[Reaching for a diet soda or artificially sweetened snack to lose weight or to enjoy a few more treats? A growing number of scientists believe that’s not a good idea. After studies found no long-term benefit, the World Health Organization announced in May 2023 that people should not rely on any sugar substitute – including stevia and monk fruit – to control their weight. Long-term use of low- or no-calorie sweeteners may lead to an increase in eating and greater amounts of body fat known as adipose tissue, additional research has shown.
Various nonnutritive sweeteners have also been linked to heart disease and early death, migraines, depression, dementia, disruptions in gut microbiomes, cancer, and cognitive, behavioral, and developmental issues. In July 2023, the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer classified one synthetic sweetener, aspartame, as “possibly carcinogenic to humans,” although the US Food and Drug Administration disagreed.
Sugar substitutes may also be linked to heart disease. Recent studies have found xylitol and erythritol – sugar alcohols used to tame the intense sweetness of stevia, monk fruit, and lab-made sweeteners – associated with an increase in blood clots. “Every sugar alcohol we’ve looked at has the same property of fostering an increase in clotting,” said Dr. Stanley Hazen, chair of the Center for Cardiovascular Diagnostics and Prevention at the Cleveland Clinic’s Lerner Research Institute.
The FDA has approved six artificial sweeteners and considers them “generally recognized as safe” or GRAS. Those FDA-approved sugar substitutes include sucralose, saccharin, aspartame, acesulfame potassium, or Ace-K, neotame, and advantame. However, the Calorie Control Council, an international association that represents the low- and reduced-calorie food and beverage industry, told CNN via email that leading health agencies have validated the safety and role of alternative sweeteners in weight management.
If you’re concerned about the possible harm of artificial sweeteners, here are some expert tips on how to cut or at least reduce them. Americans are so accustomed to the super-sweetness of sugar substitutes that we have developed not just a sweet tooth but a sweet “fang,” said preventive and lifestyle medicine specialist Dr. David Katz. “Evolutionary biology went out of its way to reward us for getting enough protein, enough salt, enough fat and enough sugar to stay alive. This reward pathway is where addiction comes from,” said Katz, a nutritionist who founded the True Health Initiative, a nonprofit global coalition of experts dedicated to evidence-based lifestyle medicine.
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