Do zero calorie colas help you lose weight?

Comparing Zero Calorie Sweeteners with Sugar on Calorie intake.

This month in the International Journal of Obesity, a study aimed to determine whether substituting sugar with Zero-calorie Sweeteners helped with weight management.

The patients were given either a Zero Calorie Sweetened drink, or a drink with sugar between breakfast and lunch. Their blood glucose and insulin concentrations were measured for the next three hours following consumption of the drink.

The authors found that subjects given zero-calorie sweetened beverages consumed more during lunch, compensating for any energy saved. All patients showed increased levels of blood glucose and insulin concentration, suggesting that there is little difference between calorie-free beverages and sugar-sweetened beverages in relation to daily energy intake, blood glucose, and insulin responses.

S L Tey, N B Salleh, J Henry and C G Forde Effects of aspartame-, monk fruit-, stevia- and sucrose-sweetened beverages on postprandial glucose, insulin and energy intake, International Journal of Obesity (13 December 2016) | doi:10.1038/ijo.2016.225