If you are one of the millions of people who consume diet drinks each day, you may want to listen up. New research shows that people who drink diet drinks containing artificial sweeteners may actually gain weight! The fact of the matter is, drinks that are sweetened artificially are designed to keep weight down, but studies involving lab rats, who consumed them in food, actually ended up consuming more calories, gained more weight, and put on more body fat than the rats who were given foods sweetened with glucose.
Well, this certainly makes sense to the Gorilla; after all, he is a big consumer of diet drinks and artificial sweeteners. Now, even the Gorilla must say that he experienced this phenomenon personally. How? Well funny you should ask! It is because of the fact that like many of you, it is a way to tell our minds that “hey, this is a low cal drink/snack/food, so I can consume more calories in other foods today!” Think about it now people, you may not even be consciously aware that you are doing it, but research proves it! (And, the last time the Gorilla checked- rats aren’t liars- they are just rats!)
Susan Swithers and Terry Davidson, are the ones who conducted the experiments, and they have suggested that by breaking the connection between a sweet sensation and high-calorie food, the use of saccharine changes the body’s ability to regulate how many calories it consumes. “The data clearly indicate that consuming a food sweetened with no-calorie saccharine can lead to greater body-weight gain and adiposity than would consuming the same food sweetened with a higher-calorie sugar.” Their conclusion and report is to be published in the journal of Behavioral Neuroscience. This news is probably somewhat disheartening to doctors, nutritionists and personal weight trainers, who (like the Gorilla) have been recommending (and using) the low-cal alternatives for years now, as a means to have their patients/clients cut calories! Many people have relied on this method- but think about it; the epidemic of obesity happens to (coincidentally?) correspond with the popularity of low-calorie soft drinks.
So, should we take the advice the Europeans have been giving us for years and years? You know, the advice that all-natural is a much better way to go! Dr. Oz- America’s leading cardiologist, has said that the body will have a tough time digesting and processing what it does not recognize! Sugar has been around for thousands of years and the body knows how to process it. Perhaps we should take a look at the very low rates of obesity among Europeans (in comparison to the U.S.) and get a clue!