WHO advises against use of artificial sweeteners for weight loss. Here’s why

The WHO stated that these sweeteners had undesirable effects like increased risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and mortality in adults.

Hyderabad: The World Health Organization (WHO) has recently issued a warning against consuming artificial sweeteners or non-sugar sweeteners (NSS), as a replacement for sugar in order to control body weight or reduce the risk of non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

Based on the findings of a systematic review of the available, the WHO stated that these sweeteners do not confer any long-term benefit in reducing body fat in adults or children, and further suggested that the use of such sugar alternatives had undesirable effects like increased risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and mortality in adults.

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“Replacing free sugars with NSS does not help with weight control in the long term. People need to consider other ways to reduce free sugars intake, such as consuming food with naturally occurring sugars, like fruit, or unsweetened food and beverages. NSS are not essential dietary factors and have no nutritional value. People should reduce the sweetness of the diet altogether, starting early in life, to improve their health,” said Francesco Branca, WHO Director for Nutrition and Food Safety.

The warning was issued against all artificial and naturally obtained or modified non-nutritive sweeteners found in several manufactured foods and beverages or are sold independently to consumers.

The WHO further added, “The recommendation does not apply to personal care and hygiene products containing NSS, such as toothpaste, skin cream, and medications, or to low-calorie sugars and sugar alcohols (polyols), which are sugars or sugar derivatives containing calories and are therefore not considered NSS.”

The health organisation also said the guideline is to be viewed as a part of the pre-existing and forthcoming guidelines on maintaining healthy diets which aim to establish long-term healthy eating habits, improve the quality of a diet and reduce the risk of non-communicable diseases across the globe.