Low-cal sweeteners: good or bad?

By 12. januari 2015Blog, Health, Taste

Low calorie sweeteners (LCS), they are already the sweetness in our diet or zero drinks, and are starting to make an appearance is reduced sugar drinks such as Coke Life.

But can they really help us to lose weight as part of a calorie controlled diet as written at the bottom of so many diet drink adverts? Secondly, are they bad for our health?

To answer these questions, a group of independent experts were brought together at the International Sweeteners Association Conference in April last year and asked for their opinions based on the data. Here are some of their remarks published in the journal Nutrition Bulletin.

Switching to diet drinks sweetened with LCS does seem to reduce energy intake. In other words, losing the sugar in your drink does not cause you to compensate for that loss of sugar by consuming more.

LCS do not modulate the glycaemic response and therefore are safe for diabetics.

LCS in themselves are not fermented by the bacteria in your mouth and therefore do not cause tooth decay, however, keep in mind that other components of the drinks they are in may cause damage to teeth.

As to whether or not they are bad for us, they state that regulatory authorities worldwide have published positive statements about the safety of LCS.

It is an interesting read and is open access. Click here to have a look.