What you should know about artificial sweeteners

Aspartame, sucralose, acesulfame potassium, stevia: From yogurt to diet pop, artificial sweeteners and sugar substitutes are everywhere, appealing to the growing number of consumers who want to watch their weight. Despite the sweeteners’ ubiquity in the grocery aisles, however, there’s no end to the confusion about their safety.
Companies that sell artificial sweeteners, or foods made with them, assert they are harmless. Advocacy groups, such as the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Science in the Public Interest, cite studies that link some of them to cancer. The sugar lobby (yes, such a thing exists) argues artificial sweeteners are inferior to the real article. Then there’s the conspiracy theorists who liken sugar substitutes to poison.
here are emerging concerns that sugar substitutes may have a long-term impact on how the body registers sweet tastes, which could make weight management more challenging.
There is growing evidence that the intensity of artificial sweeteners (typically much sweeter than sugar) can rewire taste receptors. And this can cause distaste for less-sweet foods, such as fruits and vegetables, according to David Ludwig, director of the New Balance Foundation Obesity Prevention Center at the Children’s Hospital Boston.
New research also suggests consuming diet drinks may disrupt the body’s natural ability to associate sweetness with caloric intake and a feeling of fullness. And this could lead to changes in how the body regulates hunger, Dr. Ludwig wrote in the Journal of the American Medical Association. One study found that rodents fed saccharin consumed more calories and gained more weight than those fed glucose or sugar.

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