MERCOLA: This Fourth of July, You May Want to Stay Away Artificial Sweeteners
Consuming these products is putting your health at risk, so much so that even the World Health Organization warned people not to consume them
STORY AT-A-GLANCE
The World Health Organization (WHO) warned people not to consume aspartame (Equal), sucralose (Splenda) or other artificial sweeteners for weight control
According to WHO, artificial sweeteners don’t offer any long-term benefit in reducing body fat in adults or children
A WHO systematic review also revealed “potential undesirable effects from long-term use” of artificial sweeteners, including “increased risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and mortality in adults”
Newborns from mothers who consumed a lot of sucralose during pregnancy experienced a number of negative metabolic and inflammatory effects
Other research linked aspartame consumption to anxiety and found the mental health changes were passed on to future generations
Thousands of popular foods and drinks are made artificially sweet with chemical sweeteners. Long claimed to be a healthy choice because they contain no calories or sugar, evidence continues to emerge that consuming artificial sweeteners is a good way to wreck your health.
It doesn’t matter if you choose aspartame (Equal), sucralose (Splenda) or another artificial sweetener. Consuming these products is putting your health at risk, so much so that even the World Health Organization warned people not to consume them.
WHO Warns Against Non-Sugar Sweeteners for Weight Loss
Diet foods and drinks are among the most common products that contain artificial sweeteners. Marketed as tools for weight loss, this deceptive practice lures people into thinking they’re a smart way to shed extra pounds.
Yet, a systematic review and meta-analysis conducted by the World Health Organization revealed “there is no clear consensus on whether non-sugar sweeteners are effective for long-term weight loss or maintenance, or if they are linked to other long-term health effects at intakes within the ADI.”
In May 2023, WHO released a new guideline, advising not to use non-sugar sweeteners (NSS) for weight control because they don’t offer any long-term benefit in reducing body fat in adults or children.
What’s more, the systematic review suggests “potential undesirable effects from long-term use of NSS, such as an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and mortality in adults.” In a news release, Francesco Branca, WHO director for nutrition and food safety, said:
“Replacing free sugars with NSS does not help with weight control in the long term. People need to consider other ways to reduce free sugars intake, such as consuming food with naturally occurring sugars, like fruit, or unsweetened food and beverages. NSS are not essential dietary factors and have no nutritional value. People should reduce the sweetness of the diet altogether, starting early in life, to improve their health.”
The WHO guidance to avoid artificial sweeteners applies to all categories of the chemicals, including acesulfame K, aspartame, advantame, cyclamates, neotame, saccharin and sucralose. The systematic review and meta-analysis included 283 studies, which revealed artificial sweeteners are linked to an increased risk of:
Obesity
Type 2 diabetes
High fasting glucose
All-cause mortality
Cardiovascular events
Death from cardiovascular disease
Stroke
High blood pressure
Bladder cancer
Preterm birth and possible adiposity in offspring later in life
According to the WHO study:
“Mechanisms by which NSS as a class of molecules might exert effects that increase risk for obesity and certain NCDs [non-communicable diseases] have been reviewed extensively and include interaction with extra-oral taste receptors, possibly with alteration of the gut microbiome.
“Because sugars and all known NSS presumably elicit sweet taste through the TAS1R heterodimeric sweet-taste receptor, which has been identified not just in the oral cavity but in other glucose-sensing tissues, it is not surprising that such a group of vastly different chemical entities could be responsible for similar effects on health.”
Reasons To Be Wary of Sucralose
In the U.S., sucralose is the most commonly used artificial sweetener. It’s found in more than 6,000 food products, including many diet beverages. When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved sucralose in 1998, none of the studies it reviewed involved humans.