Nov. 22: Nutritionists have warned that most of the artificial sweeteners that are used by people do not help cut down on calories.
“There are two types of sweeteners — calorific and non-calorific,” said Dr Meenakshi Bajaj, a nutritionist at the GH. “Sweeteners that contain fructose are calorific and they make you kick in more pounds. And some of the sugar substitutes when consumed regularly could lead to other health complications.” Assuming that they are cutting down on sugar, people who consume sugar substitutes usually end up eating in abundance.
“Anything artificial is will certainly have side effects,” warns Dr Varsha, a clinical nutritionist.
Even if one replaces sugar with a substitute while preparing sweets, one gains more calories from the fat the dish contains. “While preparing sweets, we add flour and ghee to it,” said Mr Ramachandran, a diabetologist. “So even if sugar is substituted by a sweetener, the person invariably gains weight from the other ingredients all the while thinking that it is safe to eat it since it does not contain sugar.”