A Nature Metabolism study claimed artificial sweeteners beat sugar for weight loss, but its control group was sugar, not water, so it only shows sweeteners reduce sugar consumption. They may help you lose weight but aren't healthy. Allulose, stevia, and monk fruit are better options.
Sweetener lovers rejoice! Artificial sweeteners are great for weight loss! At least that's the banner that sweetener lovers are flying after a new Nature Metabolism study just got published. But let me clear something up. The control group wasn't water. It was sugar. In fact, the authors state in the paper, "For adults, the sweetener group, artificial sweetener group, had a 107 grams per day larger reduction in sugar-rich products as compared to the sugar group," which was the control. So basically the real-world takeaway here is yeah, maybe a a Diet Coke is better than a Coke for weight loss. Sure, but that's a false dichotomy. It's like saying getting shot in the leg is better than getting shot in the face. Always consider the comparator, the control. Now, does that mean necessarily artificial sweeteners can't sometimes be the lesser of two evils? Of course not, they can be. But if you really want sweetness without the blood sugar spike, I think there are many healthier tools for that, like natural sweeteners, allulose, stevia, and monk fruit. So, honestly, me personally, I see no good reason to ever consume aspartame, sucralose, saccharin, and other artificial sweeteners, which do have downsides. But hey, you do you, just make sure you're doing you in an informed way.
