Saccharin – the first artificial sweetener – was accidentally discovered when, in 1879, Professor Ira Remsen of Johns Hopkins University observed a sweet substance on his hands after experimenting with various chemicals in the laboratory.
Saccharin quickly became extremely popular, mainly due to how cheap it was. It was especially common during World War II, when real sugar was in short supply.
Today, artificial sweeteners are essential for the huge market of diet-free and sugar-free foods and beverages. Their attraction today is not only how cheap they are, but also their potential to combat the growing threat of obesity and its impact on health.
Saccharin is over 200 times sweeter than sugar, but has zero calories. Does that mean we should replace all sugar with artificial sweeteners? Or are there several factors to consider?
I asked 8 experts “Are artificial sweeteners better for you than sugar?”. The consensus was “probably” 63%. Here’s what I found out.
What are artificial sweeteners and how do they work?
Artificial sweeteners ensure the sweet taste of sugar, but without calories. There are two major categories of artificial sweeteners: sugar alcohols and high intensity sweeteners.
Sugar alcohols are structurally similar to sugars, but are less easily metabolized, while high-intensity sweeteners are small compounds often sweeter than sugar. High-intensity sweeteners include saccharin and aspartame.
Even if artificial sweeteners provide minimal or no calories, that doesn’t mean they’re inert. Artificial sweeteners interact with the T1R family of sweet taste receptors in the mouth and intestines, which can have metabolic effects.
They can also interact with the bacteria that make up the intestinal microbiome. Different sweeteners may differ in their effect on the body.
Is there a link between artificial sweeteners and cancer?
The concern that artificial sweeteners could be carcinogenic comes from a 1978 study that found that saccharin-treated rats developed bladder cancer. Since then, it has been shown that this only happens in rats and saccharin not causes cancer in humans.
Not only saccharin, but all FDA- and EU-approved artificial sweeteners have been tested on both laboratory animals and human data. None of the approved sweeteners have anything to do with cancer.
Do artificial sweeteners help you lose weight?
The main attraction of artificial sweeteners is that they can replace sugar. There is a lot of evidence to suggest that high sugar intake is harmful to your health. Sugar drinks in particular can lead to weight gain, metabolic diseases and type 2 diabetes. It turns out that switching to sugar with calorie-free sweeteners could lead to weight loss.
Many studies have investigated whether replacing sugar with artificial sweeteners leads to weight loss. A 2018 meta-analysis study, which combined the results of 56 different studies, concluded that in most cases, groups of people using artificial sweeteners did not lose more weight than those using sugar.
However, overweight or obese people who switched to artificial sweeteners lost more weight than their sugar-consuming counterparts.
Other meta-analyzes also found that, in general, switching from sugar to sweeteners has a neutral to positive effect on weight loss. The fact that there is no clear result may result from the complexity of these experiments:
1) There are many types of sweeteners, each of which can have different effects on weight loss.
2) Dietary changes, other than switching to sweeteners, could have confusing effects. University of Sydney biochemist Dr Kieron Rooney explains that the whole diet is important because “there are data – in humans – that co-consumption of artificial sweeteners with other foods can have an interaction effect so that energy absorption be modified “.
3) It is likely that the impact of the sweetener on weight loss will depend on the individual’s initial weight and diet, a result that was found in the 2018 meta-analysis study.
Some scientists have tried to explain why, on average, people do not lose weight with artificial sweeteners and in some cases gain weight.
Nutritionist Dr. Cornelie Nienaber-Rousseau explains that the effect of sweeteners on the food reward system “can help increase appetite, fuel food-seeking behavior, and encourage sugar cravings.” She adds that “the non-caloric artificial sweetener seems to alter the intestinal microbiome.”
Both explanations are plausible, but require more research before they are certain of their effects.
Epidemiologist Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz sums up that “artificial sweeteners may be worse for humans than water – although this is an open problem – but compared to sugar, all indications are that artificial sweeteners are probably a little better.” .
No silver bullets until the obesity crisis
In general, given that artificial sweeteners do not essentially contain calories, the data on their positive impact on health are probably a bit disappointing.
This could explain the observation of Professor Jennie Brand-Miller of the University of Sydney that “the prevalence of obesity and overweight has tripled in [the last 50 years] despite the popularity of low-calorie sweeteners and their ubiquity. ”
On the other hand, there is a lot of evidence that they are safe and not cancer related. It remains to be seen whether they have other effects, perhaps, on our sugar cravings or on the microbiome.
Dining:
Sugar-free alternatives, especially beverages, could be beneficial for someone trying to lose weight or improve their diet. However, the data suggests that they are not the healthiest option available – while a diet drink may be better than a sugary one, water may be even better.
Article based on 8 expert answers to this question: “Are artificial sweeteners better for you than sugar?”
This expert response was published in partnership with the independent fact-finding platform Metafact.io. Subscribe here to the weekly newsletter.