Using sweeteners to lose weight or afraid to take?

Using sweeteners to lose weight or afraid to take? And if they produced the opposite result on health? Indeed, according to a US study the diet drinks (sugar) promote weight gain! But we are reassured, this effect is only observed in the long term, after years of daily use sweeteners.

The success of diet drinks and other products lightened sweeteners

Sweeteners are widely used by food manufacturers to offer sugar diet products: drinks, desserts, cookies, candy, etc. In the form of synthetic sugar pills or powders, they are also very interesting for sweetening tea, coffee, yogurt, or creams and homemade cakes. The goal, replace real sugar by sugar under false dieting or just to help not fat. Indeed, sweeteners have a sweetness very high, but no calories. If a priori the idea is excellent, is it really beneficial in the long term? If suspicion is not new, the results of a US study provide further evidence showing that sweeteners promote long-term weight gain. More than 3,000 people have been followed for several years to determine the relationship between the consumption of sweeteners and the change in body mass index (BMI).

Excess sweeteners over time should be avoided

After the 7-8 year follow-up, 1,250 people who were normal weight at baseline and who drank more than 21 drinks per week had light watered two times more likely to be overweight or obese by contribution the subjects consuming no sugary drink with sweeteners. And between these two extremes (no drink or light more than 3 per day), plus the amount of sweetened beverages increases, the BMI may rise. This relationship is valid regardless of gender, type of food to entry into the study, the intensity of physical activity, the presence of diabetes.

Sweeteners, yes, but not long-term

There is therefore an association between sweeteners and weight gain 7-8 years later. This leads us to three conclusions: 1) People who do not have a weight problem would be better to avoid regular consumption of sweeteners, particularly in light drinks. 2) For those watching their weight or as part of a diet, sweeteners do not seem harmful in the short term. They are a great help to limit the calories ingested and manage appetite for sweet. Provided, of course not to abuse it. 3) However, it seems best not to do regular use of sweeteners in the long term, for many years. The risk that the opposite effect occur: increased weight.