That is the question I am asked several times a week. This month, I will discuss one reason you may not be losing weight. Stay tuned each month for additional reasons.Several studies done over the last 30 years have discovered that artificial sweetener usage was relative to weight, and users were significantly more likely to gain weight, compared to those who did not use artificial sweeteners, regardless of their initial weight.†According to the researchers, the results “were not explicable by differences in food consumption patterns. The data do not support the hypothesis that long-term artificial sweetener use either helps weight loss or prevents weight gainî (ìPreventative Medicineî 1986).More recently, a 2005 San Antonio Heart Study found that drinking diet soft drinks increased the likelihood of serious weight gain ñ- far more than regular soda. On average, for each diet soft drink the participants drank per day, they were 65 percent more likely to become overweight during the next seven to eight years and 41 percent more likely to become obese.Artificial sweeteners may lead to several different diseases. Artificial sweeteners encourage sugar craving and sugar dependence. Research over the last 30 years has shown that artificial sweeteners stimulate appetite, increase cravings for carbs and produce a variety of metabolic dysfunctions that promote fat storage and weight gain – often to the researchers’ surprise. Evidence shows that artificial sweeteners promote weight gain. It also illustrates that, as usage of artificial sweeteners increases, obesity rates increase. Obesity rates have increased more than 40 percent in the last 30 years, and type 2 diabetes has also increased more than 40 percent in the last 30 years. Research has shown that artificial sweeteners also promote other health problems associated with excessive sugar consumption: cardiovascular disease, strokes and Alzheimerís disease are a few. They are still researching other diseases that could be caused by artificial sweeteners (ìYale Journal of Biology,î June 8, 2010).The different types of artificial sweeteners are made with different chemicals; for example, Sucralose is made by replacing three hydrogen and oxygen atoms in sucrose with chlorine atoms, making it about 600 times sweeter than sugar. Today, we know this chlorine-based sugar derivative as Splenda. You can find this information on Splenda on its webpage. Several studies have discovered that daily consumption of diet soda could be linked to metabolic syndrome – a sort of pre-diabetes – and type 2 diabetes, perhaps because it alters people’s gut bacteria.Why do artificial sweeteners cause weight gain?Some research studies have found that artificial sweeteners stimulate your taste buds and trick them into thinking that what you are eating is real sugar. Artificial sweeteners can be more than a 1,000 times sweeter than sugar, so your body becomes confused and starts producing insulin, your fat-storage hormone. Because you have not eaten any carbohydrates to balance things out, your body produces glucagon (glucose), which is stored as body fat – if it is not used for energy. Your metabolism slows down; you become hungry more quickly; you are prone to eat way more food (especially carbs); and increased†belly fat†is the inevitable result. Because they confuse and slow down your metabolism, you burn fewer calories every day. Artificial sweeteners can make you hungrier and cause you to crave even more sugar and starchy carbs, such as bread and pasta.Try not drinking diet soda for a few weeks; instead, drink water flavored with lime, lemon or orange slices and see how you feel and if you are back to losing weight.Jenni Mathews is the owner of Curves in Falcon. She can be reached at 719-494-2000.
