Sweetening the deal

The WHO has advised against using nonsugar sweeteners. But it has created more confusion in the process. Let's sort it out

The World Health Organization (WHO) recently came out against artificial sweeteners. This provoked widespread hysteria. It did not conduct any new research. It issued a general statement based, it said, on an examination of around 280 older studies. By rereading these studies, the folks at WHO had concluded that sweeteners did not contribute to weight loss.

This was interesting but hardly surprising. A sweetener is not a diet pill. Nobody takes it thinking it will suddenly cause weight loss.

But sugar, medical research has demonstrated, does cause weight gain. So people use sweeteners to reduce their dependence on sugar. Therefore, they avoid the weight gain that would otherwise be caused by the consumption of sugar.

Besides, many of those who use sweeteners are diabetic or pre-diabetic. The weight gain/ weight loss argument is peripheral for them. Should they also give up sweeteners?

WHO suggests they should. Should they go back to sugar? No, that's bad too. What should they do? Well, according to WHO and some of the doctors quoted, they should just give up eating sweet things. Ok, maybe they can eat some fruit.

Is this realistic?

It is possible to argue that we should cut back on sweets, but foolish and unrealistic to say that we should all give them up completely.

Once you accept that, then it comes down to a simple question: Which is less harmful? Sugar or sweetener.