A deep dive on the World Health Organization’s guideline against using non-sugar sweeteners for weight control 

Dr Tim Crowe

If you love a fizzy drink or two - this one’s for you. With Dr Tim Crowe’s extensive nutrition research background we discuss the WHO’s advice against using non-sugar sweeteners for weight control. By the end of this episode you will know how to apply this guidance to your everyday. 

We cover: 

  • Background of added sugars and non-sugar sweeteners in the diet 

  • Overview of the WHO’s systematic review (the evidence that informs the new guideline)

  • Non sugar sweeteners and weight control in the short & long term

  • Potential undesirable effects from long-term use of non-sugar sweeteners such as increased risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease

  • Other health effects

  • Non-sugar sweeteners and their impact on eating behaviour (e.g. appetite and desire to eat) 

  • Non-sugar sweeteners and their impact on sweet preference (e.g. sugar intake and sweet taste perception) 

  • Do individuals need to consider the overall sweetness of their diet? If so, how to do it

  • Non-sugar sweeteners in the Australian and New Zealand food supply 

One-liners you don’t want to miss:

“There is some evidence that we have been reducing the amount of added sugars in our diet over the last 10 or so years. And this is probably coming from a shift from the soft drinks to the diet varieties.”

“If artificial sweeteners were to drive our consumption of sugary foods and overeat more, we should’ve seen a much bigger weight gain in the observational research.”

"We have the WHO telling us that if you are drinking sweetened beverages your number 1 substitution is to swap this with naturally occurring sugars, so foods like fruit or a beverage that hasn’t been sweetened. This will help reduce the overall sweetness of your diet and you should be doing this form a very young age.”


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