low calorie sweeteners and fat gain

[Totentanz]

Originally Posted by stoomc

Lyle, would this only apply if consuming over maintenance or is there a link either way?

Thanks.

You need to think in terms of normal people. An average American is not going to fit sugar calories from soda into their diet plan to ensure they aren't going over maintenance. So that's not really relevant to a study meant to demonstrate whether there is an association between sugary soda intake and diabetes for the general population.

In other words, if you are asking whether it is alright to drink sugary soda as part of your controlled diet, and you aren't chronically overeating/obese, then the answer is you probably shouldn't worry about it too much.

[IloveRFL]

I have a question about the original study. The authors say they accounted for co-variates and write "(At baseline) Low-calorie sweetener use was not associated with differential total caloric intake, dietary macronutrient composition, physical activity level or smoking"

But when I look at the physical activity level in their table (http://journals.plos.org/plosone/art...e.0167241.t001), the sweetener users actually became a lot less active over the 28-year period than the sweetener non-users. For instance, sedentary activity level: sweetener users went from 4.8% to 9.8%, sweetener non-users only from 6.8% to 9.6%. Wouldn't this be a better explanation of the increased abdominal obesity (same calories, but less activity = more fat)?

[Tormenty]

Originally Posted by lylemcdonald

Insulin can't magically make you fat if you're not overeating and artificial sweeteners do no such thing.

But doesn't a increase in insulin stimulate hunger in some people?

[squat]

Originally Posted by Tormenty

But doesn't a increase in insulin stimulate hunger in some people?

Hunger only makes you fat if you eat. That also increases insulin. Could be a cascade of insulin triggers never-endless eating? That implication is seriously reaching.

[Tormenty]

Originally Posted by squat

Hunger only makes you fat if you eat. That also increases insulin. Could be a cascade of insulin triggers never-endless eating? That implication is seriously reaching.

What is the problem with self-reported calorie intake in studies?

If you tell an naturally overweight person and a naturally skinny person to eat 2000 calories, even if they try count all calories and they reach 2000 kcal one will eat more and the other will eat less. Guess who. Guess why.

[lylemcdonald]

Originally Posted by Tormenty

What is the problem with self-reported calorie intake in studies?

People suck at it.

[lylemcdonald]

This is an older study but makes the point. Regular soda led to an increase in calorie intake and weight gain. Artificially sweetened drinks led to a small weight and fat loss.

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© 2002 American Society for Clinical Nutrition

Sucrose compared with artificial sweeteners: different effects on ad libitum food intake and body weight after 10 wk of supplementation in overweight subjects1,2,3

Anne Raben, Tatjana H Vasilaras, A Christina Møller, and Arne Astrup

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Author Affiliations

1From the Research Department of Human Nutrition, Centre for Advanced Food Studies, The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, Frederiksberg, Denmark.


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Abstract

Background: The role of artificial sweeteners in body-weight regulation is still unclear.

Objective: We investigated the effect of long-term supplementation with drinks and foods containing either sucrose or artificial sweeteners on ad libitum food intake and body weight in overweight subjects.

Design: For 10 wk, overweight men and women consumed daily supplements of either sucrose [n = 21, body mass index (BMI; in kg/m2) = 28.0] or artificial sweeteners (n = 20, BMI = 27.6). On average, sucrose supplements provided 3.4 MJ and 152 g sucrose/d and sweetener supplements provided 1.0 MJ and 0 g sucrose/d.

Results: After 10 wk, the sucrose group had increases in total energy (by 1.6 MJ/d), sucrose (to 28% of energy), and carbohydrate intakes and decreases in fat and protein intakes. The sweetener group had small but significant decreases in sucrose intake and energy density. Body weight and fat mass increased in the sucrose group (by 1.6 and 1.3 kg, respectively) and decreased in the sweetener group (by 1.0 and 0.3 kg, respectively); the between-group differences were significant at P < 0.001 (body weight) and P < 0.01 (fat mass). Systolic and diastolic blood pressure increased in the sucrose group (by 3.8 and 4.1 mm Hg, respectively) and decreased in the sweetener group (by 3.1 and 1.2 mm Hg, respectively).

Conclusions: Overweight subjects who consumed fairly large amounts of sucrose (28% of energy), mostly as beverages, had increased energy intake, body weight, fat mass, and blood pressure after 10 wk. These effects were not observed in a similar group of subjects who consumed artificial sweeteners.