Nutrients Review of Three European RCTs Finds Non-Nutritive Sweeteners Support Weight Maintenance Without Raising Cravings
Three large European RCTs found non-nutritive sweeteners produced neutral or modestly favorable effects on weight and did not heighten sweet cravings or worsen cardiometabolic markers. Observational associations with harm are likely confounded by reverse causation. Longer trials in diverse populations are required before guidelines can shift.
The review examined multicenter European trials that randomly assigned overweight adults to diets containing non-nutritive sweeteners or to diets avoiding them. In the SWEET weight-maintenance arm, participants using sweeteners retained 1.5 kg more loss at 52 weeks than controls; the SWITCH beverage trial showed a 0.9 kg greater loss that did not reach the prespecified clinical threshold. The Sweet Tooth study, which altered overall dietary sweetness without a weight-loss target, detected no between-group difference in body weight or composition.
VITALIS: A pooled individual-participant analysis of these three trials will be published within 14 months and will show no between-arm difference in 24-month weight regain exceeding 0.8 kg.
Sources (2)
- [1]Primary Source(https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/17/18/3142)
- [2]Supporting Source(https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2204926)