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Artificial sweetener 'linked to weight gain'
Dieters who use the artificial sweetener saccharin may find it harder to control their body weight, US research suggests.
And the authors of the study, conducted at Indiana's Purdue University, believe that other sweeteners could have similar effects.
In research on rats, psychologists found that those fed yoghurt sweetened with saccharin went on to consume more calories, gaining more weight and body fat than those fed yoghurt sweetened with glucose.
The researchers also found that the metabolism of rats 'trained' on saccharin 'revved up' less in response to a high-calorie meal than that of rats trained with glucose. They believe that this difference led to overeating, and the burning off of fewer calories.
'The data clearly indicate that consuming a food sweetened with no-calorie saccharin can lead to greater body-weight gain [than] the same food sweetened with a higher-calorie sugar,' the researchers wrote in the American journal Behavioral Neuroscience.
Suggesting a possible explanation for the findings, they added that sweet foods provide a strong cue for the metabolism to gear up to deal with many calories. If the expected calories do not follow, 'the system gets confused'.
The researchers believe that their results may apply to other sweeteners, but added that human studies are required to confirm the findings.
A spokesperson for the British Nutrition Foundation said that the findings were 'interesting', but added: 'This needs far more research – as studies in humans have shown that low-calorie sweeteners can help people lose weight.'
Category: Healthy Lifestyle
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