Artificial sweeteners (ARs) have been around for a long time. I’m sure we’ve all heard/read the studies about how these “fake sugars” can cause cancer in lab rats. But did you realize ARs may also prevent you from losing weight? It’s true. Studies dating back to 1970 have shown a link between weight gain and the consumption of artificial sweeteners. How is this possible? There are two theories.
One, ARs might actually increase your sugar craving. Allow me to explain. Carbohydrates are the fuel our bodies need to function, with sugar being the simplest form of carbohydrate. Imagine eating a whole box of powdered sugar donuts for breakfast – not that I’ve ever done anything like that. LOL! As that sugar hits your blood stream, you turn into the Energizer Bunny on crack cocaine. You clean every inch of your house, do fourteen loads of laundry and wash all vehicles in the neighborhood–by hand. This is the “sugar high” we all know and love. Then, of course, comes the “crash” when you feel like dog poo for the rest of the day. When you ingest ARs, your body expects the “high” which is associated with the calories that come from real sugar. Because sweeteners don’t have any calories, your body may demand you make up for that caloric absence by causing you to eat more of other foods. Confusing? A little. But several studies in the 80’s, held over eight year spans, documented the correlation between users of ARs and their inability to lose weight compared to nonusers.
Two, because ARs are like a bazillion times sweeter than sugar, our taste buds come to think of that level of sweetness as normal. In essence, we become conditioned to only like super sweet foods. It’s kinda like watching someone (my husband) salt the ketchup for dipping his French fries. Okay, he doesn’t do that anymore – at least not when I’m around – but his “salt” buds were so overloaded, he needed double, triple or even quadruple the amount of salt just so the foods would taste normal to him. The same theory may hold for ARs.
Now, before you decide to chuck your six-pack of diet Coke habit cold turkey, a word of caution. While it’s possible ARs might be more villain than hero in the battle to lose weight, everything I’ve outlined here is theory. It’s like I said last week, what works for one person may not work for another. If you think ARs are sabotaging your weight loss efforts, the best thing to do is experiment. Gradually reduce your consumption of foods contain ARs, but take care not to replace the fake stuff with real sugar. It’ll probably take a little time, but eliminating or just cutting back on artificial sweeteners might be the “diet secret” you’ve been searching for.
As always, if you’ve got a question, you can email me. lynda@lyndabailey.net Have a great week!
