According to a recent article in the journal Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism, artificial sweeteners may be worse than sugar!  According to the article “The prospective studies Dr. Swithers reviewed found an elevated risk for weight gain and obesity, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, and hypertension in those who consumed ASBs. No decreased risk for weight gain or increased body fat percentage was associated with ASB intake.”  (ASB= artificially sweetened beverage). In addition to the ill effects of over-consumption of sugar, artificial sweeteners have the added threat of the unknown.  In fact, humans have not been consuming these chemical sweeteners long enough for us to know what long term effects they might have on human health and disease.

Are you a sweet drink addict?  Try these tips to reduce your intake:

• Try unsweetened but flavored carbonated water
• Get a fruit infuser for and try to keep cold, fruit-flavored water in your fridge
• Sweeten coffee and tea with half your normal amount of sweetener
• Cut fruit juices with water

Your health will thank you!

Reference:

http://download.cell.com/images/edimages/Trends/EndoMetabolism/tem_888.pdf