A Purdue University study funded by the National Institutes of Health recently found that consuming artificial sweeteners instead of sugar may result in weight gain. Rats were fed snacks of yogurt (some sweetened with saccharine, some with sugar) before their regular meals. At the end of five weeks, the rats fed yogurt with artificial sweetener gained 20% more weight on average than rats fed the sugary snack.
This comes on the heels of another recent study that tracked 9500 adults for nine years to find underlying conditions that contribute to heart disease, diabetes, obesity and other conditions commonly referred to as "metabolic syndrome." No surprise that Michael Pollan's dreaded "Western diet" accounts for much of the increased problems, but diet soda is the biggest villain in the story. People who drink one diet soda a day have a 34% higher risk of developing the syndrome than people who drink no diet soda.
Looks like I'll be getting a packet from the Calorie Control Council soon, just like the info from the fine people at Big Corn.
