A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, there was an innovative planet determined to address its concerns about weight. No, not the gravity kind of weight — body weight. Much thought went into developing options to help people manage their weight and eventually, they became available to the public. Today, we know these options as low-calorie sweeteners, or LCS, but what do we really know about them? Turns out science knows quite a bit more than you may have heard. Here are few common questions (and answers) about LCS.
Are They Safe?
In a word, yes. LCS safety has been reviewed extensively and confirmed by authorities around the globe. In the U.S., six varieties are approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use in our food supply.
The most widely used LCS worldwide is aspartame. It’s also one of the most studied substances in our food supply, with more than 200 scientific studies supporting its safety. Experts, researchers and government bodies agree that people (other than those with phenylketonuria, or PKU) can consume a variety of foods and beverages sweetened with aspartame on a daily basis without concern.
Another popular LCS is sucralose. More than 100 scientific studies have been conducted on sucralose safety over the past 20 years.
Rigorous research reviews on LCS by government bodies like the FDA and European Food Safety Authority, as well as leading independent health organizations such as the National Cancer Institute and Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, have resulted in numerous official scientific statements confirming the safety of various LCS.
[See: 9 Foods That Can Keep Your Brain Sharp.]
What Amount Is Considered Safe?
The amount (not the mere presence) of an ingredient in food makes a difference. Any substance can be harmful to health if consumed in excessive amounts, even those proven to be good for us. Fat-soluble vitamins like A and D and water are considered healthy, but can also be toxic. Yes, you heard that right — even too much water can be a bad thing.
For this reason, the highest quality research is reviewed to determine safe ranges of intake for just about everything in food you can imagine. Acceptable daily intake levels are established for LCS. Fortunately for us, these ADIs have been vigorously tested, confirmed again … and again, and set at levels well above what we would dream of consuming. Let’s take aspartame, for example. The ADI for aspartame is 50 milligrams/kilogram body weight, which means that a 165-pound person would need to drink about 19 12-ounce cans of aspartame-sweetened diet soda or use more than 107 packets of aspartame to exceed the ADI for one day.
You might say, someone could drink 19 diet sodas in one day. And that’s true. It’s not something that’s recommended, but someone could and probably has. Fortunately, the ADI is not a safety threshold where harm immediately ensues once crossed during a given 24-hour period. Instead, the ADI represents a daily intake that, if maintained over a lifetime, is 100 times lower than amounts found to have no adverse affect. In other words, while a 165-pound person would exceed the ADI if he or she consumes more than 19 cans of aspartame-sweetened diet soda per day over their lifetime, it would take 1,900 cans per day (again, this should not be viewed as a recommendation) to reach a level that if exceeded, could potentially cause health risks. I doubt anyone is this thirsty.
[See: The 38 Best Diets Overall.]
Can They Help With Weight Management?
LCS are designed to subtract calories from our favorite foods and drinks. Although the simple math in this equation isn’t questioned, questions have been raised about complexities regarding the effectiveness of LCS in long-term weight management.
Several studies have attempted to address longer-term outcomes and shown that LCS can help with calorie reduction, weight loss and/or weight management when combined with a balanced diet and regular physical activity. The CHOICE (Choose Healthy Options Consciously Everyday) study found that substituting a minimum of two diet beverages for sugar-sweetened varieties every day for six months resulted in positive changes in overall eating patterns and calorie intake.
Another recent study examined numerous high-quality studies (this research method is known as a meta-analysis) and concluded that swapping out regular-calorie foods and beverages for lower calorie versions containing LCS results in modest reductions in body weight, BMI, fat mass and waist circumference.
The questions raised about the ability of LCS to help manage weight long-term may have to do with potential for people to overcompensate for eating and drinking reduced-calorie foods. Do people splurge on higher calorie foods more often and negate the calorie savings achieved from lower calorie choices? There are a few small studies measuring self-reported hunger that have suggested LCS may lead to cravings and/or weight gain. However, carefully designed studies that placed LCS into the diet over a period of weeks have repeatedly reported reduced calorie intake and body weight.
[See: The 10 Best Diets for Fast Weight Loss.]
The Last Word
New studies on LCS come out all the time. Many of the most credible studies can seem bland because they align with what LCS science has been telling us for years. Less credible LCS studies with sensational results often make attention-grabbing headlines, which can create the illusion of legitimate scientific debate and confusion among the general public. It’s important to examine studies critically regardless of the headlines they garner and consider how the findings compare to the totality of peer-reviewed scientific evidence on the topic. The totality of science on LCS show they are safe for consumption and one of many tools available that can help people reduce or maintain their weight.
But just because science says LCS are safe, that doesn’t mean you have to use them. If you choose to avoid them, that’s great — there are plenty of other methods to control calorie intake. If you choose to avoid them and then spread misinformation about them, that’s not so great. We all have questions about what’s in our food. Ask away, but bask in evidence and don’t brush away science.
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Low-Calorie Sweeteners: a Sweet Solution to Lowering Your Calorie Intake? originally appeared on usnews.com
