Do Sweeteners Help or Hurt Weight Control?

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Grabbing a diet soda may seem like a smart choice for the calorie-conscious consumer. But a new study suggests that products containing artificial sweeteners have the potential to actually promote weight gain. A recent Purdue University study suggests that artificial sweeteners (like the kinds found in diet sodas) might lead to biological or behavioral changes that make weight control more difficult, instead of easier. Putting this study within the context of overall research, however, we have little reason to believe that calorie-free sweeteners cause weight gain. How much they actually help weight loss may vary depending on how people use them. Also important to note, the aforementioned study did not involve people; it was a laboratory study involving 17 rats. In the five-week long experiment, rats given yogurt sweetened with zero-calorie saccharin consumed more total calories (and gained more body fat) compared to rats that ate sugar-sweetened yogurt. The psychologists who performed the study theorize that when our body tastes sweetness it prepares itself for a calorie load. If sweetness comes without calories – as is the case with artificial sweeteners – we keep on eating or reduce our calorie-burning metabolic activity. For now, however, these theories are little more than speculation. And many researchers are quick to point out that a small, brief study involving rats cannot be used to form conclusions about humans. More of the article: http://health.msn.com/weight-loss/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100200599>1=31036 I don't drink diet cola, I do every now and then drink diet Barq's Rootbeer or Fresca. Do you drink Diet Soda?