Artificial sweeteners do not aid weight loss and may pose long-term health risks, WHO warns

Adriana Lima
By Adriana Lima 6 Min Read
origin 1Sweeteners such as stevia and aspartame do not help you lose weight and can harm your health, WHO warns ©RockedBuzz via Euronews

Sugar substitutes like stevia, aspartame and sucralose don’t help people lose weight in the long run and may instead pose health risks, the World Health Organization has warned.

A systematic review of the available evidence “suggests that the use of NSS [non-sugar sweeteners] it does not confer any long-term benefit in reducing body fat in adults or children,” WHO said in a statement.

“The review findings also suggest that there may be potential side effects from long-term use of NSS, such as an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and adult mortality,” he added.

Francesco Branca, WHO director for nutrition and food safety, said that replacing sugars with artificial sweeteners “doesn’t help with long-term weight control” and instead “people need to consider other ways to reduce free sugar intake, such as consuming foods with natural sugars, such as fruit, or unsweetened foods and beverages.

Artificial sweeteners “are not essential dietary factors and have no nutritional value,” Branca stressed.

“People should cut back on dietary sweetness altogether, starting early in life, to improve their health.”

Last year, a large study in France reported a possible link between artificial sweeteners and an increased risk of cancer. And national health organizations like Canada’s have long warned that zero-calorie or low-calorie sugar substitutes are neither necessary nor helpful.

Do Artificial Sweeteners Cause Cancer? A new decade-long study suggests they might

Aspartame, stevia, sucralose all targeted

“Sugar substitutes should not be consumed to reduce free sugar intake,” the guidelines they say, adding that because “there are no established health benefits associated with taking sweeteners, one should promote unsweetened nutritious foods and beverages instead.”

WHO discourages the consumption of “all synthetic and natural or modified non-nutritive sweeteners that are not classified as sugars found in foods and beverages that are manufactured or sold on their own to be added to foods and beverages by consumers.”

This includes acesulfame K, aspartame, advantame, cyclamates, neotame, saccharin, sucralose, stevia and stevia derivatives.

The recommendations do not apply to personal care and hygiene products containing NSS, such as toothpastes, skin creams and medications, or to low-calorie sugars and sugar alcohols (polyols). These sugars or sugar derivatives contain calories – they are therefore not considered sugar substitutes – and are commonly found in various food products such as sugar-free chewing gum and sugar-free candies.

German scientists make an “important discovery” that could slow down the aging process

The new guide draws criticism

The new WHO guide it applies to all people except those with pre-existing diabetes.

However, the WHO emphasized that it was assessed “as conditional” due to the diversity of participants in the studies that formed the basis of its conclusions, as well as the very complex consumption habits of sugar-free sweeteners.

Some nutrition experts were quick to step in to point them out, saying the new guidelines were largely based on observational studies which do not establish a direct link between sweeteners and weight control.

Scientists discover key to extending human lifespan and boosting cancer-fighting cells

First of all, it’s important to understand that WHO’s advice “is aimed at governments and politicians, not individuals,” said Tom Sanders, professor emeritus of nutrition and dietetics at King’s College London.

However, because of the way they have been presented, people are taking these recommendations as direct advice, he told RockedBuzz via Euronews Next, adding he expects them to create “a lot of confusion among consumers”.

“On the one hand the government tells him ‘avoid sugary drinks’ and on the other hand ‘well, you really shouldn’t be drinking artificial sweeteners.'”

The WHO review “doesn’t actually show any definite adverse effects, and in a sense it misses a pretty important one, which is dental caries in children,” Sanders added, noting that there is “strong evidence” that substitution of sugar sweeteners helps with dental care.

Sanders criticized the guide for not taking into account the “real world situation”, particularly in the field of dietetics.

“Sometimes what you’re trying to do is get people to watch their weight, which means reducing their calorie intake, and it can help if people drink a high-sugar drink to switch to a reduced-calorie drink or a zero calories,” he explained.

In fact, artificial sweeteners have no nutritional value, but a lot of other things in our diets, like tea or coffee, don’t either, she said, “but, you know, people drink them instead of just drinking water because a they like to taste it”.

Share This Article
Leave a comment