Until recently, I fed my family foods with no added sugars like Heinz baked beans on toast as a quick and easy weeknight meal.
I believed, like any other normal parent, that I was doing the pretty healthy sugar-free thing for my wife Dinah, the fashion editor of this paper, our two kids — Lyra, six, and Sasha, three — and me.
We all know that a high sugar diet is associated with weight gain and rotting of your teeth. So swapping sugar for artificial sweeteners seems like a good idea, right?
But three years ago, I started researching a book about the dangers of ultra-processed foods (UPF)—packaged convenience foods made with additives not normally found in a domestic kitchen—and discovered that artificial sweeteners are a common be an addition. .
In general, the main problem with ultra-processed foods is not the additives, but rather that those additives are a sign that a product is designed to have addictive properties, so it can be very difficult to stop eating them.
Until recently, I fed my family foods with no added sugars like Heinz baked beans on toast as a quick and easy weeknight meal. Pictured Dinah (L) and Chris (R)
But some of the science around the additives themselves is concerning, especially about sweeteners.
In fact, artificial sweeteners are sold on a lie. They promise to be better for our health than sugar, but there is growing evidence that this is not the case.
This isn’t just me blasting about my book; the World Health Organization has just issued official guidelines warning people not to use sugar substitutes for weight loss because it just won’t work and may even increase the risk of diabetes and heart disease.
However, avoiding them is easier said than done, especially if you’re on a diet. Even the NHS recommends counting calories as part of a healthy weight loss plan and since artificial sweeteners are very low in calories most ‘diet’ foods are loaded with them.
While we have a lot more science to do on the long-term effects of artificial sweeteners, the research at this point is enough to worry WHO and make me clear my kitchen shelves of them.
Exactly why artificial sweeteners are not better than sugar is not entirely clear.
One theory is that if we replace sugar with a low-calorie alternative, our body senses the sweet taste and prepares for the influx of calories from real sugar — but then gets confused when those calories don’t show up.
In fact, artificial sweeteners are sold on a lie. They promise to be better for our health than sugar, but there is growing evidence that this is not the case
It is possible that this confusion is confusing our metabolism. Exactly what happens is a scientific mystery, but the result is that our bodies maintain their weight in the long run and some people even gain more weight.
Some studies show that artificial sweeteners can even lead to an increase in sugar levels in our bloodstream, which can increase the risk of type 2 diabetes.
It also appears that the chemicals in artificial sweeteners may upset the delicate balance of our gut microbiome – the teeming world of stomach bugs that help our bodies regulate the sugar levels in our blood. Upset your gut and increase your risk of diabetes.
It’s all the exact opposite of the “healthy” halo that the makers of ultra-processed foods and drinks build around their products with million-pound ad campaigns.
No wonder we’re confused.
I’m a doctor, but even I was swallowed up by the seemingly virtuous glow surrounding products like No Sugar Added Heinz Beans and Muller Light Greek Style Yogurt, which contains the sweetener aspartame. (Luscious Lemon flavor was my then three-year-old daughter’s favorite; now she has plain yogurt with honey or jam.)
Indeed, I found it harder than I thought to create a sweetener-free household. For example, it is very difficult to find a fruit squash without added sweeteners. Even the ‘full-fat’ Ribena contains sucralose.
Therefore, to make a difference at home, I had to make a pretty radical change – we don’t buy artificially sweetened ultra-processed foods, and instead of sweetened drinks, my kids only drink milk or water.
I find that it is better for me to eat a little bit of something with sugar, knowing that large amounts of sugar is bad for me, than to consume artificial sweetener under the dangerous illusion that any amount of it is good for you.
Spraying low-sugar ketchup on my fries made me think they were healthier. But I no longer believe that to be the case.
So how do the popular low-calorie foods compare?
DIET DRINK CONFUSION
Cola Light
Artificial Sweetener: Acesulfame K
If you look at the NHS-recommended Change 4 Life app, which recommends ‘healthy swaps’ for less healthy but popular foods, it advises buying Diet Coke rather than sugary soft drinks.
Diet Coke is an excellent example of an ultra-processed drink
I think that’s a big problem. Not just because artificial sweeteners themselves may not be any better than sugar, but because Diet Coke is an excellent example of an ultra-processed drink, something made for the sole purpose of making profit, rather than nutrition.
In addition to the sweetener Acesulfame K, caffeine, flavorings and colorings, it contains phosphoric acid, which rots teeth and leaches minerals from our bones. Whether it’s slightly better or worse than full-sugar colas is arguable — they’re both terrible for your body.
Laboratory studies suggest that consuming Acesulfame K can disrupt the balance of your microbiome, the “friendly bacteria” that live in your gut.
This, in turn, can increase levels of harmful inflammation in the body and also lead to weight gain after a month, reports the 2017 University of North Carolina rat study in the journal PLoS One.
More recently, in 2021, Japanese researchers warned in the Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology that Acesulfame K may cause inflammation in the gut itself in laboratory rodents.
This can cause bacteria to leak from the gut into the bloodstream, causing inflammation throughout the body, which can increase the risk of serious diseases such as type 2 diabetes and cancer.
Sucralose may decrease the effectiveness of a person’s insulin response
NOT-SO-SWEET SQUASH
Robinsons Pumpkin No Added Sugar
Artificial Sweetener: Sucralose
Research published in the prestigious journal Cell in 2022, from a microbiome study, reported that consuming sucralose disrupts the gut microbiome in a way that also disrupts a person’s blood sugar levels.
It can also decrease the effectiveness of their insulin response.
These two effects combined may increase their risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
‘LIGHT’ IS NOT ALWAYS CORRECT
Some studies also show that aspartame interferes with human metabolism
Muller Light Yoghurt Greek Style
Artificial sweetener: aspartame
Some studies also show that aspartame interferes with human metabolism.
Research on more than 2,000 young girls in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2015 linked it to entering puberty earlier than normal.
And a Canadian study in the journal PLoS One last year on rats found that consuming aspartame increased their blood sugar levels and decreased the effectiveness of their insulin response, which may increase their risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
It appears that erythritol may be involved in increasing the risk of developing blood clots
In one report, Stevia increased blood sugar levels in all participants who consumed it
UN-ENGLISH ICE CREAM
Halo Top Peanut Butter Cup ice cream
Artificial sweetener: Erythritol
This year, researchers warned that consuming erythritol is associated with an increased risk of serious heart attacks and strokes.
It appears that erythritol may be involved in increasing the risk of developing blood clots that block veins or arteries, the Cleveland Clinic study reports in the journal Nature Medicine.
STAY AWAY FROM STEVIA
Heinz 50% Less salt & sugar Tomato ketchup
Heinz Baked Beanz With No Added Sugar
Sweetener: Both contain steviol glycosides
In the prestigious 2022 Cell report, stevia increased blood sugar in all participants who consumed it and altered the microbiome in ways that appear to be associated with high blood sugar.
- Ultra-processed people: Why are we all eating things that aren’t food? . . And why can’t we stop?, by Chris van Tulleken, is published by Cornerstone.