Diet cola and weight loss. Aspartame and weight loss

So medical types say it doesn't give you tumours? What about the weight loss effect? There's the story that Diet Cola makes you fatter... Here's a report:

Effects of Soft Drink Consumption on Nutrition and
Health: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Summarised as:

But if you choose to make a case for colas or uncolas leading to obesity, there's respected company on your side. Earlier this year, researchers at the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University published a study showing "quite a clear association between soft-drink intake and taking in more calories."

The Yale group analyzed 88 soda studies and discovered some intriguing relationships, such as the finding that "on days when people drink soft drinks, they consumed more calories than on days when they did not have soft drinks."

Why is that? Here's what some cyclists say...

However, there is some evidence, disputed by the manufacturers of course, that the sweet sensation provided by artificial sweeteners, including aspartame, can through a "neural/humoral" connection cause the pancreas to secrete insulin regardless of the blood sugar levels. Insulin is the storage hormone and inhibits fat mobilization, thus defeating the original goal to lose fat.

With elevated insulin which does not combine with blood sugars, you get an increase in appetite and a craving for carbohydrates. This has been reported by several researchers and of course denied by the research of the manufacturing companies.

And L Lee Coyne...

One of the reasons for using aspartame is the quest to reduce calories and therefore lose or maintain body weight. However, there is some evidence, disputed by the manufacturers of course, that the sweet sensation provided by artificial sweeteners, including aspartame, can through a "neural/humoral" connection cause the pancreas to secrete insulin regardless of the blood sugar levels. Insulin is the storage hormone and inhibits fat mobilization, thus defeating the original goal to lose fat. With elevated insulin which does not combine with blood sugars, you get an increase in appetite and a craving for carbohydrates. This has been reported by several researchers and of course denied by the research of the manufacturing companies.

Findings differ if you stand to lose money from its withdrawal from sale...

An analysis of 164 peer reviewed medical studies by Dr. Ralph Walton of Northeastern Ohio University found that of the 90 non-industry sponsored (independent) studies, 83 (92%) identified one or more problems with aspartame.

Of the 74 aspartame industry sponsored studies all (100%) claimed that no problems were found with aspartame. Little comfort for the consumer.


A conclusion - no cancer link found in humans - but messes with body - so you keep getting fatter...

"Past studies of saccharin and aspartame, packaged as Sweet'n Low and Equal, respectively, suggested that large doses could cause cancer in rats, although human studies have shown no such link. The Food and Drug Administration says these high-intensity sweeteners—along with sucralose (Splenda)—pose no threat to human health. Most nutrition experts are willing to go along with that—with caveats. "I suspect that if there were anything bad we would have found it by now," says Kelly Brownell, director of Yale's Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity. "My real concern would be with children. Heavy-duty sweeteners haven't been proved to be unsafe, but I'm not convinced that they're safe." "