When you're counting calories, everything adds up. The simplest solution seems to take advantage of the sugar-free foods that are available everywhere and for any craving. But, the truth behind the Splenda isn't so sweet. Sugar-free foods are making you fat.
A body of research has found that artificial sweeteners alter the brain's connection between sweets and high-calorie food. The result is a blunted enjoyment that actually sends you into binge overdrive.
"Data clearly indicate that consuming a food sweetened with no-calorie saccharin can lead to greater body-weight gain and adiposity than would consuming the same food sweetened with a higher-calorie sugar," says Purdue University psychologist, Susan Swithers PhD.
A sugar-free chocolate chip cookie tastes great, but your brain isn't fooled. Your body is well tuned to take in high-calorie foods and respond to them. Artificial sugars mess with that internal mechanism. What is sweet should be caloric, but this isn't. So, you don't feel satisfied after that one cookie and you don't feel full. And before you know it, you haven't eaten just one, you've finished the whole pack. In the end, you've had a high-calorie snack, when you could have had one, delicious, high-calorie cookie.
Defeating the purpose of weight loss is only one of the flaws of sugar substitutes. Eating low-calorie foods also impacts your health, making you more at risk for heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure.
As America talks about the effects of the increasing obesity rate, it's interesting to note that incline has been paralleled by a growing body of low- and no-calorie foods. It seems like finding a way to have your cake and eat it without getting fat, is like finding the fountain of youth - impossible.
But, Swithers says there is good news. Counting calories is still a great way to regulate body weight, even if it's annoying. But, at least that means you can eat a piece of cake!
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