Artificial sweeteners and weight control

There is some talk among nutritionists and doctors that artificial sweeteners may make it harder to lose weight and control weight. There are limited studies on this phenomena, and still only theories as to why it may happen. But I think it is worth taking a look at so that you can make a decision for yourself what to do about artificial sweeteners.

Artificial sweeteners are in your diet cokes, sugar free products, and what are in the yellow, pink, or blue packets you add to your iced tea. It's a great way to cut the calories out of a drink and still have something besides plain water. Crystal Light is another product that relies on these sweeteners.

Scientists have warned for years that these products may cause cancer. Now, some are blaming the obesity epidemic in America in part to the rise in these sweeteners. Here are their theories.

1. No-calorie sweeteners trick your body into thinking it is going to get a higher calorie meal than it is. Your body tastes the sweetness, so it gears up for those calories. When it finds that it doesn't have them after all, it tries to make up for them. The theory is that your body will crave calories later to make up for the shortfall from what it expected. This can lead to a craving for carbohydrates later in the day, causing you to over eat.

2. They mess with your liver's ability to metabolize fat. Your liver is an amazing and complex organ. It is where cholesterol is produced that carry fats through the body. It is also where toxins and poisons are cleared from the blood. This theory says that since these sweeteners are artificial, that is man made and not found naturally in the enviornment, that the body sees it as a toxin. The theory claims that if you always have these sweeteners in your body, such as from drinking diet Coke all day, that your liver will be too busy clearing the toxin and not be able to do it's job of metabolizing fats like it should.

3. The third claims that if you Use these sweeteners, you trick your brain so that it doesn't know how to deal with sugar. Your brain doesn't know if you are getting the calories with the sweetness or not, so it loses some of it's ability to regulate your metabolism to deal with the extra calories from sugars.

Here is what I take away from all of this: 1. This is not an excuse to have a regular coke instead of a diet one. I still believe you are better off eliminating those empty calories from your diet. 2. While I don't preach eliminating these product from your diet, it might be a good idea to limit them. I still have Splenda in my coffee and Sweet'N Low in my tea and I have Splenda in my oat meal. But I do try to be aware of how much I am having and control it each day. 3. Water is the best choice of a drink throughout the day. 4. If you find yourself plateauing in your weight loss, it might be worth trying to eliminate these products from your diet and see what happens.