Does aspartame cause weight gain?

RosannaPrism

I've been maintaining my weight for several months; about a month ago I started using aspartame instead of Stevia Leaf to save money; I've been gaining weight steadily in small increments ever since. Is aspartame a culprit?

L1zardQueen

It has zero calories. Something else is going on.

singingflutelady

No

wunderkindking

Nope

ccrdragon

Some people have reported an increase in hunger after consuming artificial sweeteners (causing excess snacking), but aspartame has zero calories in the usual consumption amounts, so it cannot cause weight gain.

mylittlerainbow

Sounds like it's about more than calories here. I just read an article (not sure how authoritative it is but will share a link here) that says that it can increase food cravings and doesn't send a signal to stop eating, so you have to continue logging everything and resist eating more just because you might feel hungrier. And the article also said that it encourages your body to store fat, the opposite of the effect we'd want it to have. So just maybe?? Just keep doing your logging diligently and keep drinking your water and see if things level off.

https://globalhealing.com/natural-health/aspartame-makes-you-gain-weight/

L1zardQueen

mylittlerainbow wrote: »

Sounds like it's about more than calories here. I just read an article (not sure how authoritative it is but will share a link here) that says that it can increase food cravings and doesn't send a signal to stop eating, so you have to continue logging everything and resist eating more just because you might feel hungrier. And the article also said that it encourages your body to store fat, the opposite of the effect we'd want it to have. So just maybe?? Just keep doing your logging diligently and keep drinking your water and see if things level off.

https://globalhealing.com/natural-health/aspartame-makes-you-gain-weight/

You can find articles to back any claim being made.

wunderkindking

Given the sheer amount of diet soda I have drank my entire weight loss journey, I have a super hard time believing it is of any relevance.

ccrdragon

mylittlerainbow wrote: »

Sounds like it's about more than calories here. I just read an article (not sure how authoritative it is but will share a link here) that says that it can increase food cravings and doesn't send a signal to stop eating, so you have to continue logging everything and resist eating more just because you might feel hungrier. And the article also said that it encourages your body to store fat, the opposite of the effect we'd want it to have. So just maybe?? Just keep doing your logging diligently and keep drinking your water and see if things level off.

https://globalhealing.com/natural-health/aspartame-makes-you-gain-weight/

Hogwash...

From the articles quoted in the article (these are the references from the bottom of the article)
Reference 1 - none of the studies that the referenced article links used controls on calories, so there is no direct link to artificial sweeteners causing any weight gain in the participants. Any conclusions that the author makes are simply guess work
Reference 2 - a rat study (first issue), and quoted directly from the abstract in the study - ' In conclusion, greater weight gain was promoted by the use of saccharin or aspartame, compared with sucrose, and this weight gain was unrelated to caloric intake. We speculate that a decrease in energy expenditure or increase in fluid retention might be involved.' - apply Occam's razor (look for the simplest explanation) - the rats got less energy from the artificial sweeteners so they had less energy to expend and moved less. Also, the study does NOT look at ft percentages in the two groups of rats, so how can anyone claim this study points to fat gain???
References 3,4,5 - interesting effects, but the problem is that there can be no NET fat storage when the body is in a caloric deficit. Period. The body cannot make energy from nothing - the source of the energy either comes from the foods that we eat or from the body's stores.

cwolfman13

Nope

RosannaPrism

Thank you all! I appreciate your objective responses and the information some of you provided. I'll keep on with my logging and staying under my calorie budget and see if this is just a fluke.

chocolate_owl

RosannaPrism wrote: »

Thank you all! I appreciate your objective responses and the information some of you provided. I'll keep on with my logging and staying under my calorie budget and see if this is just a fluke.

No harm in checking things on a food scale, if you're not already. It can be easy to let those quantities slightly increase over time if you're not consistently weighing and measuring. And if aspartame does have the side effect of making you munchier, you might subconsciously be a little more generous in your portions.

heybales

RosannaPrism wrote: »

I've been maintaining my weight for several months; about a month ago I started using aspartame instead of Stevia Leaf to save money; I've been gaining weight steadily in small increments ever since. Is aspartame a culprit?

A month of gaining - how much weight?
How many days actually?

Math can always be done for some clues.

Some people it can cause bloating stomach issues, same as some people get gassy eating a bagel.
It's a personal effect, sometimes personal sensitivity.

I know more that have stomach issue with sucralose and aspartame works just fine. Actually, I know more that have bad issues with sugar alcohol substitutes, often used in Atkins items.

If the math points to water weight gain, those may be the reasons and a swap to another substitute could be tried.

sijomial

Something without calories (energy) cannot directly result in fat gain - where's the excess energy coming from to be stored as fat?

Can something without calories cause non-fat weight gain? Possibly.

Here's a brilliant thread explaining exactly what it is and refuting some of the myths and legends around aspartame - https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1308408/why-aspartame-isnt-scary/p1

GigiAgape1981

It shouldn't. How many packets a day do you use? In reality it's about 3 to 4 calories a packet(due to maltodextrin and/or dextrose added as flowing agent/s), even though it states it has 0 calories.