INMYVIEW... Steer clear of artificial sweeteners

I AM worried about the amount of chemicals and additives in our food. For instance, high-fructose corn syrup, a sweetener, has been linked to fatty liver disease if consumed in excess.

There are also all kinds of preservatives, colourings and flavourings that some experts fear will have a cocktail effect, damaging our health.

And now I read that, under draft guidelines proposed by the World Health Organisation (WHO), artificial sweeteners should not be used either as part of a diabetes management programme or as a way of helping with obesity.

Why? Because, says the WHO, they are more likely to result in weight gain in the long-term.

Artificial sweeteners have always been promoted as inert and therefore harmless.

But increasingly, recent studies show that some of these chemicals affect the gut microbiome (the billions of bacteria and other microbes that play a key role in our health) and may also actually raise blood-sugar levels. We have all been berated — quite rightly — about the adverse effects of too much sugar in our diets.

It is therefore all too easy to be lured into the world of caloriefree cola, slimline tonics and other chemically sweetened foods and products, trusting that these are better for us.

But on the basis of this emerging evidence, the best course, it seems to me, is to try to avoid foods and drinks that contain artificial sweeteners, if you can.