Impact of Sweeteners on Hunger & Food Consumption

Sugar-sweetened beverages have been implicated by many advocacy and research groups as being one of the causes of the current obesity epidemic.  Over time, this has lead to an abundance of drinks and other snacks sweetened with a variety of artificial sweeteners.  Among the many concerns that have been voiced about artificial sweeteners, there is some question as to whether these low-calorie drinks cause compensatory over-eating to make up for the reduced calories in these drinks.  A new study recently explored this possibility.

For this new study, nutrition researchers fed study volunteers a snack sweetened with one of three different sweeteners (stevia, aspartame, or sucrose [table sugar]) and then studied the impact of these snacks on hunger and food intake at later meals.  The snacks contained either 290 Calories (stevia-sweetened and aspartame-sweetened snacks) or 493 Calories (sucrose-sweetened snack).  Hunger levels were recorded before and after meals and throughout the test afternoon.  The study investigators reported that:

• Consumption of stevia- and aspartame-sweetened snacks did not cause an increase in calories consumed at lunch and dinner meals compared to consumption of sugar-sweetened snacks.
• Feelings of hunger or fullness were not different between the different sweeteners.
• Stevia-sweetened snacks appeared to do a better job of supporting normal blood sugar health compared to sugar-sweetened snacks.

These are interesting results that suggest low-calorie snacks or drinks will not induce compensatory eating behaviors.  This appears to be because feelings of hunger and/or fullness were not different between the three sweeteners despite the fact the stevia- and aspartame-sweetened snacks contained about 200 fewer calories than the sugar-sweetened snacks.   This ability of low-calorie sweeteners to achieve the same feelings of fullness at a lower calorie intake level suggests that consuming low-calorie snacks can be an effective way to reduce overall caloric intake and lose weight.  The International Food Information Council Foundation has some excellent material on low-calorie sweetener options if you want to read more on this topic.

Controlling calorie intake can be difficult for many of us.  Making appropriate food/beverage choices is an important part of controlling calorie intake.  My protein bars, shakes, and snacks are portion-controlled to help easily regulate calorie intake, making them a great part of my easy diet plan.