May 29, 2014 - Blogs
A new, multi-center, clinical study conducted simultaneously by researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Health and Wellness Center and Temple University’s Center for Obesity Research and Education, Philadelphia found that drinking diet beverages helps people lose weight. This was the first prospective, randomized clinical trial that directly examined water and diet beverages in relation to weight loss during a behavioral weight loss program. The study (“The Effects of Water and Non-Nutritive Sweetened Beverages on Weight Loss During a 12-week Weight Loss Treatment Program." J. Petersis, et al) to be published in the June issue of Obesity, the journal of The Obesity Society. Funding was provided by the American Beverage Association and the study design was peer‐reviewed and posted on clinicaltrials.gov.
The study followed two groups—one allowed to drink diet, teas and flavored waters, and another who acted as a control group that drank water only. Other than the beverage, both groups followed an identical diet and exercise program during the 12-week study. The result? Diet soda drinkers lost four lbs. more on average than the people who drank water (13 lbs. for diet-soda drinkers vs. 9 lbs. for those drinking water only.) More than half of the people in the diet beverage group—64 percent — lost at least five percent of their body weight, compared with only 43 percent of the water-only control group.
It seems like common sense that zero-calorie beverages would not increase weight, and in fact help people lose weight, leading one to believe that a study like this was not exactly groundbreaking. However, most studies compared sugar-sweetened beverages and non-caloric sweetened beverages—and logically found that consuming sugary drinks sugar added more weight to the subjects.
But in the last several years, critics of artificial sweeteners have pointed to research that finds a correlation with high-intensity sweeteners in diet beverages with increased body weight (as BMI). They claim that they can cause weight gain by stimulating the appetite and creating a heightened craving for sugar as the brain expects a sugar dose based on the taste, but does not receive the expected caloric satiation. These sweeteners also triggerinsulin release—or not—which could encourage weight gain. (Of course the same effects—if they occur—would also be expected with “natural" sweeteners such as stevia or monkfruit.) Still, as they say correlation is not causation and this study was designed to prove or disprove the theory that diet drinks encouraged weight gain.
“There’s so much misinformation about diet beverages that isn’t based on studies designed to test cause and effect, especially on the internet," said John C. Peters, PhD, co-author of the study and the chief strategy officer of the CU Anschutz Health and Wellness Center. “This research allows dieters to feel confident that low and no-calorie sweetened beverages can play an important and helpful role as part of an effective and comprehensive weight loss strategy."
Not only did the diet beverage group lose more weight than the control group, they also reported feeling significantly less hungry. In addition, testing showed they had significantly greater improvements in serum levels of total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and a significant reduction in serum triglycerides.
Based on the design of this study the researchers were unable to pinpoint the mechanism for the greater weight loss in the sweetened beverage group, citing the need for further testing. The researchers concluded “These results strongly suggest that NNS beverages can be part of an effective weight loss strategy and individuals who desire to consume them should not be discouraged from doing so because of concerns that they will undermine short-term weight loss efforts."
This study cast doubt on the conclusions of several widely published studies finding negative relationships between diet soft drink consumption and health, including one presented in March at American College of Cardiology’s 63rd Annual Scientific Session that found an association between cardiovascular problems and self-reported diet-beverage consumption in healthy postmenopausal women who drink two or more diet drinks a day. However, “We only found an association, so we can’t say that diet drinks cause these problems," Ankur Vyas, M.D., fellow, Cardiovascular Diseases, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, and the lead investigator of the study said, adding that there may be other factors about people who drink more diet drinks that could explain the connection.
In this environment, including the constantly reinforced fear of artificial by natural- food activists, corporate-conspiracy theorists and marketers of alternative competitive sweeteners (Unnatural chemicals! Corporate plots! See the CNN comment section on this report for a microcosm.), the soft drink industry has seen a precipitous drop in zero-calorie soda sales, about 7% over the past year. Meanwhile the market for “flavored waters" is on the rise, including such products as Talking Rain’s Sparkling ICE, a fizzy drink made with artificial sweeteners and colors, which the company expected to reach $400 million in annual sales by the end of 2013. Or, as we like to call that type of product in our house—“diet pop" (or diet soda when we are attempting to hide our Midwestern roots).
If you’re developing products in this challenging, confusing market, a look at “Navigating the Landscape of Sweetener Formulations" a Report on the FoodTechToolbox website might be helpful before plotting your sugar-reduction strategies. But, be forewarned: It doesn’t explain the growing consumer preference for orange-colored sweetened, flavored fizzy water in a single-serve bottle vs. an orange-colored sweetened, flavored fizzy water in a can. Strictly speaking that solution falls under psychology, not food science.
The study followed two groups—one allowed to drink diet, teas and flavored waters, and another who acted as a control group that drank water only. Other than the beverage, both groups followed an identical diet and exercise program during the 12-week study. The result? Diet soda drinkers lost four lbs. more on average than the people who drank water (13 lbs. for diet-soda drinkers vs. 9 lbs. for those drinking water only.) More than half of the people in the diet beverage group—64 percent — lost at least five percent of their body weight, compared with only 43 percent of the water-only control group.
It seems like common sense that zero-calorie beverages would not increase weight, and in fact help people lose weight, leading one to believe that a study like this was not exactly groundbreaking. However, most studies compared sugar-sweetened beverages and non-caloric sweetened beverages—and logically found that consuming sugary drinks sugar added more weight to the subjects.
But in the last several years, critics of artificial sweeteners have pointed to research that finds a correlation with high-intensity sweeteners in diet beverages with increased body weight (as BMI). They claim that they can cause weight gain by stimulating the appetite and creating a heightened craving for sugar as the brain expects a sugar dose based on the taste, but does not receive the expected caloric satiation. These sweeteners also triggerinsulin release—or not—which could encourage weight gain. (Of course the same effects—if they occur—would also be expected with “natural" sweeteners such as stevia or monkfruit.) Still, as they say correlation is not causation and this study was designed to prove or disprove the theory that diet drinks encouraged weight gain.
“There’s so much misinformation about diet beverages that isn’t based on studies designed to test cause and effect, especially on the internet," said John C. Peters, PhD, co-author of the study and the chief strategy officer of the CU Anschutz Health and Wellness Center. “This research allows dieters to feel confident that low and no-calorie sweetened beverages can play an important and helpful role as part of an effective and comprehensive weight loss strategy."
Not only did the diet beverage group lose more weight than the control group, they also reported feeling significantly less hungry. In addition, testing showed they had significantly greater improvements in serum levels of total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and a significant reduction in serum triglycerides.
Based on the design of this study the researchers were unable to pinpoint the mechanism for the greater weight loss in the sweetened beverage group, citing the need for further testing. The researchers concluded “These results strongly suggest that NNS beverages can be part of an effective weight loss strategy and individuals who desire to consume them should not be discouraged from doing so because of concerns that they will undermine short-term weight loss efforts."
This study cast doubt on the conclusions of several widely published studies finding negative relationships between diet soft drink consumption and health, including one presented in March at American College of Cardiology’s 63rd Annual Scientific Session that found an association between cardiovascular problems and self-reported diet-beverage consumption in healthy postmenopausal women who drink two or more diet drinks a day. However, “We only found an association, so we can’t say that diet drinks cause these problems," Ankur Vyas, M.D., fellow, Cardiovascular Diseases, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, and the lead investigator of the study said, adding that there may be other factors about people who drink more diet drinks that could explain the connection.
In this environment, including the constantly reinforced fear of artificial by natural- food activists, corporate-conspiracy theorists and marketers of alternative competitive sweeteners (Unnatural chemicals! Corporate plots! See the CNN comment section on this report for a microcosm.), the soft drink industry has seen a precipitous drop in zero-calorie soda sales, about 7% over the past year. Meanwhile the market for “flavored waters" is on the rise, including such products as Talking Rain’s Sparkling ICE, a fizzy drink made with artificial sweeteners and colors, which the company expected to reach $400 million in annual sales by the end of 2013. Or, as we like to call that type of product in our house—“diet pop" (or diet soda when we are attempting to hide our Midwestern roots).
If you’re developing products in this challenging, confusing market, a look at “Navigating the Landscape of Sweetener Formulations" a Report on the FoodTechToolbox website might be helpful before plotting your sugar-reduction strategies. But, be forewarned: It doesn’t explain the growing consumer preference for orange-colored sweetened, flavored fizzy water in a single-serve bottle vs. an orange-colored sweetened, flavored fizzy water in a can. Strictly speaking that solution falls under psychology, not food science.
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