Fit Fare

After starting a low-carb diet last summer, 33-year-old Elizabeth Nugent cut out pastas and breads from her meals. Though she’s since added whole grains and other complex carbohydrates back into her diet, she continues to exclude refined sugar–depending instead on alternatives like Splenda to curb cravings.

From diet sodas to sugar-free desserts, Americans like Nugent are turning to reduced-sugar foods for the taste without the consequences. Currently, Americans consume about 64 pounds of sugar per person every year, according to the USDA’s Continuing Survey of Food Intake of individuals, the standard for measuring food consumption data. Of that number, 35 pounds is in the form of non-sucrose products.

The United States consumes 50 percent of the world’s demand of alternative sweeteners, according to the American Dietetic Association (ADA). Even so, many consumers remain wary of sugar substitutes, despite the fact that many mainstream organizations such as the ADA and the American Heart Association have given sugar substitutes a clear bill of health.

Safety Issues

Until the early 80s, saccharine was the only alternative sweetener. When in the 70s evidence emerged claiming saccharine caused cancer, the government was pressured to remove it from the market. Rather than removing it, the government attached a scarlet label warning people of the possible link between consumption and cancer in lab animals. The problem? The animals consumed large amounts of saccharine to produce the results, the human equivalent of 800 diet drinks per day. Later, when researchers couldn’t prove that saccharine caused cancer in humans, many petitioned to have the warning removed. Until recently, that label was on all saccharine products. Although vindicated, the fear remains in the back of consumers’ minds. 

Aside from the cancer fears, many consumers are mistrustful of aspartame. Some exhibit side effects like headaches and allergic reactions from consumption. Anecdotal evidence of the link between aspartame usages and headaches, brain tumors and even multiple sclerosis have been around for years. Other reported side effects include allergic reactions such as swollen lips. But, no clear evidence exists to support those claims. In fact, the only people with proven side effects are those born with a rare genetic disorder called phenylketonuria. These individuals can’t metabolize phenylalanine, one of the two amino acids found in aspartame. While science says no link exists, trust your body. If you have a history of headaches after consuming products with aspartame in it, don’t use them.

How can ingesting chemicals be safe? Well, “The body handles synthetic chemicals the same way it handles chemicals put there by Mother Nature,” says Ruth Kava, Ph.D., R.D., director of nutrition at the American Council on Science and Health. “Everything has to go through some kind of processing in order to make it edible for us.”

All artificial sugars (and other food ingredients) require rigorous testing, hundreds of studies and decades of research-before approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Those tests look for safety at normal consumption. Also, products must be proven safe at substantial levels of consumption. A 132-pound adult would have to drink eight liters of diet sodas every day to consume only 20 percent of the upper limits, Gerber explains. In addition, it takes a small amount of alternative sweeteners to produce the same sweetness as other carbohydrates. Moreover, safety precautions exist that ensure the safety. The FDA investigates each side-effect report for each sweetener, as well as any other artificial ingredient.

Roles of Artificial Sweeteners

Another concern about non-nutritive sweeteners is its role in fat loss and weight maintenance. Instead of helping you lose weight, some reports claimed it might actually cause you to gain weight. The reports claim the body converts alternative sweeteners to sugar. But it’s not true. The body doesn’t metabolize alternative sweeteners, your body excretes them intact, says Judy Gerber, M.S., RD., clinical manager for Pulse Nutrition Solutions. Furthermore, sweeteners like aspartame aren’t derived from carbohydrates, so they can’t be metabolized as carbohydrates.

Other people are concerned that sweeteners may increase appetite. Instead, alternative sweeteners may satisfy your sweet tooth without adding the extra calories, Gerber says. Some studies show that aspartame users consume at least 200 calories less than those who don’t use artificial sweeteners do. When used responsibly alternative sweeteners can be a helpful way to lose weight because most artificial sweeteners have little to no calories.

Not only can eating artificial sweeteners sweeten your dish without calories, they may also protect your teeth. There’s a link between cavities and tooth erosion and sugar usage. Unlike sugars, non-nutritive sweeteners don’t promote dental caries.

Drawbacks of Artificial Sweeteners

Eating foods with artificial sweeteners will help you lose or maintain weight, right? Not necessarily, explains Kristine Clark, Ph.D., R.D., director of sports nutrition at Penn State University. Artificial sweeteners have not been shown, at all, to help people cut back their calories and lose weight, nor has real sugar been shown to cause people to gain weight.”

Another drawback to sugar substitutes is many believe it gives them a license to overeat. “Because it’s becoming popular to put artificial sweeteners in the food supply, people may have a tendency to over consume them,” Clark says. Bottom line, consuming too much of anything is not good for you. Plus it may sabotage fat loss or weight maintenance. It’s not sugar, protein or fat that makes you gain weight, it’s calories.

Perhaps the ultimate concern is taste. But artificial sugars are just that – artificial. You may notice a slight different flavor or a bitter aftertaste. In addition, each sweetener has different strengths and weaknesses.

It all comes down to you, your preferences and your goals. “They’re tested. They’re safe,” Kava says. “If you like them and they help you achieve fat loss or another goal you have for yourself, use them. If you don’t like them, don’t.”

While alternative sweeteners may be a healthy addition to your diet, don’t let it subtract you from healthy eating. Use them wisely. High-intensity sweeteners are not a substitute for a healthy diet rich in fruits, vegetables and whole grains. If you have the self-control to use them, sugar substitutes may help you lose some weight, but it’s a lifelong change.

For more information, visit the Calorie Control Council at www.caloriecontrol.org, the American Dietetic Association and the American Council on Science and Health at www.acsh.org.