Benefits of artificial sweeteners unclear

Conclusion The study authors suggest artificial sweeteners may not aid weight loss, despite marketing claims to the contrary, and could actually increase the risk of type 2 diabetes. However, the results need to be treated with caution, as this review had numerous limitations: The randomised controlled trials had great variability and few participants, increasing the possibility of the results occurring by chance. They were also judged to be at a high risk of bias – for example, the participants could not be blinded to the intervention, and adherence (drop-out) rates were not provided. We do not know whether there were any other interventions, such as change in diet or exercise, in either group over the course of the trials. Some trials involved consuming an artificial sweetener capsule, but we do not know what other drinks – "diet", sugary or alcoholic – were also being consumed. It is unlikely that changing one dietary factor would result in major weight reduction. The cohort studies relied on food-frequency questionnaires. Poor recall can make these inaccurate, and they may not adequately account for changes in people's diet over time. Cohort studies can be useful for looking at trends in large groups, but they cannot account for all possible confounding factors. Most of the studies only controlled for age, sex, smoking and physical activity level. The majority of cohort studies were from the US, with only one cohort study from the UK, so th...
Source: NHS News Feed - Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Food/diet Obesity Source Type: news