Posted on September 15, 2014 by Jenny Cromack

Obesity levels are constantly rising in the developed world. Because of the health complications of excess fat tissue such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and even certain cancers, identifying strategies that can be applied to the masses to combat this problem is imperative.

It has been suggested that replacing sugar with low calorie sweeteners as a possible strategy to help individuals improve their body composition. This blog will look at how low calorie sweeteners affect body composition. The main theory is that artificial sweeteners may help individuals stick to a nutrition plan through preserving the taste of foods and drinks to which we have become accustomed.

A recent meta-analysis established that there was no correlation between intake of low calorie sweeteners and reductions in body fat in observational studies. However in randomised control trials there was a significant decrease in body fat when consuming low calorie sweeteners.

This discrepancy is interesting as you would expect them to be similar. However it has been proposed that this is due to the study design. In fact no research paper to my knowledge looks beyond the effects of low calorie sweeteners in humans over longer than a 3 month period. This makes it very difficult to draw up a good conclusion about the effectiveness of low calorie sweeteners as a part solution to improving body composition.

It has been suggested that low calorie artificial sweeteners can actually lead to consuming more food. Several studies in the meta-analysis showed that ingesting the sweetener increased plasma glucose as well as insulin secretion, this ultimately can lead to weight gain through a poor feeling of satiety.

Now, I’m not saying having a low calorie sweetener in your coffee is going to make you obese. However the danger is in the dose, when it is constantly consumed the sweetener increases the bodies reward response by releasing dopamine. Eventually over prolonged exposure to the low calorie sweeteners the body becomes desensitized to the neurotransmitter, resulting in the need to consume more and more to reach the same desired effect.

Now this is definitely a bad thing because the release of dopamine is essential for feeling full, , dopamine is almost like an ‘off’ switch to let us know we are full. If your tolerance to low calorie sweeteners is high the individual will likely keep searching and consuming foods to fill a “sweet craving”….not good if you are trying to positively change your body composition and weight.

In short, having some low calorie sweetener in your coffee in the morning isn’t going to make you obese, but having the coffee, 3 cans of zero calorie pop through the day, and a meal containing low calorie sweeteners may be detrimental to weight loss goals and improvements in body composition.