Artificial Sweeteners Make You Gain Weight?
We all love to demonise a certain food group
One year we should stay away from fats, because fat makes you fat! Next carbs are victimised and a piece of bread needs to be eaten in shame, alone at home. Sugar, the white little granules of energy get hidden in the draw and when spooned into a tea or coffee or sprinkled onto porridge a large “gasp” is expressed by those around us.
So of course the next food group up to walk the plank is the artificial sweetener.
So what is an artificial sweetener? To put it simply, they are a low-calorie or calorie-free substance used instead of sugar to sweeten foods and drinks.
Lets break that down… They are a low-calorie or calorie free alternative to sugar. So how can something that has no calories in make us put fat on? Well they can’t… as we’ve written about before fat is gained when the body is in a calorie surplus. I.e. we’ve consumed more calories than we’ve burned off. And no matter how many cans of diet coke we drink… they still won’t contain any calories therefore making it impossible for the artificial sweetener to cause fat gain on its own.
So why is this something that is questioned, and when put into a poll on our BFAST instagram stories 52% of people who took part said they thought sweeteners could cause fat gain?
My favourite thing is to ask where it was heard, and it’s always either “They said” or the internet, or a friend told them. Or a friend of a friend lost 10lbs after they cut out diet coke.
Demonising food has become so normal to us that we will literally believe anything. One article by some unknown and unqualified nutritionist gets posted online and we believe it, with no questions asked.
So where did it come from?
‘Apparently” (again I can’t find hard facts) a small study was done which said diet drinks COULD (again, no hard truths) increase ‘hunger’, which could then make us reach for food. Food with calories. And we all know more calories eaten that aren’t burned off can cause fat gain.
So let’s reiterate — The sweetener doesn’t cause fat gain, because it is literally impossible, however thats the title the media go for. It’s the food we MIGHT reach for later which could add those extra pounds…
But, this study is literally pointless and proves absolutely nothing and has scared people from reaching for the innocent sweetener. Any food group can have a different effect on people.
For me, porridge in the morning isn’t the best choice. After I eat it I feel hungry again about 1–2 hours later, however for others I know they feel satisfied for a lot longer. But you don’t see me writing an article saying
“PORRIDGE MAKES YOU HUNGRY AND MAKES YOU GAIN FAT”
Because I actually care about helping people.
So I want to leave you with all the bonus of sweeteners.
Firstly, if you have a fat loss goal the number one rule you need to concentrate on is your calorie intake. If you’re a sugar fan and enjoy sugar in hot drinks or sprinkled on food for that extra sweet kick, the calories you consume can add up really quickly. So finding ways to reduce calorie dense food is great!
Swopping your sugar for sweetener can be a really simple way to do this.
Secondly, some people theorise that the sweet taste of diet drinks can spike your insulin levels and cause calories to be instantly shuttled to your fat cells. Well firstly, sweeteners don’t give you that after sugar spike in insulin, because it’s literally not sugar. And secondly, we shouldn’t be scared of insulin spikes anyway — it’s a very natural process for the body to carry out within the context of a healthy lifestyle and shouldn’t be taken out of proportion in an isolated incident.
Oh… and about that “aspartame causes cancer” thing? Well firstly the studies were done in rats, and secondly they showed that for aspartame to have any sort of toxic/dangerous effect, you’d need to drink about 18 cans a day, EVERY day for a long time to be at risk.
Like with anything, the devil is in the dose.
So don’t be scared of the odd diet drink here and there — they can be included in a well balanced plan and keep you sane whilst on a fat loss plan if it’s something that you enjoy.
Soph
