What’s going on, guys.
Sean Naelwanyj here at www.SeanNal.com-www.BodyTransformationTruth.com, and the question being answered today is do
artificial sweeteners cause weight gain?
So it’s of course very common for people following fitness programs to include artificially
sweetened drinks and food items in their diet as a substitute for regular sugar, because
it’s a way to control calorie intake.
But even though most of those sweeteners are basically zero calorie, there’s still conflicting
information out there about whether or not they actually have negative effects on fat
gain.
So the short answer here is very simple, and that is that in terms of direct effects, there’s
no research out there to show any causative relationship between the consumption of artificial
sweeteners and changes in body fat levels.
So all things equal, if you took to people who are both eating 2,000 calories a day and
one of them consumed no artificial sweeteners at all while the other person did, there’s
no evidence to show that there would be any difference in the changes in body composition
between the two; So, no known direct effect.
Where it gets a little more complicated is the possible indirect effect where the consumption
of artificial sweeteners can produce behavioral changes in some people that then cause them
to go and consume more total calories from their diet.
There’s actually a lot of conflicting research out there on this topic but there are three
main ways that this could possibly happen.
The first is if the person consumes zero calorie sweeteners and then uses that as a justification
to overeat on something else.
And that results in more total calories being taken in.
So let’s say they were out at the restaurant, and they had diet soda with their meal, they
might think that because they had a diet soda as opposed to a regular one that that makes
it okay to eat, let’s say a serving of fries that they otherwise might not have had.
And the total calories in the fries is higher than what they would have taken in had they
just drink regular soda with no fries.
That just one example.
So some people might think that because they’ve replaced certain sugary items with artificial
sweeteners they’ve now earned the right to go and eat high calorie foods.
The second possibility is the theory that artificial sweeteners don’t trigger the
brain’s food reward pathway in the same way that regular sugar does.
There’s conflicting research on this, but some studies have shown that since artificial
sweeteners don’t have the same satiating effect that people are looking for when they
eat or drink, that that would cause the person to then go out and seek out more food and
end up adding significantly more calories to their total intake.
Again, the studies on this are mixed.
Some showed increase in appetite and others showed no effect at all.
So again, this is just one possible theory.
And the third possibility is the fact that peoples flavor preferences change with repeated
exposure to certain taste.
So if you start eating more salty food for a few weeks then you’ll start to crave salt
more often, and vice versa.
So the idea here is that by constantly having that strong sweet taste from the artificial
sweeteners that could lead to an increase in cravings for sweet foods and sweet drinks,
and you end up taking more total calories in that way.
So to sum up all of this, there’s no known direct effect between artificial sweetener
consumption and fat gain but in some people it could have indirect effects that caused
them to end up consuming more total calories from their diet in the big picture and gain
fat from that.
now, that said, on average the research still does show that people who replace sugary drinks
with zero calorie sweetened drinks do end up losing weight more often than not.
And secondly these studies are just looking at general population and not specifically
at fitness minded people following a muscle building or fat loss program.
So, if you’re someone who understands the basics of calorie and macro nutrient intake
and you’re conscious of what you’re taking in and what you require for your goals then
it’s a lot less likely that those indirect effects are going to be an issue for you.
The bottom line here is that if you consume artificially sweetened drinks or foods or
supplements in your program as a way to control calories and you aren’t experiencing any
problems in terms of appetite or cravings then I don’t see any reasons to worry about
it.
On the other hand, if you do have issues in these areas then reducing your consumption
of artificial sweeteners could potentially be something to experiment with.
Although the argument could also be made that having those sweet zero calories items would
reduce cravings because it lets you experience that sweet taste without the extra calories.
So really it just comes down to the individual and it’s something that you can figure out
for yourself to see what maximizes your own personal adherence to your nutrition plan
long term.
So, I hope you guys found this video helpful.
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you did find the information helpful.
Thanks for watching, guys.
And I’ll talk to you again soon.