WHO names potentially dangerous sweeteners
The World Health Organization has reported that non-sugar sweeteners are associated with long-term health risks.According to recently released World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, non-sugar sweeteners (NSS) should not be used for weight loss. The United Nations (UN) health agency report also states that there are health risks associated with long-term use of such sweeteners.
The new recommendations are based on a systematic review of the data. It includes more than 280 studies of both low- and no-calorie synthetic sweeteners such as aspartame and natural extracts such as stevia. According to the data, using NSS instead of sugar has no long-term fat loss benefits in either adults or children.
According to the WHO, the sugar-free sweeteners are acesulfame K, aspartame, advantam, cyclamates, neotame, saccharin, sucralose, stevia and stevia derivatives.
Long-term use of these sweeteners has also been linked to an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and early death from any cause in adults.
However, the WHO noted that the evidence for the association between long-term NSS use and risk of disease or early death is not strong enough to be conclusive. In part, this is because of complex patterns of NSS use and the underlying characteristics of study participants, which may have skewed the results of the review. That's why the WHO called its recommendation "conditional." This means there is still uncertainty about the benefits of its implementation.
Source: WHO advises not to use non-sugar sweeteners for weight control in newly released guideline