June 15, 2016

Dear Dietitian – Will Artificial Sweeteners Cause Me to Gain Weight?

As a dietitian and diabetes educator who counsels people who want to lose weight (and keep it off), I often hear concerns about whether using so-called artificial sweeteners cause the side effect of weight gain.

 
May 27, 2014

Do Diet Drinks Cause Weight Gain? New Study Repeats NOT LIkely

Are you under the impression, though counter intuitive, that downing diet drinks will add pounds to your hips and scale? The root of this notion stems from several large observational studies, which over the last several years, have fed the media’s hunger for headlines to paint diet beverages and low calorie sweeteners as the dieter’s devil.

Yet, when most experts analyze these observational studies as a group their conclusions, such as those from Pereira, conclude this is “an artifact of reverse causality.”(1) In the case of diet beverages this means that the people in these studies at higher risk for weight gain, obesity and/or type 2 diabetes may be more likely to increase their intake of diet beverages to attempt to reduce their disease risks. It doesn’t prove cause and effect. 

Maybe, just maybe, due to one more prospective randomized control study (studies which can test cause and effect) published by Peters, et al., on May 27, 2014, people who wisely count their calories and opt for calorie free vs. calorie and sugar-loaded beverages, will finally be at ease sipping diet beverages.(2)

 
December 20, 2008

Stevia Gets FDA's Nod

Yesterday (12/17/08) the U.S. FDA sent a "No Objection Letter" to Merisant's Whole Earth Sweetener company and to Cargill, Inc., responding to their long awaited request to market a highly purified form of Stevia known as Reb A (rebaudioside A). Translated this letter means that FDA has no objection to the conclusion that both companies reached independently using the GRAS self-affirmation process: that Reb A is generally recognized as safe among qualified experts for use in beverages, foods and tabletop sweeteners.