Background
Low-calorie sweeteners (LCS) like aspartame, sucralose, saccharin, etc. provide little to no energy to diet and are considered healthy alternatives to sugars. In past, results from various RCTs have reported that there is beneficial or no effect of LCS on body weight, compared to sugar sweetened or water alternatives. Despite this, there is a continuous concern among consumers over the efficacy of LCSs for weight management and glucose tolerance due to results demonstrated from select epidemiological (5), in vitro (6) and animal trials. However, each of the LCS has a unique composition and can generate different sensory, physiological and behavioral response that affect body weight.
Objective
The aim of the present study was to compare the effects of 4 LCSs and sucrose on weight, ingestive behavior and glucose tolerance.
Method: 12-wk intervention in overweight or obese (body mass index 25–40 kg/m2) adults, between the age of 18–60 yrs. Total participants of 154 were randomly assigned to consume 1.25–1.75 L of beverage sweetened with sucrose (n = 39), aspartame (n = 30), saccharin (n = 29), sucralose (n = 28), or rebaudioside A (rebA) (n = 28) daily. The beverages contained 400–560 kcal/d (sucrose treatment) or <5kcal/d (LCS treatment)
Outcome measured:
Primary outcome – Body weight, body composition, dietary intake, EE, appetite, and glycemia.
Secondary outcomes – Serum lipids, sweetness perception, and overall liking of the delivery beverage.
Results
The study provided an interesting insight into the comparative effects of the LCS on body weight. 123 participants completed the study. Sucrose and saccharin had similar outcomes where the consumption led to increased body weight of (Δ weight = +1.85 ± 0.36 kg and +1.18 ± 0.36 kg, respectively; P ≤ 0.02). There was no significant change in body weight with the consumption of other 3 LCSs (Aspartame, sucralose and reb A), when compared to baseline. There was a decrease in energy intake with sucralose consumption and ingestive frequency was lower than that of saccharin (P = 0.045).
Conclusion
The study concluded that only saccharin and sucrose could significantly increase body weight as compared to other LCS. The weight change was directionally negative and lower for the group that consumed sucralose in comparison to saccharin. The study also suggests that LCSs should be categorise as distinct entity because of differing effects on body weight
Read More*
*Redirecting to the external website