January 13, 2020 — Is there such a thing as too much sweetness and light? This is a question that bugs people who just don’t trust artificial sweeteners. Thus, a new study in Nutrients will add fuel to their fires of suspicion. Researchers led by Alexander Nichol conducted a small, randomized crossover study of sucralose (Splenda®) and its effect […]
June 4, 2019 — Canada’s latest dietary guidelines make it clear. Cut the sugar. Avoid any other sweeteners. Water should be what you’re drinking. And also, enjoy your food. Dietary guideline writers don’t have much of a taste for sweetness these days. But humans do. How shall we cope? The Rising Bias Against Sweeteners The prevailing bias holds that […]
November 5, 2017 — The Washington Post wants to tell us “How Coca-Cola got Americans to drink diet soda again.” That’s an interesting spin, but it’s not clear yet that rebranding Coke Zero into Coke Zero Sugar has done all of that. What is clear is that the relaunch is clever and it’s doing well for this particular brand. […]
November 29, 2016 — Is factual reporting on sweeteners no longer a possibility? A sampling of recent headlines raises that question. Here are a few: How Sugar Substitutes Prevent Weight Loss Which Is Worse: Artificial Sweeteners or Sugar? Why Researchers Think Aspartame Is Making You Fat Low Calorie Drinks Actually Boost Weight The cause for these headlines was a […]
May 4, 2015 — A pretty solid consensus seems to exist around the notion of reducing consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages. Consumers are cutting back on drinking them. Even beverage makers are finding ways to formulate, package, and promote their products to reduce the amount of sugar people are drinking. But no such consensus seems to exist on the ultimate […]
August 10, 2014 — Who needs facts when you know it’s wrong? Though e-cigarettes and low-calorie sweeteners are very different, the angst that they both cause for some health advocates is very similar. Both of them are objectively less harmful than alternatives that might be considered a vice. And both of them are routinely criticized as harmful, despite a […]
October 2, 2013 — No-calorie sweeteners are like magnets for controversy. When the Journal of Physiology recently published a mouse study of brain responses to no-calorie sweeteners, the health press was ready with headlines that ranged from: Your Brain Isn’t Fooled by Artificial Sweeteners to Artificial Sweeteners Actually Lead to Piling on the Pounds and Artificial Sweeteners Are Turning […]
