Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The Paradox of Artificial Sweeteners in Managing Obesity

  • Nutrition and Obesity (S McClave, Section Editor)
  • Published:
Current Gastroenterology Reports Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The role of artificial sweeteners in the management of obesity is controversial. Observational data have suggested that nonnutritive sweeteners (NNSs) may promote weight gain through poorly understood mechanisms of cravings, reward phenomenon, and addictive behavior via opioid receptors. Interventional studies suggest the opposite that substitution of NNS for sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) results in reduced caloric intake and modest degrees of weight loss. Whether the use of NNS provides benefit toward weight reduction in the individual patient may depend on the characteristics of their baseline diet, associated changes, or dietary compensation involved with ingestion of NNS, and the degree of compliance with a more complete weight loss program.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Hu FB, Malik VS. Sugar-sweetened beverages and risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes: epidemiologic evidence. Physiol Behav. 2010;100:47–54.

    Article  CAS  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Sources of calories from added sugars among the US Population, 2005–06. Applied research program web site. National Cancer Institute. http://appliedresearch.cancer.gov/diet/foodsources/added_sugars/. Updated April 11, 2014. Accessed August 27 2014.

  3. Malik VS, Popkin BM, Bray GA, Després JP, Hu FB. Sugar-sweetened beverages, obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and cardiovascular disease risk. Circulation. 2010;121:1356–64.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Dhingra R, Sullivan L, Jacques PF, et al. Soft drink consumption and risk of developing cardiometabolic risk factors and the metabolic syndrome in middle-aged adults in the community. Circulation. 2007;116:480–8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Hu FB, Malik VS. Sugar-sweetened beverages and risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes: epidemiologic evidence. Physiol Behav. 2010;100:47–54.

    Article  CAS  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Schulze MB, Manson JE, Ludwig DS, et al. Sugar-sweetened beverages, weight gain, and incidence of type 2 diabetes in young and middle-aged women. JAMA. 2004;292:927–34.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Palmer JR, Boggs DA, Krishnan S, et al. Sugar-sweetened beverages and incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus in African American women. Arch Intern Med. 2008;168:1487–92.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Stanhope KL, Schwarz JM, Keim NL, et al. Consuming fructose-sweetened, not glucose-sweetened, beverages increases visceral adiposity and lipids and decreases insulin sensitivity in overweight/obese humans. J Clin Invest. 2009;119:1322–34.

    Article  CAS  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Mattes RD, Popkin BM. Nonnutritive sweetener consumption in humans: effects on appetite and food intake and their putative mechanisms. Am J Clin Nutr. 2009;89:1–14.

    Article  CAS  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. 2012 Food and health survey: consumer attitudes toward food safety, nutrition and health. International Food Information Council Foundation. Foodinsight.org. May 2012.

  11. Stellman SD, Garfinkel L. Artificial sweetener use and one-year weight change among women. Prev Med. 1986;15:195–202.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Anderson GH, Foreyt J, Sigman-Grant M, Allison DB. The use of low-calorie sweeteners by adults: impact on weight management. J Nutr. 2012;142:1163S–9S.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Maersk M, Belza A, Holst JJ, et al. Satiety scores and satiety hormone response after sucrose-sweetened soft drink compared with isocaloric semi-skimmed milk and with noncaloric soft drink: a controlled trial. EJCN. 2012;65:523–9.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Raben A, Moller BK, Flint A, et al. Increased postprandial glycemia, insulinemia, and lipidemia after 10 weeks sucrose-rich diet compared to an artificially sweetened diet: a randomized controlled trial. Food Nutr Res. 2011;55:5961.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Mozzaffarian D, Hao PHT, Rimm EB, et al. Changes in diet and lifestyle and long-term weight gain in women and men. NEJM. 2011;364:2392–404.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Ebbeling CB, Feldman HA, Chomitz VR, Antonelli TA, Gortmaker SL, Osganian SK, et al. A randomized trial of sugar-sweetened beverages and adolescent body weight. N Engl J Med. 2012;367(15):1407–16.

    Article  CAS  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. de Ruyter JC, Olthof MR, Seidell JC, Katan MB. A trial of sugar-free or sugar-sweetened beverages and body weight in children. N Engl J Med. 2012;367(15):1397–406.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Compliance with Ethics Guidelines

Conflict of Interest

Jason R. Roberts declares no conflict of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY, USA

    Jason R. Roberts

  2. Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY, 40202, USA

    Jason R. Roberts

Authors
  1. Jason R. Roberts
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jason R. Roberts.

Additional information

This article is part of the Topical Collection on Nutrition and Obesity

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Roberts, J.R. The Paradox of Artificial Sweeteners in Managing Obesity. Curr Gastroenterol Rep 17, 1 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11894-014-0423-z

Download citation

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11894-014-0423-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation