Replacing sugar with sweeteners can improve weight loss control over the long term in overweight adultsin Venice, Italy , suggests that replacing sugar-sweetened food and drinks with low/no energy sweetened products can help weight control for at least one year after rapid weight loss in adults, without increasing the risk of type 2 diabetes or cardiovascular disease.
S&SEs have very high sweetening power but contribute little or nothing to energy intake. Natural and synthesized sweeteners, such as aspartame, stevia, and saccharin, are commonly added to products by the food and drink industry to cut the sugar content, and are consumed by millions of people around the world every day, for example in soft drinks, desserts, and breakfast foods.
During the first two months of the trial, adults were instructed to follow a low-energy diet with the aim of achieving at least 5% weight loss. Children received dietary advice to maintain body weight. Additionally, in 203 participants who completed all clinical investigations, risk markers for type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease did not differ between the groups.
Professor Jason Halford, Head of the School of Psychology at the University of Leeds, UK, one of the SWEET co-authors and President of the European Association for the Study of Obesity , says,"'The use of low calorie sweeteners in weight management has been questioned, in part because of the link between their use and apparent weight gain in observational studies, however, increasingly it is becoming apparent that is not the case in long term studies.