Losing weight isn't easy. Some people can struggle with their weight for years and if you're reading this right now, you're probably one of those people. With that said, anything that can help make losing weight a little easier is definitely worth giving a try.
Can Artificial Sweeteners help with Weight Loss?
Artificial sweeteners (AS) are one of those "potential" aids to a weight-loss plan. They act as virtually calorie free substitutes for calorific sweeteners like sugar or high-fructose corn syrup, which can make up a decent amount of calories in modern diets. Replacing something with a lot of calories for something with no calories seems like a good idea if weight loss is your goal.
OVERVIEW: In this research review, we're going to look see if artificial sweeteners can really help with weight-loss when compared to just drinking water.
The research paper I’m going to review, by Peters et al. is titled “The effects of water and non-nutritive sweetened beverages on weight loss during a 12-week weight loss treatment program.” (2014) {1}.
As always, if don't have a lot of time you can just skip past all the sciencey stuff here to the “What does this all mean” section at the end.
As for those of you who are still with me, let’s take a closer look at the study:
The Experiment
- There were 308 volunteers (men & women) for the experiment. All were either overweight or obese and already regularly drank artificially sweetened drinks.
- They were divided, randomly into 2 groups: half were in a Non-Nutritive Sweetener (NNS) (artificial sweeteners) group and half were in a Water group.
- Volunteers in both diet groups attended weekly support meetings during the experiment to learn and discuss different weight-loss techniques (like portion control, reading food labels, increasing exercise etc.)
- Individuals in each group were given daily calorie targets based on their own basal metabolic rate.
- They were also given advice on how to increase their level of moderate to high intensity exercise.
- Participants received weekly coupons which they could use to get either water of AS-sweetened beverages.
- The weight-loss phase of the experiment lasted 12 weeks.
Differences Between Groups
Artificial Sweetener Group
- Drank a minimum of 700ml of AS-sweetened drinks per day
- Could also drink as much water as they liked
Water Group
- Drank a minimum of 700ml of water per day
- Could not drink AS-sweetened drinks or add AS to drinks like coffee
- Could eat foods sweetened with AS
The Results
So, were there huge differences between the groups at the end of the 12 weeks?
Differences, yes! HUGE differences, no!
Both groups lost weight, had smaller waist measurements and improved their cholesterol and blood glucose levels (all things you'd expect to improve if someone loses weight).
However, compared to the Water group, the Artificial Sweetener group:
- lost significantly more weight (almost 2 kg more)
- had a greater amount of people lose 5% or more of their bodyweight
- had a significantly greater drop in total & LDL cholesterol (probably due to the extra weight loss)
- had a greater decrease in hunger (the water group actually showed increased hunger after the 12 weeks)
What I liked about this study
- They used a lot of volunteers which really gives us a pretty decent idea of how well this study applies to the general population.
- It wasn’t designed to have a severe calorie deficit nor extreme amounts of exercise so it better imitates a more long term, sustainable diet.
- The weekly support meetings would probably help to motivate the participants to stick to their diets
What could have been better
- All the volunteers used AS-sweetened drinks before the trial so the water group was the one that would have felt the greatest challenge in that they could no longer drink something they were used to drinking (this might explain why their hunger increased).
So, what does this all mean?
Basically, what this study shows is that artificial sweeteners can be a useful addition to a weight loss program. From the experiment we can't tell exactly why the AS group lost more weight but we can speculate that because the felt less hunger than the Water group, maybe they were able to stick to their diets better and ate less food.
Importantly, one of the goals of the study was to see if the AS would slow down weight loss, which they didn't
So I can use Artificial Sweeteners in my Diet?
Artificial sweeteners have gotten a pretty bad reputation in the short time they've been around; from people claiming they don't help with weight loss to others claiming they actually encourage weight gain and even claims that they're bad for your health (I haven;t touched on the health implications because I think that topic deserves its own article).
To be honest, I genuinely think that their bad image is mostly due to being called "ARTIFICIAL" sweeteners. Unfortunately, the public tend to consider the word "artificial" as being unnatural or bad. I used to do the same.
In reality, plenty of great things area artificial; many drugs that save millions of lives each year, the screen you're reading this article on, artificially-flavored protein powder. See? Not everything artificial is bad. This though, I think I prefer the name "Zero Calorie Sweeteners".
My Personal Experience with Sweeteners
I don't drink many diet drinks myself. When I was an overweight teenager, one of the biggest steps I took was giving up sweetened soft drinks. I went completely cold turkey, switched to water and didn't look back. Now, sweetened drinks are just too sweet for me and I don't miss them at all.
In recent years I've started using AS in different diet foods and they really have made a huge difference in how easy it is for me to stick to my diet and not feel restricted. I have artificially sweetened protein powders, protein bars and sugar-free jellies and other diet products that help to satisfy my sweet tooth and just make eating a healthier diet a whole lot more pleasant.
Male Dieting Easier
If you're overweight and find yourself constantly craving something to tame your sweet tooth, maybe artificial sweeteners could help you to stay away from high-calorie sweets (be they drinks or food).
At the end of the day, the most important factor for success on any diet is consitency. If a couple of bottles a day of a diet drink helps you stick to your diet in the long term, then that's a tool you should definitely think of using.
Eat well folks.
Bibliography
- Peters JC, Wyatt HR, Foster GD, Pan Z, Wojtanowski AC, Vander Veur SS, et al. The effects of water and non-nutritive sweetened beverages on weight loss during a 12-week weight loss treatment program. Obesity. 2014;22(6):1415–21.
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Amanda (Wednesday, 31 January 2024 10:52)
Hola, Si tu empresa enfrenta cargas de deuda o necesita financiación, incluso estando en pérdidas, somos especialistas en financiaciones bancarias y reestructuración de deuda. Trabajamos colaborando con bancos líderes como BBVA, Santander o incluso con la entidad financiera con la que trabajes habitualmente. Nos dedicamos a resolver situaciones financieras complejas. Entendemos que cada caso es único y, por tanto, requiere una atención personalizada. Por ello, ofrecemos un estudio previo gratuito para empresas con una facturación superior a 300.000€. ¿Podrías facilitarnos un número de teléfono?
Angela (Friday, 05 April 2024 07:21)
¡Hola!
Me pongo en contacto contigo porque recientemente ha sido posible recibir financiación para empresas como la tuya, incluso sin CIRBE.
Colaboramos con especialistas en financiaciones bancarias y reestructuración de deuda, que trabajan con bancos líderes como BBVA, Santander o entidades de financiación alternativa como fondos de capital riesgo.
Si necesitas financiación, debido a la alta demanda de este tipo de soluciones, durante esta semana ofrecemos un estudio previo gratuito sin compromiso.
¿Podrías facilitarnos un número de teléfono?
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Paola (Sunday, 01 September 2024 12:13)
Hola , nos ponemos en contacto desde el departamento de prensa porque creemos que Bemorenutrition podría tener buena recepción en los medios de comunicación.
Me interesaba explicarte esta propuesta porque la mención por parte de los periódicos digitales ayuda a potenciar el posicionamiento en buscadores y mejorar la reputación de las marcas, para que puedan proporcionar mayor credibilidad y confianza.
Si te parece interesante, podría contactar para que este mes pudierais recibir hasta dos publicaciones sin coste. ¿En qué teléfono podría localizarte?
Valentina (Thursday, 12 September 2024 02:03)
Hola , nos ponemos en contacto desde el departamento de prensa porque creemos que Bemorenutrition podría tener buena recepción en los medios de comunicación.
Me interesaba explicarte esta propuesta porque la mención por parte de los periódicos digitales ayuda a potenciar el posicionamiento en buscadores y mejorar la reputación de las marcas, para que puedan proporcionar mayor credibilidad y confianza.
Si te parece interesante, podría contactar para que este mes pudierais recibir hasta dos publicaciones sin coste. ¿En qué teléfono podría localizarte?
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La noticia publicada en los periódicos tendrá un enlace para que el lector pueda ver tu página (No es un anuncio)
Me interesaba explicarte esta propuesta, porque es la forma más efectiva para el posicionamiento seo y para fortalecer tu reputación de marca. Tus clientes te buscarán y verán que Bemorenutrition es relevante y por lo tanto generará confianza.
Podrás compartir las noticias en tus redes sociales y web, dando así la máxima confianza.
Solo tenemos espacio para 10 entrevistas, por lo que si te interesa, necesito que me envíes tu número de móvil para contactar contigo directamente (Es necesario para ver si podemos encajar la noticia)
Un saludo
Valeria (Wednesday, 09 October 2024 10:48)
Hola ,
Me gustaría saber con quién puedo hablar dentro de tu empresa Bemorenutrition para comentar la posibilidad de que aparezcáis en prensa. Hemos conseguido que negocios como el tuyo sean publicados en periódicos como La Vanguardia o La Razón, entre muchos otros.
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Un saludo.
Alma (Sunday, 20 October 2024 23:35)
Hola ,
Me gustaría hablar contigo para comentar la posibilidad de que vuestra empresa Bemorenutrition aparezca en prensa.
Aparecer en periódicos digitales es ideal para reforzar la repercusión de tu marca, para posicionar mejor en internet, aumentar el tráfico hacia tu página web y recibir más clientes.
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Puedes reservar una llamada gratuita con nosotros para explicarte cómo funciona y resolver dudas https://calendly.com/prensa-digital/15min
Un saludo.
Antonia (Thursday, 31 October 2024 10:46)
Hola,
¿Con quién puedo hablar dentro de tu empresa para comentar la posibilidad de que aparezcáis en prensa? Hemos conseguido que negocios como el tuyo sean publicados en periódicos como La Razón o MSN, entre muchos otros (como noticia y no será borrada).
¿Qué consigues con esto?
Incrementar el posicionamiento de tu página web
Reforzar la reputación de tu negocio
Aumentar la confianza que ofrece tu marca en internet
Trabajamos con tarifas desde 99e, sin permanencia y con garantía de devolución por resultados.
Te puedo enseñar ejemplos y casos de éxito en video para que veas cómo funciona.
¿Podrías facilitarme tu teléfono?
Un saludo.
Lorena (Friday, 22 November 2024 09:24)
Propuesta para Bemorenutrition.
Hola, encantada de saludarte.
Quería escribirte porque me ha parecido interesante comentar contigo la posibilidad de que Bemorenutrition aparezca cada mes en periódicos digitales como noticia para posicionar en los primeros lugares de internet, es decir, con artículos reales dentro del periódico que no se marcan como publicidad y que no se borran.
La noticia es publicada por más de cuarenta periódicos de gran autoridad para mejorar el posicionamiento de tu web y la reputación.
¿Podrías facilitarme un teléfono para ofrecerte un mes gratuito?
Gracias.
Aitana (Thursday, 12 December 2024 05:28)
Propuesta para Bemorenutrition
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Publicamos tu empresa como noticia en cientos de periódicos digitales, es decir, con artículos reales dentro del periódico que no se marcan como publicidad y que no se borran. Te explico brevemente por qué esta estrategia de marketing puede hacerte incrementar el número de clientes y visitas sin compromiso.
Puedes reservar una llamada desde nuestro calendario para ofrecerte un mes gratuito y conseguir más de 7000e en marketing sin coste
https://calendly.com/prensa-digital/15min
Gracias,