Saccharin – the first artificial sweetener – was accidentally discovered when Professor Ira Remsen of Johns Hopkins University noticed a sweet substance on his hands in 1879 after experimenting with various chemicals in the lab.
Saccharin quickly gained popularity, mainly because of its low price. It was especially widespread during World War II when real sugar was in short supply.
Today, artificial sweeteners are at the center of the massive diet and sugar-free food and drink market. Their appeal today is not only how cheap they are, but also their potential to combat the growing threat of obesity and its associated health consequences.
Saccharin is over 200 times sweeter than sugar, but it contains no calories. Does this mean we should replace all sugar with artificial sweeteners? Or are there other factors to consider?
We asked 8 experts “Are artificial sweeteners better for you than sugar?”. The consensus was 63 percent “likely.” Here’s what we found out.
What Are Artificial Sweeteners and How Do They Work?
Artificial sweeteners provide the sweet taste of sugar but without the calories. There are two broad categories of artificial sweeteners: sugar alcohols and high intensity sweeteners.
Sugar alcohols are structurally similar to sugars, but are less easily metabolized, while high-intensity sweeteners are small compounds many times sweeter than sugar. The high-intensity sweeteners include saccharin and aspartame.
While artificial sweeteners have minimal to no calories, that doesn’t mean they are inert. Artificial sweeteners interact with the T1R family of sweet-taste receptors in the mouth and intestines, which can have metabolic effects.
They can also interact with the bacteria that make up the gut microbiome. Different sweeteners can differ in their effect on the body.
Is There a Link Between Artificial Sweeteners and Cancer?
The concern that artificial sweeteners could be carcinogenic stems from a 1978 study that found rats given saccharin developed bladder cancer. It has since been shown that this only happens in rats, and so does saccharin not cause cancer in humans.
Not just saccharin, but all FDA and EU-approved artificial sweeteners have been tested on both laboratory animals and human data. None of the approved sweeteners have any connection with cancer.
Do Artificial Sweeteners Help You Lose Weight?
The main attraction of artificial sweeteners is that they can replace sugar. There is a tremendous amount of evidence to suggest that high sugar consumption is bad for your health. Sugary drinks in particular can lead to weight gain, metabolic diseases and type 2 diabetes. It follows that swapping sugar for calorie-free sweeteners can lead to weight loss.
Many studies have investigated whether replacing sugar with artificial sweeteners leads to weight loss. A 2018 meta-analysis study, combining the results of 56 different studies, concluded that groups of people who used artificial sweeteners did not lose more weight in most cases than those who consumed sugar.
However, overweight or obese people who switched to artificial sweeteners lost more weight than their sugary counterparts.
Other meta-analyzes also show that switching from sugar to sweetener generally has a neutral to positive effect on weight loss. The fact that there is no clear result may stem from the complexity of these experiments:
1) There are many types of sweeteners, each of which can have a different effect on weight loss.
2) Dietary changes other than switching to sweeteners can have disruptive effects. Dr. University of Sydney biochemist Kieron Rooney explains that the whole diet is important because “ there is data – in humans – that the simultaneous consumption of artificial sweeteners with other foods can interact with altering energy absorption . “.
3) It is likely that the impact of sweetener on weight loss depends on the individual’s original weight and diet, a result found in the 2018 meta-analysis.
Some scientists have tried to explain why people do not lose weight on average with artificial sweeteners and in some cases even gain weight.
Nutritionist Dr Cornelie Nienaber-Rousseau explains that the effect of sweeteners on the food reward system “can contribute to increased appetite, stimulate food-seeking behavior and stimulate sugar cravings.” She adds that “non-calorie artificial sweetener appears to change the gut microbiome”.
Both explanations are plausible, but require more research before we can be sure of their effects.
Epidemiologist Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz summarizes that “it is possible that artificial sweeteners are worse for humans than water – although this is an open question – but compared to sugar, all indications are that artificial sweeteners are probably a little better.”
Not a panacea for obesity crisis
Overall, given that artificial sweeteners are essentially calorie-free, the data on their positive health benefits may be a bit disappointing.
This could explain the observation of Professor Jennie Brand-Miller of the University of Sydney that “the prevalence of obesity and overweight has tripled in [the last 50 years] despite the popularity of low-calorie sweeteners and their ubiquity ”.
On the other hand, there is plenty of evidence that they are safe and not linked to cancers. Whether they might have other effects on our sugar cravings or our microbiome remains to be determined.
The takeaway:
Sugar-free alternatives, especially to drinks, can be beneficial for someone trying to lose weight or improve their diet. However, the data suggests they aren’t the healthiest option out there – while a diet drink may be better than a sugary one, water may be even better.
Article based on 8 expert answers to this question: “Are artificial sweeteners better for you than sugar?”
This expert response has been published in conjunction with the independent fact-checking platform Metafact.io. Subscribe to their weekly newsletter here.