Study: Fake Sweeteners Boost Rats' Eating

[PfcHammer]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/ap/20040708/ap_on_he_me/fit_sweeteners_appetite

Study: Fake Sweeteners Boost Rats' Eating
48 minutes ago
By RICK CALLAHAN, Associated Press Writer

INDIANAPOLIS - Rats fed artificial sweeteners ate three times the calories of rats given sugar, a finding the study's authors said suggests sugar-free foods may play a role in the nation's obesity epidemic.

Other scientists, however, dismissed that conclusion, saying studies on people don't indicate that. One researcher called the rat study nonsense.

The experiment by Purdue University researchers appears in the July issue of the International Journal of Obesity. The scientists said their rodent findings could help explain why Americans have grown fatter over the past two decades even as the nation's consumption of artificially sweetened sodas and snack foods has soared.

They contend that artificial sweeteners could be interfering with people's natural ability to regulate how much they eat by distinguishing between high- and low- calorie sweets.

[Jackpine Radical]

1. There's an old saw in the obesity treatment field

that nobody ever lost weight by drinking artificial sweeteners.

(Note that this is not the same as saying that nobody ever lost weight WHILE drinking aspartame or sacccharine. What is meant is that doing so did not contribute to the weight loss, according to dismantling studies).

[Merlin]

2. The discounters of this phenomenon in rats sound foolish.

One says he did a study of people's yogurt eating--comparing people eating sugared yogurt and people eating artificially sweetened yogurt--and found "no difference."

He fails to grasp that this experiment is entirely different. It compares caloric consumption of animals who were fed sugared foods vs those fed artificial sweetened foods routinely over a period of time.

If this observation is correct, it clearly signals some phenomenon is at work that in all probablility is also at work in humans. I'm not sure the explanation for it is correct. But the facts are the facts.

This is a great finding. I'm hopeful it will inspire more research. It is almost certain that there is a connection.

[SoCalDem]

3. The human body is a wondrous thing to behold...

Researches have been "tinkering" with our metabolisms for decades with all these "additives", "preservatives", "substitutions", etc, and we just seem to be getting sicker and fatter.

I know that some of the things that have been added were due to the mass production of and transportation needs of the marketplace, but I have a sneaky (if uneducated) idea that our bodies crave and need certain things, and if we do not get them in their pure form, we will continue to try and get them..

I know people who guzzle diet sodas all day long, when ONE "real" soda might satisfy their craving for the real thing (not necessarily Coke)..

The same goes for the "light beers" and other "diet foods".. People I know who have switched, often actually end up gaining weight, because they just drink or eat MORE or the "lo-cal" stuff..Suar free does not mean calorie free..

I know this is all anecdotal, but I come from a time when people ate REAL food...there were few, if any "fast food" places.. People did not snack and drink soft drinks all day long.. A six pack of soft drinks was a TREAT...as was potato chips...candy was an occasional treat, and was mostly eaten at Easter, Halloween, and Christmas time.

Fruits were seasonal..we gorged on fresh peaches...and then they were gone...until next summer.. Because of the seasonal nature, we looked forward to their appearance, got our fill, and then we looked forward to the next "in season" specialty..

Our bodies have not evolved as quickly as our "industries" have.. There is just plain TOO MUCH.. of everything..and we simply must eat it ALL..all the time..:eyes:

[shance]

4. What an insightful post.

Interesting and certainly makes so much sense.

Through all the corporate advertising, capitalism and a monetary system in general it looks like the quality of life and substance has been lost on just about every level.

To sound a little *woo-woo*, i think we need a level of respect towards the planets feminine energy and our conciousness needs to be expanded and awakened in both males and females especially in regards to maintaining a basic structure, order and respect, and not to mention an essential sacredness within the areas of science, biology and ecology.

My father used to say, we shouldnt mess too with Mother nature or we will wind up paying the price. I believe he was right.

[Ilsa]

6. Great post.

My son is autistic, and he loves healthy foods and fruit.

I've lost fifteen pounds over the last two months by exercising more and cuting back on my portions and eliminating alot of foods with a high glycemic index. No diet foods to speak of, moderation in everything.

[LizW]

5. I'm in the process of going off aspartame

cold turkey.

This is after at least ten years of two or more cans of diet soft drinks a day.

I did a lot of reading lately about aspartame being implicated in heart arrhythmias and "fluttering". I've had heart "flutters" for years and they seem to be getting worse. Doctors just warn against certain otc medications like pseudoephedrine (which I hardly ever take), and say that these things are very common and seem to be mostly harmless. Well, it may be harmless, but I don't like it and I want to do something about it.

So, I'm doing a little experiment to see if going off the stuff completely makes any difference. The first four days I had pretty ferocious headaches, although I attribute that to caffiene withdrawal.

[FlaGranny]

7. I wonder who funded this study.

That's the most important question to ask about any study.

Edit: But certainly SOMETHING is causing rampant obesity. I have a tendency to believe that it has more to do with dependence on easy to prepare foods and what the manufacturers put into those "fast" foods. In addition, I think a lot of the problem comes from a dieting mentality training the human body to think it exists in a situation where it believes calories need to be conserved.