The World Health Organization (WHO) says that the use of sweeteners is not effective in reducing weight.
The World Health Organization (WHO) does not recommend using sugar-free sweeteners as a weight management aid.
In its press release, the health organization states that replacing sugar with a sweetener does not provide long-term benefits in reducing body fat in adults or children and is not effective in terms of weight loss.
Replacing sugar with sugar-free sweeteners does not seem to help with weight control in the long term, says Francesco Branca, WHO’s director of nutrition and food safety, in the press release.
According to the organization, long-term use of the sweetener may also increase the risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and mortality in adults.
According to Branca, people should consider other ways to reduce their intake of harmful sugar, for example, preferring naturally occurring sugar or unsweetened foods and beverages.
In general, according to Branca, people should reduce sweeteners in their diets to improve their quality of life.
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According to the organization, long-term use of the sweetener may increase the risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and mortality in adults.
Sweeteners are often used when someone wants to eliminate harmful sugar from the diet or lose weight, or just change lifestyle in general in a healthier direction.
In its declaration, the WHO highlighted, for example, saccharin, acesulfame K, sucralose, aspartame and neotame.
IS previously reported on a study that found that among sweeteners, saccharin and sucralose apparently made it more difficult to control post-meal blood sugar levels than other sweeteners.
According to the study, the sweeteners did not increase sugar, but they weakened the body’s ability to regulate blood sugar levels indirectly through changes in microbes in the mouth and intestines.
Despite the study results, the researchers did not recommend replacing artificial sweeteners with sugar, instead they recommended using sweeteners in moderation.
Read more: Research reveals which artificial sweeteners are most harmful – two stood out
The WHO recommendation applies to all sweeteners except polyols, which are sugar alcohols. The least common polyols are xylitol and maltitol. Polyols can be used, for example, in protein bars.
The health organization’s recommendation also does not apply to hygiene products that contain sweeteners, such as toothpaste.
The recommendation applies to all people except diabetics.
The recent recommendation of WHO has already attracted various criticisms.
The Washington Post reports that, for example, the food group The Calorie Control Council said in its statement that it strongly disagrees with the WHO’s recommendation.
The organization said the safe use of sweeteners has been widely proven. It reports that low-calorie and no-calorie sweeteners aid in weight management, promote oral health, and help reduce calorie and sugar intake, among other things.
The WHO recommendation is based on a meta-analysis conducted by the organization.
However, the recommendation is “conditional”, as several factors, such as differences in the health of study participants, could have influenced the study results. WHO says that possible political decisions of the recommendation can be discussed in different countries.
The Calorie Control Council group said in a statement that the “conditional” form is often used when the evidence supporting the guidelines is considered less certain.
Nutritionist Stephanie McBurnett, interviewed by The New York Times, however, was not surprised by the WHO’s recommendation.
– Nutrition research is constantly evolving and results are updated with stronger data.
According to MCBurnett, studying saturated fat and other parts of people’s diets could provide a more comprehensive understanding of health problems that were previously blamed on sugar.
He added that if you look at, for example, chronic diseases such as heart disease or obesity, sugar is not always the only factor.
