Artificial Sweeteners On A Keto Diet - Are They Safe? Sweeteners are a bit of a controversial topic in the keto world. Why? Usually, people say that eating sweet-tasting foods and drinks will increase sugar cravings. Others say that no, the occasional sweet treats can make it a lot easier to stick to a keto diet. Many people who follow a ketogenic diet just don’t really want or MedicGLP Official need any sweets. While it is true that a keto diet reduces cravings for sweet tasting foods, some of you still enjoy something sweet from time to time. The world of sweeteners can be confusing. They come with many different names, flavors and belong to different groups. There are artificial and natural sweeteners and also sugar alcohols. What’s the difference and does it matter? Read further to find out which sweeteners are safe and keto-friendly. Artificial sweeteners are synthetic sugar substitutes. Because they are several hundred times sweeter than sugar, they are used tiny amounts than sugar.
The glycemic index of different sweeteners can vary a lot, but in the tiny amounts they are used, MedicGLP they usually don’t raise blood sugar. They may cause small amounts of insulin to be released, but this effect is also very moderate. Always be careful to buy the version that’s not mixed with dextrose, (another word for glucose). Artificial sweeteners don’t have a stellar reputation. Aspartame is the best-studied one, and its consumption is said to be associated with an increased risk of cancer, obesity, heart disease, gastrointestinal issues… The word "associated" is already a good hint that most of this information comes from epidemiological and not from from randomized clinical trials that may be able to show causality. People who are overweight tend to consume a lot of low-to-no calories artificial sweeteners. Why? Typically because they are told that they have to decrease their calorie intake. That’s the typical chicken-and-the-egg problem. Are they obese because they eat a lot of artificial sweeteners?
Or are they eating lots of artificial sweeteners because they’re obese? Remember, obesity is also associated with an otherwise unhealthy lifestyle: lots of fast food, high sugar (despite the use of artificial sweeteners) and a sedentary lifestyle. Using associational studies alone, we cannot know which of these factors contribute to obesity and other health issues like inflammation, increased risk of cancer, and cardiovascular disease. There are also animal studies that show that artificial sweeteners can cause health problems, but mainly when given in ridiculously high amounts. Let’s have a closer look at the best studied artificial sweetener - aspartame. What is it made of? Even though aspartame is of a synthetic product, it’s actually just the fusion of two standard amino acids, MedicGLP Support aspartic acid and phenylalanine. Amino acids? Correct, the building blocks that we need to build proteins - and we usually don’t think of them being unhealthy. Once aspartame has reached your gut, it is already broken down to these two amino acids, indistinguishable from other "natural" amino acids floating around.
So what does the science say about aspartame effects on health? One systematic review of studies in rodents found that high aspartame intake has a carcinogenic effect and significantly reduces life span, but only at a daily dose of 4,000 mg per kg body weight. Lower doses had no impact. For an 80 kg man, that 4,000 mg per kg body weight dose translates to 320 g or roughly 600 liters of diet coke ! Hardly a fair comparison. As an acceptable daily intake (ADI), the FDA recommends to consume no more than 50 mg per kg body weight per day. For an 80 Kg man, this translates to 4,000 mg aspartame or roughly 32 cans of diet coke (7.5 liters). That’s still plenty, few people will drink that much of it. There are very few randomized studies in humans that show adverse health effects of artificial sweeteners. One example is a study with 28 healthy subjects who were randomized to either follow a low (10 mg/kg) or high aspartame (25 mg/kg) diet for eight days.
This translates to 16 cans of diet coke or roughly 3.7 liters for an 80 kg man. Participants in the high aspartame group had a significantly higher level of depression. The researchers noted that the sample size was very small and that the results are in conflict with other studies. On the other hand, there are several systematic reviews and randomized studies that conclude that aspartame consumption does not increase the risk of cancer, or causes high blood pressure, weight gain, increase in appetite, high cholesterol, and triglyceride levels. We at Nutrita recommend eating nutrient-dense foods (e.g. eggs, steak, salmon) and avoiding many processed foods (e.g. pasta, bread, pastries, sweets). However, some processed foods can also feature in a healthy diet (e.g. salami, cheese, cacao flour, coconut flour). As long as they don’t displace too many of the nutrient dense foods and you don’t immune reaction to them, they tend to be OK. Some artificial sweeteners may be fine as well.