The Role of Sweeteners in Health and Weight Loss

During the 1980’s, artificial sweeteners exploded into massive popularity. At the time, 
people were looking for alternative to sugar, which had been blamed for a lengthy 
laundry list of issues, and diabetes was one of the biggest. As the end of the 1990’s 
approached, people began to make some evaluations about the legacy that these once 
celebrated magic powders was leaving for future generations, and it appeared that 
sweeteners were no longer the hero of the story they previously had been. The purpose 
of the following article is to take a look at the role of sweeteners in health and weight 
loss. 


Gathering the Data

What began as a few questions was soon a growing skepticism. Eventually, nearly 40 
different studies were held to determine the effectiveness of these sweeteners. Not only 
did these sweeteners have to be effective as sweeteners, they were also tasked with 
being found worthy as effective weight loss management tools. 

These studies looked at hundreds of thousands of people to test their reactions, collect 
observations, and measure individual progress. Each of these studies took place with 
the absolute adherence to procedure, and researchers were shocked to discover that 
many of the people in the trials who consumed the sweeteners were found to be at 
much higher risk for health issues like weight gain and heart disease than those who 
didn’t. 


What Happened?

This new information collected by the doctors had them confounded. At that point all 
that could be done was to begin testing new theories about why this weight gain, and 
diabetes had become associated with the sweeteners. Some possible explanations 
have questioned as to whether or not sweeteners could be causing some severe form 
of damage to the gut flora. 
Still others believe it could be as simple as people rewarding themselves to extreme 
amounts while thinking that they haven’t ingested as many calories. Either way, more 
testing will be need to uncover exactly where things are going and what the status of 
sweeteners while in the future. 


What Now?

A lot of people have begun to back away from sweeteners. Even many experts seem to 
have an aura of avoidance when it comes to these additives. When asked, many 
professionals will simply say that they don’t believe that they are harmful in small 
amounts, but they believe that it probably would be better to limit how much a person 
has in general. 
