- Click here for explanation of classification scheme.

Review the controversy regarding the effects of artificial sweeteners in body weight control.

Not reported.

Not reported.

Basic review using Raben as a main comparison to other studies in literature.

No information on how studies were collected for review.

Seven studies were mentioned and only two with data collection samples were discussed. 

• Raben et al (only study reported with design): Parallel arm trial in which overweight male and female subjects supplemented their diets with foods containing either sucrose or artificial sweeteners for 10 weeks.
• Design: Subjects were provided with a variety of foods, ranging from beverages to yogurt, ice cream, jams and stewed fruits. Supplements containing sucrose provided subjects with an average of approximately 815kcal per day and 152g of sucrose per day, whereas the artificially sweetened supplements provided approximately 240kcal per day and no sucrose.
  [Note: If not compensated for, these extra calories would produce a weight gain of approximately 7.4kg and 2.2kg for the sucrose and artificial sweetener-supplemented groups, respectively.]
  Overweight, average body mass index (BMI, kg/m² sup²), 28 for sucrose-supplemented group and 27.6 for the artificial sweetener group.
• Tordoff et al (1997), similar to Raben et al (2002): Subjects in the study were required to supplement their regular diets with either four 300ml bottles of soda sweetened with aspartame (i.e., diet soda), four 300ml bottles of soda sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup (i.e., regular soda) or no soda for three weeks, with each treatment being administered in random order. Subjects kept continuous diet records for the entire length of the study.

Non-Nutritive Sweeteners and Weight

• Raben et al: Body weight at the end of the trial; subjects supplemented with sucrose-containing foods gained 1.6kg and those supplemented with artificially sweetened foods lost 1.0kg. These weight variations show that subjects in the sucrose-supplemented group compensated for 56% of the calories provided by the supplements and that compensation was -23% in the artificial sweetener group. For the artificial sweetener-supplemented group, daily intakes decreased by approximately 105kcal, an amount that would produce a 0.9kg weight loss over a 10-week period. The differences observed between the sucrose-supplemented group and the artificial sweetener-supplemented group were due to the fact that subjects consuming the sucrose-containing supplements did not decrease their carbohydrate intakes to compensate for the added calories provided by the supplements. This resulted in significant increases in carbohydrate consumption. Subjects in the artificial sweetener-supplemented group did not modify their carbohydrate consumption. No differences between the sucrose-supplemented and the artificial sweetener-supplemented groups in hunger, fullness or well-being ratings.
• Rogers, Blundell, 1989: Consumption of artificial sweeteners produced increased hunger and could therefore lead subjects to over-consume carbohydrates. These were done over a short period of time, which may not have been long enough for subjects to regulate their food intake. 

Short-Term Studies

• Rodin, 1990: Examined the effects of artificially sweetened vs. sugar-containing beverages and found that aspartame-sweetened preload drinks do not lead to increased food intake, relative to water and lower total caloric consumption, compared with a glucose-containing pre-load beverage.
• Canty, Chan, 1991: Found no difference in food intakes after a preload sweetened with sucrose, saccharin or aspartame or plain water.
• Lavin et al, 1997: Found on the test day, food intake after a pre-load consisting of sucrose-sweetened lemonade was less than food intake after aspartame-sweetened lemonade; however, total energy intakes were not different from those after a carbonate water preload. Subjects compensated for the caloric contribution of sucrose by decreasing energy intake from foods. On the day following the preload test, subjects consumed more energy when the test drink contained aspartame than when the test drink contained sucrose and water, resulting in greater energy intake over 2 days with the aspartame preload, compared with the other two condiditions.
• Blackburn et al, 1997: Showed that although weight loss was similar on weight-reducing diets containing sucrose or aspartame, women who were assigned to the aspartame-containing diet maintained better weight loss over the three years following an active weight-loss program than women who were assigned to the high-sucrose diet.
• Tordoff et al, 1997, similar to Raben et al, 2002: Investigators found that drinking aspartame-containing beverages decreased caloric intake in men and women and led to significant reductions in body weight in men. Women lost weight during the no-soda period and both genders gained weight in the regular soda period, relative to the no-soda period. Weight gain was significant during the regular soda period in women only. Both men and women lost weight during the diet soda period, but the change was only significant in men. When men and women were grouped together, regular soda consumption increased body weights significantly and diet soda decreased body weights non-significantly. Energy intakes during both soda periods were equally decreased relative to during the no-soda period. Because regular soda provided an energy source, however, these results show that compensation did not occur during regular soda consumption, compared with diet soda consumption.

More long-term clinical intervention trials are required to more firmly establish the role of artificially sweetened foods in weight maintenance or loss.

University/Hospital:

Obesity Research Center, St-Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital, Columbia University, New York, NY

Review did not include actual weight-loss statistics or changes in weight for most reported studies discussed. 

The review article comparing the studies was weak, but the studies that were referenced should be analyzed since they were on artificial sweeteners and weight.

• Raben et al, 2002
• Rodin J, 1990
• Canty DJ et al, 1991
• Lavin JH et al, 1997
• Blackburn et al, 1997
• Tordoff M et al, 1990
• Appleton Km et al, 2001.