One of the main causes of obesity is the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and foods. No calorie sweeteners has offered a great substitution for sugars as one of the main weight management strategies to help those fight obesity. Hunger has been one of the thought side effects to these sweeteners but studies now are showing this to not be true! Tests have been done, testing the effect of beverages containing stevia, aspartame, or sucrose on food intake, satiety, and insulin levels.
Healthy lean individuals and obese individuals took part in three separate food test days during which they received drinks containing stevia (290 kcal), aspartame (290 kcal), or sucrose (493 kcal) before their lunch and their dinner meal. Hunger and satiety levels were reported before and after meals, and every hour throughout the afternoon. Despite the difference in calories in the beverages (290 kcal vs. 493 kcal), the study showed that individuals did not compensate by eating more at their lunch and dinner meals when they consumed stevia and aspartame versus sucrose loaded drinks. The one thing that did differ significantly were the glucose and insulin tests. Stevia, aspartame and sucrose sweetened beverages significantly reduced glucose levels compared to the sucrose beverages. The bottom line is when individuals drank the stevia and aspartame sweetened beverages, they did not compensate by eating more! So is this breaking news that we can throw out the window that those no calorie sweeteners cause hunger and i.e. weight gain??? We will see what other studies continue to become revealed! FYI– regardless of this study and the fact that all no calore sweeteners affected individuals the same, I highly suggest if you do decide to use a no calorie sweetener, you stick with a natural source such as Stevia and any sweetener that uses Stevia extract vs. Sucrose or Aspartame, which are NOT natural and completely processed!
