Artificial Sweeteners Article Review
In the article “Artificial Sweeteners: Outwitting the Wisdom of the Body?,” Linda Bartoshuk (2009) explains the controversy behind artificial sweeteners. Artificial sweeteners have been recommended to dieters under the notion that artificial sweeteners substitute sugar effectively while reducing calorie intake. However, Bartoshuk (2009) raises the question if they promote weight gain or weight loss because several researches indicate that the paradigm about weight loss properties of artificial sweeteners could prove false. Research on artificial sweeteners will inevitably produce positive outcomes for individuals and their well-being, but if artificial sweeteners support weight gain, further research could cause paradigm shifts in the public sphere of society and cause several negative outcomes.
According to Bartoshuk (2009), it is possible to study the effects of artificial sweeteners by conducting longitudinal observation studies, but the amount of external influences that can contribute to weight gain or weigh loss influences the results and conclusions of those types of studies. For example, artificial sweeteners themselves do not have to contribute to weight gain directly, but numerous studies report increased appetite among participants who intake artificial sweeteners in contrast to participants who do not intake it during research (Rolls, 1991). However, it has been established in clinical research that aspartame does not contribute to weight loss (Rolls, 1991). Although studies show that the correlation between artificial sweeteners and weight loss does not exist in reality, those studies relied on self-reporting, and they focused on weight loss instead of weight gain. It is not possible to make absolute conclusions about the correlation between weight gain and artificial sweeteners based on those types of studies.
Another possibility is to test the effects of artificial sweeteners using animal models, and that is a reliable method because it allows greater control over participants than observational studies (Bartoshuk, 2009). Bartoshuk (2009) analyzed the study by Swithers and Davidson, and they have revealed that rats who consumed saccharine during the study consumed more calories than rats that did not consume saccharine. Furthermore, they failed to radiate the same amount of calories in form of heat than rats without saccharine in their diet. Because studies on animals offer researchers more control in the environment, it is possible to make valid and strong conclusions based on those results.
Finally, it is possible to notice a correlation between weight gain rates as the consumption of artificially sweetened beverages in the United States increases. In her conclusion, Bartoshuk (2009) encourages readers to think of artificial sweeteners as a big business and points out studies which apparently found a strong correlation between artificial sweeteners and weight loss. However, she also encourages readers to review the funding sources for that same research and describes it as an eye-opening activity. That situation raises several moral issues. If funding sources determine the outcome of scientific research, the values of trust, reliability, objective truth, and academic expertise will be at stake.
References
Bartoshuk, L. (2009, October). Artificial sweeteners: Outwitting the wisdom of the body? Observer, 22(8). Retrieved from http://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/
getArticle.cfm?id=2554
Huff, J. (2007). Industry influence on occupational and environmental public health. International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, 13, 107-117. Retrieved from http://www.kazanlaw.com/resources/OSHPortal/pdf/Huff-IndustryOSH.PDF
Rolls, B. J. (1991). Effects of intense sweeteners on hunger, food intake, and body weight: A review. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 53(4), 872-878. Retrieved from http://www.ajcn.org/content/53/4/872.full.pdf+html
