Bermuda Post

Monday, Jun 05, 2023

WHO warns against long-term health risks of artificial sweeteners

WHO warns against long-term health risks of artificial sweeteners

Artificial sweeteners won’t help with weight loss and may raise the risk of diabetes, heart disease and death, says the World Health Organization (WHO).

Sugar substitutes such as stevia, aspartame and sucralose do not help people lose weight in the long run and may instead pose health risks, the World Health Organization has warned.

A systematic review of the available evidence "suggests that use of NSS [non-sugar sweeteners] does not confer any long-term benefit in reducing body fat in adults or children,” the WHO said in a statement.

“Results of the review also suggest that there may be potential undesirable effects from long-term use of NSS, such as an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and mortality in adults,” it added.

Francesco Branca, WHO director for nutrition and food safety, said replacing sugars with artificial sweeteners "does not help with weight control in the long term,” and instead, “people need to consider other ways to reduce free sugars intakes, such as consuming food with naturally occurring sugars, like fruit, or unsweetened food and beverages”.

Artificial sweeteners are “not essential dietary factors and have no nutritional value,” Branca emphasised.

“People should reduce the sweetness of the diet altogether, starting early in life, to improve their health”.

Last year, a large study in France flagged a possible link between artificial sweeteners and an increased risk of cancer. And national health organisations such as Canada’s have long warned that zero-calorie or low-calorie sugar substitutes are neither necessary nor helpful.


Aspartame, stevia, sucralose all targeted


“Sugar substitutes do not need to be consumed to reduce the intake of free sugars,” the guidelines say, adding that, because “there are no well-established health benefits associated with the intake of sweeteners, nutritious foods and beverages that are unsweetened should be promoted instead”.

The WHO discourages the consumption of “all synthetic and naturally occurring or modified non-nutritive sweeteners that are not classified as sugars found in manufactured foods and beverages, or sold on their own to be added to foods and beverages by consumers”.

That includes acesulfame K, aspartame, advantame, cyclamates, neotame, saccharin, sucralose, stevia and stevia derivatives.

The recommendations do not apply to personal care and hygiene products containing NSS, such as toothpaste, skin cream, and medications, or to low-calorie sugars and sugar alcohols (polyols). These sugars or sugar derivatives do contain calories - they are therefore not considered sugar substitutes - and are commonly present in various food products such as sugar-free chewing gum and sugar-free candy.


New guidance sparks criticism


WHO’s new guidance applies to all people except those with pre-existing diabetes.

However, WHO emphasised it had been assessed “as conditional” due to the diversity of participants in the studies that formed the basis for its conclusions, as well as the very complex consumption habits of sugar-free sweeteners.

Some nutrition experts have quickly jumped in to point these out, saying the new guidelines were largely based on observational studies that do not establish a direct link between sweeteners and weight control.

First of all, it is important to understand the WHO’s advice “is to governments and policymakers, not to individuals,” said Tom Sanders, a professor emeritus of nutrition and dietetics at King's College London.

However, because of the way they have been presented, people are taking these recommendations as direct advice, he told Euronews Next, adding he expects them to create “a lot of confusion amongst consumers”.

“On one hand, they are being told by government, ‘avoid sugar-sweetened beverages,’ and on the other, ’well, actually you shouldn't be drinking artificial sweeteners’”.

The WHO’s review “does not really show any definite adverse effects, and they do sort of miss out on quite an important one, which is dental caries in children,” Sanders added, noting there is “clear evidence” that replacing sugar sweeteners does help with dental care.

Sanders criticised the guidance for not taking into account “the real-world situation,” particularly in the field of dietetics.

“Sometimes what you're trying to do is get people to control their weight, which is to reduce their calorie intake, and it can help if people are drinking a full sugary drink to switch to a reduced-calorie drink or zero-calorie drink,” he explained.

Indeed, artificial sweeteners have no nutritional value, but a lot of other things in our diet, like tea or coffee, also don’t, he said, “but, you know, people drink them rather than just drink water because they like the taste of it”.

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Bermuda Post
Close
0:00
0:00
The driver has been described by authorities as a 21-year-old woman from Tallahassee
Joe Biden falls at the Air Force Graduation
America's Got Talent…
Nvidia Joins Tech Giants as First Chipmaker to Reach $1 Trillion Valuation
Drone Attack on Moscow's Wealthiest Neighborhoods Suspected to be Launched by Ukraine
AI ‘extinction’ should be same priority as nuclear war – experts
Prominent Hacker Forum RaidForums Suffers Substantial Data Breach
Nvidia CEO Huang says firms, individuals without AI expertise will be left behind
WPP Revolutionizes Advertising with NVIDIA's AI Powerhouse
Two US Employees Fired For Chasing Robbers Out Of Store As They Broke ''Company Policy''
If you donated to BLM, you got played
Pfizer, the EU, and disappearing ink - Smoke, Mirrors, and the Billion-Dose Pfizer Vaccine Deal: EU's 'Open Secret
Actor Tom Hanks told Harvard University graduates to be superheroes in their defense of truth and American ideals, and to resist those who twist the truth for their own gain
The Sussexes' Royal Rebound: Could Harry and Meghan Markle Return to the UK?
A provocative study suggests: Left-Wing Extremism and its Unsettling Connection to Psychopathy and Narcissism
France Arrests 10 on Suspicion of Failing to Respond in Time to Migrant Drowning
Neuralink Receives FDA Approval for First-in-Human Clinical Study
Is Saudi Arabia the holiest place in the world? Ancient Hebrew Inscriptions from "The Mount Sinai Stand" Discovered in Saudi Arabia
Ukrainian Intelligence Official Admits to Assassination Attempts on Putin
WATCH THIS: democracy in Russia is so bad!
Ed Davey: It is possible for a woman to have a penis
Bernard Arnault Loses $11.2 Billion in One Day as Investors Fear Slowdown in US Growth Will Reduce Demand for Luxury Products
Russian’s Wagner Group leader: “I am not a chef, I am a butcher. Russia is in danger of a revolution like in 1917.”
TikTok Sues Montana Over Law Banning the App
Ron DeSantis Jumps Into 2024 Presidential Race, Setting Up Showdown With Trump
Steve Jobs introducing Apple's iPhone, exactly 16 years ago.
China overtakes Japan as world's top car exporter
Last Walmart in North Portland Closing Down
Banking Behemoth vs Ex-Boss: The PMorgan-Epstein Entanglement
Florida's DeSantis seeks to disqualify judge in Disney case
Talks between US House Republicans and President Biden's Democratic administration on raising the federal government's $31.4tn debt ceiling have paused
Biden Administration Eyeing High-Profile Visits to China: The Biden Administration is heating things up by looking into setting up a series of top-level visits to Beijing by top officials in the coming months
New evidence in special counsel probe may undercut Trump’s claim documents he took were automatically declassified
A French court of appeals confirmed former President Nicolas Sarkozy's three-year jail term for corruption and influence peddling
Debt Ceiling Crises Have Unleashed Political Chaos
Weibao Wang, a former software engineer at Apple, was charged with stealing trade secrets related to autonomous systems, including self-driving cars
Mobile phone giant Vodafone to cut 11,000 jobs globally over three years as new boss says its performance not good enough
Elon Musk compares George Soros to Magneto, the supervillain from the Marvel Comics series.
Warren Buffett Sells TSMC Shares Over Concerns About Taiwan's Stability
New Study Finds That Secondary Bacterial Pneumonia Is a Major Cause of Death in COVID-19 Patients Who Require Ventilator Assistance
The Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines calls the British monarchy "an absurdity" he wants to remove in his lifetime
Remarkable video from our Fox drone team
The official tapes of Trump's deposition in the E. Jean Carroll battery (rape) and defamation case have been released.
Here is the full video that the media are purposely not sharing
King Charles III being crowned.
New York procedures cover up cold blooded first degree murder of black man by white man
Newly released video of Donald Trump’s rape trial deposition:
Video: Ukraine MP Punches Russian Representative At Global Meet
El Paso mayor has declared a state of emergency
Russia accused Ukraine of attacking the Kremlin with drones in an attempt to kill Putin
×