Are artificial sweeteners throwing you off course?
Like much of the population, you may be more inclined to consume a product with artificial sweeteners rather than sugar itself.
Artificial sweeteners have been packed into everything: Drinks, desserts, snacks, crisps, convenience meals, to name just a few, and we now consume more of it than ever.
Sugar has been vilified throughout the media, and for good reason, but could your best intentions to avoid the sweet stuff be setting you up for failure when it comes to sugar cravings and weight gain?
3 reasons that evidence you should cut out the sweeteners now:
1. Triggered cravings and appetite
Many studies have shown that those who drink artificially sweetened drinks over regular soft drinks are more likely to be overweight. Research showed that consumption of artificial sweeteners gave us extra cravings for the real thing, along with an increased your appetite, therefore reducing willpower.
2. Increased fat consumption
The body is a very clever machine and when we take out sugar and replace it with sugar free artificial sweeteners it may seek out the fastest route to replace those calories, which is invariably in the form of fat, as gram for gram, fat contains more than twice the calories of sugar.
3. Increased calorie consumption
According to researchers from Purdue University, USA this is because the body uses food characteristics such as sweetness to gauge calorie intake. However, when a sweet food is eaten that does not contain calories this mechanism is fooled. The body then adjusts to believing that sugary foods are low in calories so next time a naturally sweet food is eaten it is more likely to overeat.
What’s the solution?
The answer is simply to cut down on sweet things altogether. By reducing both your sugar and artificial sweetener consumption, you will be retraining your taste buds and reducing your sweet tooth. Having regular artificial sweeteners in your diet is a constant reminder of something sweet and will simply increase your cravings for the real thing, with it only being a matter of time until you cave!
Instead opt for naturally flavoured waters with fresh fruit such as citrus fruits or berries.
