin can lead to greater body-weight gain and adiposity than would consuming the same food sweetened with high-calorie sugar," wrote Susan Swithers and Terry Davidson in the journal Behavioral Neuroscience, published by the American Psychological Association.

"Such an outcome may seem counterintuitive, if not an anathema, to human clinical researchers and health care practitioners who have long recommended the use of low- and no-calorie sweeteners as a means of weight control."

Saccharin and other low-calorie sweeteners such as aspartame, sucralose and acesulfame only deliver empty-sweetness which is not accompanies by calories. They prepare the body for metabolism of heavy calories, which are not provided. It may lead to a trouble regulating appetite when food is around.

Nutritionists however insist that low-calorie sweeteners are still best for health. A spokesman for the British Nutrition Foundation said the study findings were interesting, but did not confirm that artificial sweeteners could be counterproductive in dieting humans.