31 Days of Weight Loss Tips: Day 13 Avoid Artificial Sweeteners

Photo by Steve Snodgrass on Flickr

Sugar free: Consume the sugary stuff you like without any of the calories. Sounds like a winning situation, right?

Wrong.

I know that lots of people have good intentions and try to avoid the effects of sugar consumption by using artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, saccharin or sucrolose. Even I used to like using those yellow packets instead of real sugar. But research shows that these sweeteners can actually make you gain weight.

A study done by researches at Purdue University found that artificial sweeteners interfere with the body's ability to recognize the fake sugar and the body reacts to it as though it is real sugar -- raising insulin levels and causing sugar cravings -- which leads to weight gain.

If you're thinking, "but I don't use those little packets of sweeteners," well, you may be a fan of zero calorie soft drinks, and this especially applies to diet sodas.

In a study done by The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, researches found that diet soda drinkers waist circumference was 70 percent higher than non-drinkers. And in another study, the researches found that heavy aspartame usage may directly contribute to increased blood glucose levels -- which promotes weight gain and is a risk for diabetes.

Ditch the diet sodas and sugar free varieties of everything from gum to jelly and improve your chances of long-term weight loss and better health.

Resources:
Purdue University
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
International Journal of Obesity