2023-05-17 13:04:09
experts from the Spanish Society for the Study of Obesity (Seedo) and of the Spanish Society of Endocrinology and Nutrition (SEEN) consulted by EFEsalud about alternatives to sweeteners, stress that the main conclusion of the affirmation of the OMS is that sweeteners have not contributed to improving the fight against obesity and overweight.
Sweeteners, remember the coordinator of the SEEN Nutrition Area, Francisco Botellaare sugar substitutes, capable of “confusing” the nerve receptors of the taste buds of the tongue and transmitting the sensation of sweet taste to the brain.
“Indirectly, an association (which does not mean a cause-effect relationship) has been found with a higher incidence of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, so that out of a “precautionary principle” the WHO recommends the progressive abandonment of its use”, says the coordinator of the SEEN Nutrition Area, Francisco Botella.
Of the same opinion is Patricia Vilca, dietitian-nutritionist, member of the Seedo Diet Therapy in Obesity working groupwho stresses that the conclusion of the WHO is to advise against the consumption of sweeteners both for weight control, since it is not effective in the long term, and for the prevention of chronic non-communicable diseases.
What the WHO says
The WHO stressed last Monday that replacing free sugars -refined and natural ones present in fruits, honey and others- with sweeteners “does not offer any long-term benefit in terms of reducing body fat in adults or children” .
And among the specific products that are discouraged are el acesulfamo K, aspartame, advantame, cyclamatos, neotame, saccharin, sucralosaas well as the stevia y Their derivatives.
According to the WHO, they can have unwanted effects if used for a long time, such as increased risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and mortality in adults.
The WHO recommendation applies to all people, except those with pre-existing diabetes.
Prudence
Botella points out that there is no evidence that sweeteners cause specific diseases, only statistical associations that make it necessary to continue studying and deepening the knowledge of their effects.
“The statistical associations that have been found, together with some studies that show changes in the intestinal microbiota, make the WHO, as a precaution, advise against its use,” he explains.
In any case, Vilca points out, sweeteners are not considered food and lack nutritional value, and the WHO guidelines are not based on toxicological assessments of the safety of individual sugar-free sweeteners “and are not intended to update or replace guidance on safe or maximum intake levels established by authoritative bodies.”
For this reason, the expert also invites prudence in general terms as to whether sweeteners are the cause or association, “since when epidemiological studies are carried out, other factors may intervene, that is, that the group of people studied who consume sweeteners, they may also not eat healthy and/or not perform physical activity”.
Where do we find them?
Sweeteners are usually included in almost all products “if not all” whose labels can read “sugarfree” o the famous “lights” “and whose consumption only increases,” explains the Seedo expert.
Examples where we can find them, according to the expert: cereals, cookies, dairy desserts, pastries, drinks, ice cream… For this reason, when buying food, “it is important to read the labels.”
The experts also agree that the controversy regarding sweeteners is not new, and for Botella it has “a lot to do with commercial and political interests, in relation to the sugar market and processed foods that contain it.”
And Vilca emphasizes that the food industry “has contributed” so that the use of sweeteners “is present in many food preparations, as well as freely, but the problem as everything is how, how much and how often we consume it ”.
A sweet yes, but not every day
On this matter, the expert emphasizes that when you want to eat a sweet, “it’s not that you can’t afford it, but you have to know that it can be part of your diet, but not every day.”
And as for weight loss, experts point out that it is mistakenly believed that replacing the spoonfuls of sugar for tea or coffee with sweeteners will have a positive effect “but what is achieved is to continue hooked on its consumption” .
“There is no point in going to a cafeteria and having a coffee with saccharin and asking for a croissant,” Vilca abounds.
Healthy alternatives to sweeteners
At this point, what alternatives are there to the consumption of sweeteners? For Botella it would be the intake of sweet foods such as certain fruits or vegetables, while recommending progressively reducing the use of added sugars and sweeteners “to get the body used to doing without them.”
“What we must do is think and put into practice that a healthy diet should be based on the consumption of fresh plant products, that is, fruits, vegetables, legumes, good quality fats such as extra virgin olive oil and nuts. , as well as unprocessed proteins such as meat, fish, eggs or dairy products”, Vilca adds.
It is a matter of considering other ways to reduce the consumption of free sugars and not only to replace them. “It is time for us to eat more naturally, we have to re-educate our palate,” says this expert.
In this sense, he comments that it attracts his attention when you go to a greengrocer and ask for advice on how the melon is, for example. “The answer I get is: ‘it’s very good, it’s sweet.’ I mean, is it good because it’s sweet? And where is the natural flavor of the food? ”, she indicates.
Therefore, the general recommendations is to reduce the consumption of free sugars, which we know as those that are not part of the food matrix of fruits and vegetables. So sweeteners in the long run “are not a solution” or alternatives to high sugar consumption.
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