No proof that sugar-free soft drinks are healthier, argues review

Conclusions This review assessed a range of research exploring the the potential negative health impact of artificially sweetened drinks, compared to sugar sweetened drinks. The review is fairly one-sided, discussing the links between artificially sweetened drinks and the global obesity crisis, as well as the negative environmental impact of sweetened drinks. The researchers suggest that national dietary guidance shouldn't recommend consuming artificially sweetened drinks as an alternative to sugar sweetened drinks. However, a number of experts commenting on the review expressed the opinion that despite the lack of evidence for the benefits of artificially sweetened drinks, "diet drinks" were a better option than sugar sweetened drinks for people trying to lose weight. Professor Naveed Sattar, Professor of Metabolic Medicine at the University of Glasgow commented, saying: "I do not agree with the suggestion that diet drinks are no better than sugary drinks in terms of body weight. Whilst I agree the evidence base in terms of proper trials comparing sugary drinks with diet drinks are lacking for real end-points like weight or heart disease, intuitively a drink which contains lots of calories (i.e. sugary drinks) versus one that contains few or no calories (i.e. diet drinks) must be worse for health given clear adverse effects on dental health and clear gain of calories and so weight gain potential. To suggest otherwise would be irresponsible." Prof Susan J...
Source: NHS News Feed - Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Food/diet Obesity QA articles Source Type: news