While our ancestors had little opportunity to indulge in sweet foods, they’re abundant in modern culture. Some believe using artificial sweeteners encourages an unnatural focus on sweets. Diaz C, Rezende LFM, Sabag A, et al. Artificially sweetened beverages and health outcomes: An umbrella review. Advances in Nutrition 2023; 14(4):710–717. [PubMed Abstract] Sweeteners are not essential nutrients in our diet, so they exist to nurture our sweet tooth, not our bodies.

Quite a lot of research has been conducted on how sugar triggers chemicals in the brain, causing the release of hormones that take off down the neural network along the food reward pathway. ( 4, 5, 6)

Nevertheless, the majority of evidence suggests that artificial sweeteners do not significantly affect blood sugar levels in healthy people or those with diabetes ( 20). Summary Research in this area is relatively new and limited. Yet, there is strong evidence to suggest that changes in gut bacteria are associated with an increased risk of diseases like obesity, type 2 diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease, and cancer ( 25). The 2023 IARC finding of a possible association of aspartame with liver cancer in humans relied on data from three studies of four cohorts that looked at associations with artificially sweetened beverages during time periods in which such beverages mainly contained aspartame ( 8– 10). One of the studies ( 8) found an association with liver cancer risk in the whole cohort, whereas a second ( 9) found an association among persons with diabetes. The third found no association with liver cancer ( 10). After the IARC expert panel met, a fourth study that examined artificially sweetened beverages and the risk of liver cancer also found no association ( 11). Moving on to the fuselage, its sides are poplar plywood and have round cut-outs at the rear to reduce weight. Due to the strength increase over balsa, they do not require doublers in the forward area.

Additional information about high-intensity sweeteners permitted for use in food in the United States. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. https://www.fda.gov/food/food-additives-petitions/additional-information-about-high-intensity-sweeteners-permitted-use-food-united-states. Accessed Nov. 11, 2022. Cost and availability: Some sugar substitutes are expensive, whereas others have a cost closer to that of table sugar. Additionally, some sugar substitutes are more widely available than others. We know that to maintain a healthy diet it’s important to limit the amount of sugar and sweets that we eat. But what about artificial sweeteners? Sugar alternatives are popular among those who want to watch their carbohydrate and calorie intake. That said, there is still some skepticism about their potentially negative effects on human health.In 2019, an international scientific advisory group gave aspartame a high priority for review by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) Monographs program during 2020–2024 ( 1). At a June 2023 meeting, an international expert working group classified aspartame as Group 2B, “possibly carcinogenic to humans.” This category is used when there is limited, but not convincing, evidence for cancer in humans or convincing evidence for cancer in experimental animals, but not both. In the case of aspartame, IARC found “limited” evidence of an association with liver cancer in humans and “limited” evidence from animal studies and studies of a possible mechanism ( 2).