Do Sugar Substitutes Contribute to Obesity?
Artificial sweeteners are seen by many as a way to have your cake and eat it too. What’s better than a sugary-tasting soda pop without all of the calories? Believe it or not, artificially sweetened products may make it more difficult to keep a trim waistline. What are They? Artificial sweeteners are non-nutritive. Non-nutritive means that artificial sweeteners do not provide nutrition to the body. They provide no calories, vitamins, or minerals. Where It All Began The first non-nutritive sweetener was saccharin, created in the late 1800s. Saccharin is up to 500 times sweeter than sugar. Sugar shortages during the two World Wars increased saccharin use in the early-to-mid-20th century. Saccharin was popular with early dieters eager to shed pounds without giving up sugar. It came under scrutiny when studies linked it to bladder cancer in rats.(1) The FDA mandated a warning label be added to saccharin-containing products in response to these studies. Cyclamate is another early non-nutriti
