Millions of people consume artificial sweeteners every day in products such as low-calorie soft drinks or the sweeteners used in coffee, to avoid weight gain from sugar intake. However, the validity of these alternatives has been the subject of debate for a long time.
Artificial sweeteners, which are used as substitutes for white sugar in many products, do not help with weight loss and may have dangerous health effects, according to the World Health Organization.
On Monday, the United Nations organization issued new recommendations warning against the use of so-called artificial sweeteners, and the organization confirmed in a statement that a systematic review of the available evidence “indicates that the use of artificial sweeteners has no long-term benefit in reducing body fat percentage in adults or children.” .
Also, the review’s findings “suggest that there may be undesirable effects from long-term use of artificial sweeteners, such as an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and mortality in adults.”
Francesco Branca, Director of Nutrition and Food Safety at the World Health Organization, stressed that replacing regular sugar with artificial sweeteners “does not help control weight in the long term.”
He said in a statement, “People should adopt other methods to reduce their intake of sugars, such as eating foods that contain natural sugars such as fruits, or unsweetened foods and drinks.”
He continued, “Artificial sweeteners do not represent essential nutritional factors and have no nutritional value,” noting that “people should reduce the intake of sugary foods in their diet at an early stage in their lives to improve their health.”
The organization confirmed that its new recommendation applies to everyone except people with diabetes. She added that among the most commonly used sweeteners are acesulfame K, aspartame, cyclamate, neotame, saccharin, sucralose and stevia.
At the same time, the WHO noted that its guidelines were considered conditional because it remains difficult to draw firm conclusions due to the diversity of participants and the complexity of the use of artificial sweeteners in the studies the organization considered.
