Sweeteners will not help weight loss, says WHO

‘Undesirable effects’ from long-term use also include risk of Type 2 diabetes and heart disease

ARTIFICIAL sweeteners will not help you lose weight and could increase the risk of Type 2 diabetes, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said.

Guidance by the UN agency recommends against using non-sugar sweeteners (NSS) to control body weight or reduce the risk of certain diseases. Instead of switching to sweeteners, the public should consider other ways to reduce their sugar intake, such as consuming foods with naturally occurring sugars like fruit, the WHO said.

The recommendation is based on findings of a systematic review of evidence that suggests that using artificial sweeteners does not result in any longterm benefit in reducing body fat for adults or children.

The review also suggested there may be “undesirable effects” from the longterm use of sweeteners, such as an increased risk of Type 2 diabetes, heart diseases, and death in adults. The recommendation comes after the introduction of the sugar tax on soft drinks in the UK, in which manufacturers are incentivised to reduce the sugar content of their beverages.

Under the Soft Drinks Industry Levy, sugar replacements such as stevia, aspartame and sucralose – which are cited in the WHO guidance – are not included, meaning manufacturers can reformulate their drinks with these sweeteners to avoid the levy.

A study published in the journal PLOS Medicine earlier this year suggested the tax may have prevented more than 5,000 young girls from becoming obese. Researchers from the University of Cambridge found that the introduction of the levy in 2018 coincided with an 8 per cent fall in obesity levels among year six girls.

However, there was no significant link between the levy and obesity levels for year six boys.

Commenting on the guidelines, Francesco Branca, WHO director for nutrition and food safety, said: “Replacing free sugars with NSS does not help with weight control in the long term.

“People need to consider other ways to reduce free sugars intake, such as consuming food with naturally occurring sugars, like fruit, or unsweetened food and beverages.

“NSS are not essential dietary factors and have no nutritional value. People should reduce the sweetness of the diet altogether, starting early in life, to improve their health.”

The recommendations apply to all people, except those with pre-existing diabetes. The WHO review also says that further research is needed in the effects on children and pregnant women, with the latter possibly experiencing “unfavourable effects” after consuming sweeteners in relation to their baby’s birth weight.

Artificial sweeteners are deemed safe, but not recommended as a simple swap for sugars in most dietary guidelines, experts say, including from the British Dietetic Association (BDA).

Dr Duane Mellor, registered dietitian and senior lecturer at Aston University

‘People need to consider other ways to reduce free sugars intake... such as fruit or unsweetened food’

said the WHO report focused heavily on observational studies which can only show an association between artificial sweeteners and health outcomes, rather than clinical trials which are better at showing causal links.

However, he added: “Overall, this report highlights that universal replacement of sugar with sweeteners is not necessarily ideal.”