We’ve all seen it (or done it ourselves). The person in front of you at the movie (remember those?) concession stand is ordering the big bucket popcorn with extra butter, some cheesy nachos and a king size candy bar. Yummy! Oh, and the diet soda. As if the “diet” is going to somehow help the situation. But guess what? Research says it might. (FYI, helping the situation is not to be confused with negating the situation. All that nutrient-empty food is definitely not helping you nourish your body.)

This topic has been, and continues to be, debated within the nutrition community. A few years ago, some scientists summarized the existing research on whether artificial sweeteners actually help the waistline. Here’s a snapshot of what they found for human studies:

1. When simply observing people, no consistent link was found between artificial sweeteners (called low-energy sweeteners) and body mass index, which is a measure of body weight.
2. In intervention studies, when humans were asked to eat foods or drink beverages made with either sugar or an artificial sweeteners and then eat a meal, total calorie intake was less with the groups that consumed the artificial sweetener. This is presumably due to the fact that the artificial sweeteners did not contribute calories, whereas sugar did.
3. Longer-term intervention studies lasting anywhere from 4 weeks to 40 months showed that artificial sweeteners caused a modest reduction in body weight, which was similar to the reduction in body weight observed with the groups that drank only water.
4. Taken together, the scientists concluded that artificial sweeteners did not cause greater calorie intake nor did they cause weight gain, and overall, their use in place of sugar can lead to lower caloric intake and lower body weight.

A recent 12-week long study looking at the effect of table sugar intake compared to the effect of various type of artificial sweeteners [aspartame (Nutrasweet/Equal), saccharin (e.g. Sweet ‘N Low), sucralose (Splenda) and rebaudioside A (Stevia)]. The scientists of that study found that table sugar and saccharin actually caused weight gain compared to the other sweeteners, whereas Sucralose actually causes weight loss compared to the other sweeteners. The scientists concluded that the type of artificial sweetener used may affect body weight. My take on this study? It’s only one study, but the results are interesting. Overall, table sugar clearly is not helping anyone’s weight loss efforts, and if you’re going to go with an artificial sweetener, you may need to take care in which one you pick.

One final thought: for anyone thinking, “hey, I can drink as much diet soda as I want,” keep in mind that this research is only discussing sweeteners and weight loss. Sweeteners and your nutrition (remember, what food is actually meant for?), is a whole other topic.