Saccharin… it’ll give you one of those.

Chalk one up for the conspirators. Looks like all the bad things about artificial sweeteners just added another point to the negative column.

Rats that consumed food sweetened with saccharin ate more and didn’t later compensate by cutting back on the amount they ate. Although all of the rats had similar weights at the start of the experiment, those that ate food containing the sugar substitute “gained significantly more weight” than those who ate sugar.

The researchers made another revealing discovery when they examined the body temperature of the rats when they ate.

Body temperature typically rises after eating, but researchers said rats that had become accustomed to consuming the artificial sweetener didn’t have a significant temperature change. They suspect that could mean the rats’ appetite control mechanisms were disrupted when they consumed the artificial sweetener, which may have led to overeating.

“[People] may want to simply consider the possibility that simply switching to use these products isn’t automatically going to result in dramatic weight loss,” Dr. Swithers said.

Americans now have another reason to have a lawyer on retention… artificial sweeteners are the cause of obesity in the US.




  1. Mister Catshit says:

    I believe and have often said in the past that we don’t know why Americans are seeing such dramatic weight gains. Usually I have pointed to hormone fed meat, trans fats, processed foods, BHT, and other chemical food additives, herbicides and pesticides added to growing crops, and the common use of corn sweeteners to replace sugar. I am shocked, not that saccharine is a culprit, but because it is something I didn’t think of. I still feel that there will be more studies pointing to more food additives as a cause in obesity.

    NOTE: Even though I seldom do, I am drinking one of my wife’s Diet Pepsi.

  2. rsh28630 says:

    Mister Catshit said:

    “…I am drinking one of my wife’s Diet Pepsi.”

    Diet beverages were recently revealed as a possible factor in increased cardiac events. Pure water in moderation may be bland, but it will quench thirst without detrimental side effects.

  3. jasmoran66 says:

    Did anyone notice that big fat balloon? Or is that some kind of beach ball…

    Geez, a man-made, mass-marketed food substitute turns out to be harmful.Imagine that. I wonder if we might hear even more of these types of stories down the road. Do you think?

  4. Animal Mother says:

    I’d slap that shit. That’s two tons of fun!

  5. TheGlobalWarmingNemesis says:

    Yup. The only things you should eat are real sugar and meat.

  6. Tordenflesk says:

    Saccharin gets me women?

  7. bobbo says:

    The only thing actually “known” about artificial sweetners is that they taste sweet and provide fewer calories. After that, the FDA only requires the food additive does not kill you for it to be used in food.

    So–I look forward to the day when our science really will understand our body chemistries enough to actually say what all the mutliple effects of new chemicals are in our old darwinian bodies.

    I wouldn’t be surprised at anything that they might find–pro or con, we just don’t know.

    My own weight has varied directly according to total calories and activity level. Like global warming==maybe artificial sweeteners add to weight gain BUT it can be overcome with a comprehensive immigration plan.

  8. tcc3 says:

    Saccharin causes cancer, no its Nutrasweet, No its splenda.

    Funny how every new artificial sweetner gets hit with an accusation about how unhealthy it is. Some amount to no more than urban legends, some so serious it causes a near ban (in the case of saccharin.

    A more suspicious person would suspect a plot by the sugar industry…

  9. Uncle Patso says:

    Yeow! What a picture!
    Hey, I’m trying to have some breakfast here!
    Geez!

  10. Ron Larson says:

    My eyes! Auuuugh.

  11. jescott418 says:

    I think the same can be said for any diet sweetner. People think that by cutting out a high calorie drink with a diet one will help.
    But it won’t if you think you can eat that double quarter pounder without guilt.
    I personally think diet soda makes you more hungry because we drink too much of it and it causes us to feel hungry.
    But sweetner’s is hardly our biggest problem with obesity. It’s mostly about eating too much!

  12. TIHZ_HO says:

    I can’t believe no one said…

    “Honey does this bathing suit make my ass look big?”

    Only if you super size it… 🙂

    http://tinyurl.com/2cpck4

    Cheers

  13. Raster says:

    That’s why I drink only distilled water, or rain water, and pure-grain alcohol…

  14. Cinaedh says:

    That’s the very first time I ever used AdBlock Plus to stifle a photograph or graphic on Dvorak Uncensored.

    It worked just fine, by the way. The horror has now gone away.

    So much for ‘Uncensored’…

  15. master_of_fm says:

    well i dropped 60 pounds by switching from regular soda to diet soda and by giving up fast food. and i bet if i actually did some sort of regular exercise I could lose even more.

  16. DaveW says:

    I don’t know what kind of fat asses they got for their survey. I am 5’11” and 150 lbs. (age 39 plus) and I drink a litre of Diet Mt. Dew every day. I also eat carbs before bed every night. Guess what, I exercise! It works! If the only exercise you get is back and forth to the firdge for another soda, diet or otherwise, you will be fat!

    Actually, once I got weened off of sugared soft drinks, I find that I like the diet versions of some of them better, and there is the very nice side benefit that if you spill some, you don’t have that nasty sticky sugar mess to deal with.

  17. Li says:

    DaveW, if you are 150 pounds and would like to be in the survey, I don’t think you’ll skew things in Saccharine’s favor, since 150 pounds is pretty big for a rat.

    But, let’s say that you weren’t already acclimated to the chemical in question, and you joined an unethical human version of this study. Your lack of weight gain would mean nothing if the other people in the study gained weight, all other factors controlled, of course. But, it’s easier to control all other factors with rats than with people, which is probably why they used them in this case.

  18. dvdchris says:

    That’s why I use Stevia. You can buy them in little green packets on Amazon. It’s just ground plant fiber but it’s sweet and has practically no calories. Been used for centuries.

  19. Don says:

    The problem with people and sugar substitutes is that they eat a BIG Mac with a Super Sized Fries and a chocolate Sundae with their half gallon cup of Diet Coke.

    As long as people eat more calories than they consume in a day, they will get fat. It’s to simple, for most people to comprehend.

    Eat less + exercise more = less weight.

    Hello, anyone home up there?

    Don

  20. carmella says:

    HI, all I can say is that i used to put milk and brown sugar in my coffee, never drink sodas, now I dont use milk I use low calorie cream and artificial sweetners and drink diet drinks and soda and I am 180 Lbs I used to be 145lbs.
    ??????????????


0

Bad Behavior has blocked 5035 access attempts in the last 7 days.