Faux Food
Sit back and imagine that sitting before you is a big juicy burger topped with melted cheese and nestled in a delightfully soft bun. Is your mouth watering?
Now imagine that the burger is synthetic. The cheese is imitation. And the bun is pulverized cardboard.
Is your mouth a little confused?
If research on artificial sweeteners is any indicator, not only is your mouth confused, but your brain and your body are too.
Fat Rats
Researchers out of Purdue University’s Ingestive Behavior Research Center are reporting that “rats given yogurt sweetened with zero-calorie saccharin consumed more calories, gained more weight, put on more body fat, and didn’t make up for it by cutting back later” than rats that were fed their calories in the form of sugar.
While the hypothesized correlation between increasing obesity and the increasing use of artificial sweeteners isn’t new, past research has explored the possibility that the cause might be psychological. Remember the “Snackwells Effect” of the 1990s when we over-indulged in low-fat treats just to have our expanding waistlines remind us that “low-fat” doesn’t mean “low-calorie”?
But, as this newer research has shown, the cause may not be all in our heads.
Calorie Confusion
According to Purdue researchers Susan Swithers, PhD, and Terry Davidson, PhD, sugar substitutes backfire because the body’s natural link and response between sweetness and calories is broken causing two significant effects:
- Trouble Regulating Calorie Intake–The brain gets confused by the false sweetness and sends hormonal messages that increase appetite.
- Lower Metabolism—As the body becomes trained to expect false sugar, it doesn’t “gear up” as effectively making it harder to burn off other calories.
Take home message?
When the link between sweetness and calories is severed,
we eat more and we store more.
Yeah, But I’m No Rat
True, at this point the statistically significant study has only been performed on rats, but the data does match emerging evidence that people who drink more diet drinks are at higher risk for obesity and metabolic syndrome.
It’s a good thing those smarty researchers are out gathering more definitive data for us. In the meantime, do you really want to be ingesting anything we refer to as “artificial”?
Satisfy your watering mouth with something your brain and body will know how to handle. When in doubt… eat real food.
