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By Joel Marion
http://www.atozfitness.com/recommends/cheatyourwaythin.html
The time was 8:32 AM.
I was tired.
I know, 8:32 isn’t exactly “early”, but when you just spent 14 hours in a seminar room listening to presentation after presentation the day before (like I did this past weekend), you’re bound to still be a bit spent at 8:32 AM the next day.
And I was.
So what did I do? What 99% of the rest of the world does in that type of situation – I got myself a cup of coffee.
And THEN—believe it or not—I proceeded to pour the contents of two little blue packets to my morning cup of joe.
You should have seen the stares from the fitness crowd.
I immediately checked my zipper, but surprisingly, I was already all-systems-go on that front.
Hmmm.
Why then the stares?
Well, it wasn’t but a couple seconds later when a friend of mine blurted out “you use that stuff??” as if I had committed some moral sin.
My reply?
“Yes… and mostly because I haven’t seen a bit of research to convince me otherwise.”
To which that person said NOTHING.
Frankly, I’m tired of people—be it fitness professionals or just the everyday lay person—making claims, recommendations, and statements based on “what they heard” rather than looking into the actual research themselves.
LAZY.
Now, I’m not saying that there isn’t research out there proving that artificial sweetener use poses substantial risks, I’m just saying that I haven’t seen it, and in fact, the research that I HAVE seen doesn’t seem to even partially validate the whole “use artificial sweeteners and you will surely die tomorrow” phobia that is so apparent amongst much of the world today.
And tomorrow, I’d like to come back and share with you my take on artificial sweeteners, they’re use, and the research I actually use to BACK UP my position.
Actual RESEARCH (not heresay) on Aspartame and Safety
Alright, so I ended up causing quite a stir with my post about artificial sweeteners yesterday (see above) , and today I’m back to share some research as promised. When talking artificial sweeteners, there are generally two major concerns:
1. Safety
2. Fat Loss
Let’s discuss the research surrounding both. First up, safety.
1. Butchko HH et al. Aspartame: review of safety. Regul Toxicol Pharmacol. 2002 Apr;35(2 Pt 2):S1-93.
In this 2002 paper, over 20 years since the food additive was approved by the FDA, a comprehensive review of all aspartame research to date concluded that aspartame is indeed safe when consumed by normal humans in acceptable amounts (more on acceptable amounts in a minute).
2. Magnuson BA, Burdock GA, Doull J, et al. (2007). Aspartame: a safety evaluation based on current use levels, regulations, and toxicological and epidemiological studies. Crit. Rev. Toxicol. 37 (8): 629-727.
Now more than 25 years later, another safety evaluation found that the weight of existing scientific evidence indicates that aspartame is safe at current levels of consumption as a non-nutritive sweetener.
3. Gallus S; Scotti L, Negri E, Talamini R, Franceschi S, Montella M, Giacosa A, Dal Maso L, La Vecchia C. (January 2007). Artificial sweeteners and cancer risk in a network of case-control studies. Annals of Oncology 18 (1): 40-44.
This study analyzing over 15 years of research showed a clear cut “lack of association between saccharin, aspartame and other sweeteners and the risk of several common cancers”
4. Lim U, Subar AF, Mouw T, et al. Consumption of aspartame-containing beverages and incidence of hematopoietic and brain malignancies. Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers Prevention 2006; 15.
In 2006, the US National Cancer Institute concluded in a study of over a HALF MILLION men and women aged 50 to 69 that there was no statistically significant link between aspartame consumption and leukemias, lymphomas or brain tumors.
A study of over a half million HUMANS showing no statistically significant link between aspartame and cancer, and three other 15-25 year comprehensive reviews of ALL the available research, all finding that aspartame is indeed safe when consumed in acceptable amounts.
That sure seems to ring more factual than someone’s “conspiracy” website to me.
Now, I could have sat here and listed out a couple hundred papers showing no statistical significance, but instead I chose to list the review papers who already included that data in their 20+ year review.
So, you’re probably wondering what’s “acceptable”?
You’re bound to find this interesting…
Based on all available research, scientists first determine the maximum amount of a food ingredient that can be safely consumed daily over a person’s lifetime. Then, just in case they screwed up by 10,000%, they divide this number by 100 and call that the ADI (acceptable daily intake).
Just in case you didn’t get that, the ADI is actually 100 TIMES LESS than what has been scientifically determined to be safe, as an extremely conservative precautionary measure.
So what’s the ADI for aspartame?
The ADI for aspartame has been set at 50mg/kg of body weight (again, this is 100 times less than what has been determined safe).
But to even reach the ultra conservative ADI, a 150-pound adult would have to consume about 20 12-oz. diet carbonated soft drinks, or 33 8-oz. servings of powdered soft drink, or 42 4-oz. servings of gelatin, or 97 packets of tabletop sweetener each and every day.
And people are still worrying about safety issues based on a couple studies done on RATS being fed the aspartame equivalent of up to 2,000 cans of Diet Coke daily. No, that is NOT a misprint.
Before going any further, let me just clarify my recommendations.
1. I do not think non-nutritive sweeteners, particularly aspartame as it’s perhaps the most studied nutrient of all time, are the devil.
2. Despite the ADI, I do not recommend anyone drink 20 diet soft drinks or use 97 packets of Equal daily.
3. If you are drinking a caffeinated beverage, such as Diet Coke, etc, then I would recommend you limit your intake to one can per day.
4. If going with something non-caffeinated, you can be a little more liberal, but the bulk of your daily fluid intake should still come in the form of good old fashion water.
5. In Summary: Drink at least a half gallon of water daily, but feel free to enjoy other non-calorie drinks in moderation (1-3 beverages per day)
So it looks like my recommendations are actually 1,000 times less than what has been determined safe, and I’m pretty comfortable making that recommendation.
Alright, this post is already going longer than I anticipated, so I’m going to save the research on non-nutritive sweeteners and weight loss for tomorrow.
At least 100 comments and I’ll be back tomorrow with that data (which you’ll probably find even more interesting).
In clarity and moderation,
Are Artificial Sweeteners Keeping You Fat?
Are artificial sweeteners keeping you fat?
Again, let’s take a look at what the RESEARCH has to say:
1. Kanders BS et al. An evaluation of the effect of aspartame on weight loss. Appetite. 1988; 11 Suppl 1:73-84.
In this study, two groups were analyzed: diet only and diet plus aspartame. In the end, the diet plus aspartame group resulted in 33% greater weight loss over a 12 week period.
2. Blackburn GL et al. The effect of aspartame as part of a multidisciplinary weight-control program on short- and long-term control of body weight. Am J Clin Nutr. 1997 Feb;65(2):409-18.
In this study, researchers at Harvard Medical School analyzed aspartame’s impact on weight loss and long-term maintenance of lost weight. Over a 19-week period, study participants regularly consuming aspartame lost more weight than those abstaining from its use. Moreover, the aspartame group was able to better maintain lost weight over a 2 year follow-up period when compared to the non-aspartame group.
3. Renwick AG. Intense sweeteners, food intake, and the weight of a body of evidence. Physiol Behav. 1994 Jan;55(1):139-43. Review.
A comprehensive review of the research done on HUMANS “does not support the concept that the consumption of intense sweeteners results in a paradoxical increase in calorie intake and body weight”
What about the idea that non-nutritive sweetener intake triggers one to eat more because it’s sending a sweet signal to the brain without the calories?
4. Van Wymelbeke V, et al. Influence of repeated consumption of beverages containing sucrose or intense sweeteners on food intake. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2004 Jan;58(1):154-61.
In this 2004 study, participants were given either sugar sweetened or aspartame sweetened beverages for one month; effects on food intake were analyzed. The result: the aspartame group did not experience an increase in food intake to “make up” for the calories not consumed in the beverages they drank (i.e. the sugar group consumed more total calories, and obviously, significantly more sugar).
And for those health professionals taking the stance that the use of nonnutritive sweeteners will lessen dietary adherence by causing dieters to crave other sweets, you’d also expect these individuals to recommend avoiding fruits and anything else both sweet and extremely healthful-but they’re not, leaving a huge inconsistency in the argument.
Simply put, in everything I have seen, the exact opposite has been true-the use of nonnutritive sweeteners increases dietary adherence by giving individuals a no-calorie outlet to satisfy the occasional sweet craving. Nonnutritive sweeteners provide a great alternative to sugar-laden beverages and other counterproductive sweet products and further lessen the temptation of resorting to such products to satisfy a sweet craving.
And as you can see, the research on non-nutritive sweeteners and weight loss back this up many times over.
A couple of important things to note:
1. If you are using “packets”, be it blue, pink, or yellow - all of these have calorie-containing, insulin spiking “carriers” (the most common being maltodextrin). Because there is less than one gram of these calories (really .8 grams or so), manufacturers are allowed to round down and claim zero grams and zero calories. This is not a big deal at all assuming you are using one or two packets, but for those who add 10 packets of Equal to their cereal, sorry, you’re only fooling yourself.
2. I still recommend the bulk of your fluid intake come in the form of good old fashion water.
With that, I’ll wrap up our discussion of artificial sweeteners, aspartame, safety, and weight loss. In summary, people can talk theory and anecdotes all they want, but the research simply doesn’t validate it.
At least 100 comments and I’ll be back before you know it with more content (perhaps I’ll even do a post on Stevia and Agave)!
Joel
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