Artificial Sweeteners, Real Risks

Artificial Sweeteners

Artificial sweeteners: safe or unsafe?

Artificial sweeteners or intense sweeteners are sugar substitutes that are used as an alternative to table sugar. They are many times sweeter than natural sugar and as they contain no calories, they may be used to control weight and obesity. Extensive scientific research has demonstrated the safety of the six low-calorie sweeteners currently approved for use in foods in the U.S. and Europe (ste...

The potential toxicity of artificial sweeteners.

Since their discovery, the safety of artificial sweeteners has been controversial. Artificial sweeteners provide the sweetness of sugar without the calories. As public health attention has turned to reversing the obesity epidemic in the United States, more individuals of all ages are choosing to use these products. These choices may be beneficial for those who cannot tolerate sugar in their die...

Can artificial sweeteners help control body weight and prevent obesity?

The possible role played by artificial sweeteners in the long-term maintenance of body weight is considered. Although artificial sweeteners can play a role in a short-term energy-controlled diet, the evidence that they are helpful over a longer period is limited. In those in the recommended weight range there is evidence of compensation; that is, the consumption of low-energy foods is followed ...

Artificial sweeteners produce the counterintuitive effect of inducing metabolic derangements.

The negative impact of consuming sugar-sweetened beverages on weight and other health outcomes has been increasingly recognized; therefore, many people have turned to high-intensity sweeteners like aspartame, sucralose, and saccharin as a way to reduce the risk of these consequences. However, accumulating evidence suggests that frequent consumers of these sugar substitutes may also be at increa...