Weight control and low-calorie sweeteners

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• Why is controlling weight and avoiding obesity important?
• Weighing too much can increase the risk of developing hypertension (high blood pressure), diabetes, coronary heart disease and certain types of cancer and gallbladder disease. But when overweight people lose even small amounts of weight, they often see improvements in their health. For example, modest weight loss can lower blood pressure, improve blood sugar control and reduce blood levels of cholesterol and triglycerides. People feel good when they have control over their weight - more confidence, self-esteem and a sense of well-being.
  
  A reduced calorie intake together with an increase in physical exercise is essential for weight loss. In the management of the overall calorie intake, low-calorie sweeteners can play an important role. They provide people with a wide variety of foods and beverages that taste good with lower calorie content.
• Do the calories saved by using these products really help people lose weight?
• Calories count. To lose weight, a person has to eat fewer calories than his/her body burns. And low-calorie sweeteners reduce calorie intake. Replacing 4 tsp of sugar per day with a sweetener in tea and coffee for example saves on average an amount of energy per year equal to 3kg of fat tissue.
  
  Studies have shown that a small reduction in body weight can substantially reduce the risk of diabetes type 2, coronary heart disease, and cancer.
• Do low-calorie sweeteners affect appetite?
• Low-calorie sweeteners do help in weight control. They do not stimulate appetite or hunger. Indeed, numerous studies have shown that replacing sugar with low-calorie sweeteners leads to a decreased or unchanged sensation of hunger in the short-term (meal to meal). Short-term hunger is most strongly affected by volume and fiber: drinking non-caloric or reduced-calorie liquids and eating high-fiber foods is the best way to reduce hunger between meals.
  
  Internationally eminent scientists such as Andrew Renwick, Ph.D., University of Southampton, and Barbara Rolls, Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University, have reviewed all available research data on low-calorie sweeteners, appetite and hunger. They conclude that sweeteners do not promote hunger and actually lead to decreased energy intakes.
  
  Adam Drewnowski, Ph.D., University of Michigan (Nutrition Reviews), reviewed the numerous studies that have investigated this question and reported that there is no evidence that the addition of sweet taste is a stimulus to hunger or the desire to eat. And although low-calorie sweeteners are not appetite suppressants, their ability to increase the palatability of low-calorie foods may actually promote a person's ability to stick to a low-calorie diet.

  A number of studies, including those by Drewnowski et al. and Raben et al., show that the use of low-calorie sweeteners contribute to weight control. In fact, most evidence shows that the calories saved by using low-calorie sweeteners at one meal are not made up for at the next meal by eating more. Of course, a person wishing to lose weight has to make a conscious effort to this end to obtain a lasting result.

• Can foods or beverages that contain low-calorie sweeteners be part of a healthy diet?
• The growing availability of good-tasting, low-calorie foods and beverages makes healthy eating easier than ever before. And with a wider choice of food, there is a better chance that a diet will be satisfying and successful in the long-term.
  
  No one knows how many people might be overweight if low-calorie foods were not available, but low-calorie soft drinks are widely used by dieters. And many people simply want to save these calories for other food choices. Clearly, consumers see low-calorie foods and beverages as a useful aid in weight and health management.
• Does using a low-calorie sweetener help people who lose weight to keep it off?
• Results of a clinical study by Blackburn et al. (Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School) suggest that low-calorie sweeteners (aspartame) may facilitate the long-term maintenance of reduced body weight when used as part of a multidisciplinary weight control programme that includes diet, exercise and behaviour modification. Higher amounts of sweetener consumption also led to greater amounts of weight loss during the weight-loss programme. Low-calorie sweeteners may aid long-term weight management by satisfying the desire for sweetness and controlling appetite without over-consumption of sucrose and/or fat. They may also have reduced the desire for sweets simply by providing a feeling of sweet satisfaction.