Evidence lacking on low-calorie sweeteners’ effect on BMI: Study
Richard D Mattes and Barry M Popkin from the University of North Carolina report their findings in the latest issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
They said that while only around 15 per cent of Americans over the age of two consume products containing nonnutritive sweeteners (NNS), their use is increasing – and so is the average American body mass index (BMI). They also highlighted that people who consume NNS do not tend to have generally lower BMIs than people who only consume energy-yielding sweeteners.
However, in view of the fact that Americans consume over 85 per cent of nonnutritive sweeteners in beverages, the researchers also underlined the wealth of research which strongly suggests that drinking in general stimulates a desire to eat. They concluded that because people consume approximately 75 per cent of their beverages with meals, there is not enough evidence to suggest that drinking beverages sweetened with NNS leads to compensatory eating.
“A critical review of the literature, addressing the mechanisms by which NNS may promote energy intake, reveals that none are substantiated by the available evidence,” they concluded.
NNS and weight management
The researchers noted that there are both ‘long-standing and recent concerns’ that consumption of NNS contributes to obesity, but failed to find any such link.
On the other hand, they concluded that if NNS are used as a substitute for energy-yielding sweeteners, they can aid weight management, but questioned whether they are normally consumed in this way.
“The addition of NNS to diets poses no benefit for weight loss or reduced weight gain without energy restriction,” they wrote.
In order to substantiate claims that NNS can help people lose weight, they stressed a need for more analysis of consumption patterns, and “long-term randomized, controlled trials in free-living populations.”
Source: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
January 2009, Volume 89, Number 1, Pages 1-14, doi: 10.3945/ajcn.2008.26792
“Nonnutritive sweetener consumption in humans: effects on appetite and food intake and their putative mechanisms”
Authors: Richard D Mattes, Barry M Popkin
