Artificial sweeteners fool the body into piling on pounds
A recent study has suggested that no-calorie sweeteners, used by many dieters nationwide, can in fact encourage weight gain, by making it more dificult to control calorie intake and body weight.
Psychologists at Purdue University’s Ingestive Behaviour Research Centre attempted to reason the findings, suggesting that the results might be due to the propensity of artificial sweeteners to fool the body’s metabolism into preparing for a calorific onslaught. When the sweetness is not followed by this, the body becomes confused. As a result, people may tend to then eat more, or expend less energy than normal. By breaking the connection between a sweet sensation and high calorie food, it is argued that the use of saccharin changes the body’s ability to regulate intake.
Authors and PHD holders Susan Swithers and Terry Davidson wrote that the findings indicated “that consuming a food sweetened with no-calorie saccharin can lead to greater body-weight gain...than would consuming the same food sweetened with a higher-calorie sugar.”
Authors Susan and Terry suggest consequently that problems with self-regulation might explain in part why obesity has risen on a par with the use of artificial sweeteners; and may further explain why the findings regarding human use of artificial sweeteners have proven contradictory; with the experience of artificial and natural sweeteners varying from person to person and as such causing a response to the substances which is highly individual.
The researchers suggest that their findings are supported also by evidence showing that people who drink more diet drinks are at higher risk from obesity and metabolic syndrome, abdominal fat, high blood pressure and insulin resistance (among other things); conditions which people at risk of developing heart problems and diabetes. However, although the study manifested as unwelcome news for many in the healthcare industry, it has been stressed that the findings have not come from a human but animal study.
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