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Yo! Put that Diet Coke down and listen up!

A new research has found that our favourite way to cut calories- using non-nutritive sweetener- may not be a good idea.

According to a report published earlier this week in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, artificial sweeteners do not appear to help people lose weight but instead may lead to weight gain, and increased cardio-metabolic risk.

Artificial sweeteners are synthetic food additives that provide a sweet taste to mimic sugar, while containing significantly fewer calories. Many products which contain them are commonly labelled as ‘reduced sugar’ or ‘diet’ and have intended weight loss benefits, which are now disputed by the new research.

The consumption of artificial sweeteners has increased dramatically over the past 15 years. They are found in a plethora of products these days, aspartame and sucralose aren’t just in diet sodas and chewing gum but English muffins and toothpaste as well.

Researchers wanted to look more broadly at what’s going on by carrying out a large-scale analysis of dozens of studies on low-calorie sweeteners. They sifted through about 11,000 studies on sweeteners, and then performed a meta-analysis of 37 studies with reports of studies carried out on more than 400,000 people for an average period of 10 years.

“The results showed a statistically significant association between consumption of artificial sweeteners and higher risks of diabetes and heart disease, as well as increased weight gain,” lead author of the study, Dr Meghan Azad said.

A majority of the trials this study drew on don’t really align with the way people consume such sweeteners in the real world — for instance, trials generally give subjects diet soda or sweetener capsules, while ignoring other sources, such as food. These trials also tend to focus on people who are obese and want to lose weight, therefore, while the longitudinal studies point to an association, they aren’t able to determine particular cause and effect.

“Despite the fact that millions of individuals routinely consume artificial sweeteners, relatively few patients have been included in clinical trials of these products,” said senior author Dr. Ryan Zarychanski, also of the University of Manitoba.

“We found that data from clinical trials do not clearly support the intended benefits of artificial sweeteners for weight management. Caution is warranted until the long-term health effects of artificial sweeteners are fully characterized. Given the widespread and increasing use of artificial sweeteners, and the current epidemic of obesity and related diseases, more research is needed to determine the long-term risks and benefits of these products.” Dr. Azad said.

Ah well, time to start appreciating the taste of black coffee I guess.

In search of the perfect burger. Serial eater. In her spare time, practises her "Vader Voice". Passionate about dance. Real Weird.