Advice to Avoid Sweetness: Does It Help?

As an article of faith, it is easy to find advice to avoid sweetness in the foods we eat. Canada’s Food Guide, for instance, tells us that “regularly eating foods that taste sweet can lead to a preference for sweet foods.” This is a common presumption. It is one of the rationales we see for advising people to avoid low-calorie sweeteners. Harvard Health says:

“People who routinely use artificial sweeteners may start to find less intensely sweet foods, such as fruit, less appealing and unsweet foods, such as vegetables, downright unpalatable.”

So it’s worth asking, is this really true?

A new study in the British Journal of Nutrition suggests it may not be so.

No Effect

In a randomized controlled trial, Aleksandra Bielat, Peter Rogers, and Katherine Appleton found that asking people to reduce, increase, or make no change in sweet-tasting foods and beverages had no effect on their perceptions of pleasantness, desire to eat, or subsequent consumption of sweet foods. The researchers did find that restricting exposure to sweet foods led people to increased perceptions in sweet taste intensity. But those perceptions did not affect consumption of sweet foods. They conclude:

“Public health recommendations to limit the consumption of sweet-tasting foods and beverages to reduce sweet food preferences may require revision.”

Limitations and Corroboration

Of course, this research has limitations. Most obviously, the intervention was only for a week. “Maybe the one week duration is simply not long enough for effects to develop,” say the authors of this present study. Some longer-duration studies have detected some limited effects. Longer and more robust studies are underway and will add to the understanding of this question.

So what are we to think? A recent review concludes that “the balance of empirical evidence” does not support the presumption that exposure to sweet foods begets a preference for sweet foods. The truth is that the evidence is not robust to confirm or refute it.

For now, the best we can do is to be honest. Many people believe in the value of advice to avoid sweetness, but it may not make much difference. Other guidance may be more important for promoting healthful dietary patterns.

Click here for the new study, here for a review of other evidence.

Sugar Packets at a Cafe in Japan, photograph by Ka23 13, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

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January 6, 2025