Is Using Artificial Sweeteners Preventing You From Losing Weight?
Many dieters have become accustomed to using artificial sweeteners in their food and drinks as a measure to cut calories from their diet. An average person consumes approximately twenty teaspoons of sugar a day, adding a whopping three hundred calories to their daily calorie intake. For dieters, reducing or eliminating sugar is a simple way to shed pounds. But can using artificial sweeteners actually prevent you from losing weight?
New studies suggest that prolonged use of sugar substitutes may make it harder for dieters to lose weight in the long run. After being approved for use in American food and drink products in 1980, the artificial sweetener known as aspartame came under fire for supposedly causing health problems ranging from multiple sclerosis to cancer.
Subsequent testing from the late 1980s foreword, including studies performed as late as 2007, have suggested that aspartame is not responsible for any serious illness. However, some studies have found that people who regularly drink or eat products containing high levels of sugar substitutes, including aspartame, may reduce Leptin levels by up to 34%. Leptin is a protein hormone which plays an important part in regulating appetite and metabolism.
The body must maintain a careful balance of Leptin. People with too little Leptin may have trouble knowing when they are full. On the other hand, too much Leptin can cause the body to become resistance to Leptin’s effects, also resulting in overeating. This can create a situation where dieters trying to lose weight by consuming products with artificial sweeteners in them actually end up eating more than they would have if they had not consumed artificial sweetener.
Another way sugar can zap your diet is by making you crave sweets. Sugar substitutes can be up to thirteen thousand times sweeter than regular sugar. This creates a situation in which people need more and more sugar or artificial sweetener to feel that their sweets craving has been satisfied. Eating too many sweets can thwart the desired effect of a diet.
However, artificial sweeteners do have their place in some people’s diet plans. A dieter who drinks a lot of regular soda, for example, may be able to reduce his or her reliance on the soft drink by tapering down the usage of regular soda and replacing it with a diet soda. The dieter than may feel more comfortable moving from diet soda to the much more healthy choice of water.
Remember, when consumed in large amounts sugar can be harmful and can contain a lot of empty calories, but when used in moderation sugar can be a perfectly acceptable part of a balanced diet.
If your sugar intake is low already, there is no need to start using artificial sweeteners while on a diet.
If you can reduce your sugar intake to a manageable level without the use of artificial sweeteners, you’ll be in a better position to lose weight in the long run.
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