Artificial sweeteners can be counterproductive for dieting

If you think using artificial sweeteners instead of sugar in your coffee can help with weight loss, think again.

According to a study, artificial sweeteners combined with a low-carbohydrate diet can significantly increase calorie consumption.

Researchers from the University of Sydney have found that switching to artificial sweeteners in a weight-loss diet can have the opposite effect because artificial sweeteners can make you eat a lot. more leads to a large excess of calories.

According to information published in the journal Cell Metabolism, the team included a diet of fruit flies with a different amount of carbohydrates and artificial sweeteners.

The results showed that flies eating artificial sweeteners along with a low carbohydrate diet showed a rapid increase in food intake.

The researchers say this increase varies according to the amount of artificial sweetener provided and this is not found in flies consuming food without artificial sweeteners.

Previous research on flies and mice has shown that the consumption of artificial sweeteners increases the feeling of hunger because a complex neural network reacts to artificial sweeteners by "talking" to animals that the body does not load fully amount.

Researcher Greg Neely, an associate professor at the University of Sydney, said in a recent study, "we show that eating with artificial sweeteners in a low carbohydrate diet can also increase calories. consume".

"Although this problem is said to be simple, there is also a growing study including our research that further clarifies the relationship between artificial sweeteners, hunger and food intake. eat, "Neely added.

However, the researchers note that in order to fully understand the impact of artificial sweeteners on overall health, a systematic investigation of these effects on the metabolism of body.

"Falsifying the energy value of food by using artificial sweeteners can have unintended consequences mentioned in animal studies," Neely said.