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Artificial sweeteners don't help people lose weight. New Study?

Old_Cat_Lady
Old_Cat_Lady Posts: 1,193 Member
Someone paid for this study?
http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/07/17/537262142/artificial-sweeteners-dont-help-people-lose-weight-review-finds
I'll drink a diet drink from time to time. I never thought it would make me skinny. Did you? I hope these are not our tax dollars at work.
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Replies

  • OliveGirl128
    OliveGirl128 Posts: 801 Member
    edited July 2017
    From the link-
    And observational data suggest that the people who regularly consume these sweeteners are also more likely to develop future health problems – though those studies can't say those problems are caused by the sweeteners.

    Not impressed :p
  • Shawshankcan
    Shawshankcan Posts: 900 Member
    Its a mentality some people have, whether they realize it or not. They believe that when drinking a diet drink, they essentially have more room for calories in their food and end up eating more.

    If I eat fast food, I will get a diet drink, not because I think it is a healthy choice, but to save 600 calories even though I already over indulged.
  • blueeyetea
    blueeyetea Posts: 44 Member
    [quote= I never thought it would make me skinny. [/quote]

    In all fairness, what would be the point of using artificial sweetener, if you didn't care about the calories? Might as well stay with the real thing, no?
  • Shawshankcan
    Shawshankcan Posts: 900 Member
    Noel_57 wrote: »
    Just remember that none of these studies say artificial sweeteners are directly responsible for weight gain. I mean, how can something with zero calories make you fat? These studies all suggest that artificial sweeteners somehow make you hungrier, and that this accounts for the weight gain. Not that this is true for everyone.

    Pretty sure that was debunked.
  • Momepro
    Momepro Posts: 1,509 Member
    blueeyetea wrote: »
    [quote= I never thought it would make me skinny.

    In all fairness, what would be the point of using artificial sweetener, if you didn't care about the calories? Might as well stay with the real thing, no?

    To save the calories to use elsewhere.

    Calorie allowances are a budget. If I can save calories by using an artificial sweetener for my morning tea so I have them to spend on actual food, it would be foolish not to do that. It's wise budgeting.[/quote]

    It can be useful for diabetics to control the amount of sugar in thier system, even if they aren't actually worried about counting calories.
  • OliveGirl128
    OliveGirl128 Posts: 801 Member
    edited July 2017
    blueeyetea wrote: »
    In all fairness, what would be the point of using artificial sweetener, if you didn't care about the calories? Might as well stay with the real thing, no?

    First thing I think of is diabetics. My husband's grandma has been a pre-diabetic for something like 20 years and she uses artificial sweeteners in all her baking and then in her tea and canned goods like jams.
  • ccrdragon
    ccrdragon Posts: 3,365 Member
    I have to wonder if how much artificial sweetener people use could come into play. When I go out with my artificial sweetener using family I use I packet of sugar or none at all in coffee or tea. The rest of the table is dumping four or more sweetener packets in every glass. All those "zero" calories have to add up at some point. I also wonder if they can dull your taste for sweet as well. A relative once made me a bowl of strawberries and poured splenda on them. I couldn't eat them. It was unbearably sweet. Sweeter than candy and I love candy.

    If you are using the packets, then yes, there are some trace carbs (dextrose, et al.) used as fillers and they do add up, but you would have to be eating loads of packets each day for it to have a significant effect on your overall calorie intake. The difference between this and the diet drinks is that they do not have the fillers, so there would be no added carbs to 'add up'.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    Noel_57 wrote: »
    Just remember that none of these studies say artificial sweeteners are directly responsible for weight gain. I mean, how can something with zero calories make you fat? These studies all suggest that artificial sweeteners somehow make you hungrier, and that this accounts for the weight gain. Not that this is true for everyone.

    Pretty sure that was debunked.

    I dont think peoples very individual experiences with artificial sweeteners can be debunked... We are not all perfect robots who react exactly the same way to every single substance on the planet.
  • JustRobby1
    JustRobby1 Posts: 674 Member
    Noel_57 wrote: »
    Just remember that none of these studies say artificial sweeteners are directly responsible for weight gain. I mean, how can something with zero calories make you fat? These studies all suggest that artificial sweeteners somehow make you hungrier, and that this accounts for the weight gain. Not that this is true for everyone.

    Pretty sure that was debunked.

    I dont think peoples very individual experiences with artificial sweeteners can be debunked... We are not all perfect robots who react exactly the same way to every single substance on the planet.

    That is true I suppose, as far as it goes, you can't "debunk" someone's purely anecdotal claim. Then again, purely anecdotal claims are not science either.
  • gothchiq
    gothchiq Posts: 4,598 Member
    I use diet sodas for the sake of variety. I can't drink just water and coffee.
  • jennybearlv
    jennybearlv Posts: 1,519 Member
    ccrdragon wrote: »
    I have to wonder if how much artificial sweetener people use could come into play. When I go out with my artificial sweetener using family I use I packet of sugar or none at all in coffee or tea. The rest of the table is dumping four or more sweetener packets in every glass. All those "zero" calories have to add up at some point. I also wonder if they can dull your taste for sweet as well. A relative once made me a bowl of strawberries and poured splenda on them. I couldn't eat them. It was unbearably sweet. Sweeter than candy and I love candy.

    If you are using the packets, then yes, there are some trace carbs (dextrose, et al.) used as fillers and they do add up, but you would have to be eating loads of packets each day for it to have a significant effect on your overall calorie intake. The difference between this and the diet drinks is that they do not have the fillers, so there would be no added carbs to 'add up'.

    Yeah, I looked it up. Even though my family appears to be going crazy with those packets the highest calorie count I could find was 8.75 calories per 100g. I'm guessing their weight problems are probably more about applying those quantities to all the other "healthy" foods too.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,970 Member
    ccrdragon wrote: »
    I have to wonder if how much artificial sweetener people use could come into play. When I go out with my artificial sweetener using family I use I packet of sugar or none at all in coffee or tea. The rest of the table is dumping four or more sweetener packets in every glass. All those "zero" calories have to add up at some point. I also wonder if they can dull your taste for sweet as well. A relative once made me a bowl of strawberries and poured splenda on them. I couldn't eat them. It was unbearably sweet. Sweeter than candy and I love candy.

    If you are using the packets, then yes, there are some trace carbs (dextrose, et al.) used as fillers and they do add up, but you would have to be eating loads of packets each day for it to have a significant effect on your overall calorie intake. The difference between this and the diet drinks is that they do not have the fillers, so there would be no added carbs to 'add up'.

    Yeah, I looked it up. Even though my family appears to be going crazy with those packets the highest calorie count I could find was 8.75 calories per 100g. I'm guessing their weight problems are probably more about applying those quantities to all the other "healthy" foods too.

    This would all be so much easier if it was just one food making people fat. Everybody could stop eating that one thing, and be set.