Intense sweeteners, energy intake and the control of body weight
Abstract Replacing sugar with low-calorie sweeteners is a common strategy for facilitating weight control. By providing sweet taste without calories, intense sweeteners help lower energy density of beverages and some foods. Reduced dietary energy density should result in lower energy intakes–but are the energy reduction goals, in fact, achieved? The uncoupling of sweetness and energy, […]
A review of the effectiveness of aspartame in helping with weight control
Abstract Strategies to reverse the upward trend in obesity rates need to focus on both reducing energy intake and increasing energy expenditure. The provision of low- or reduced-energy-dense foods is one way of helping people to reduce their energy intake and so enable weight maintenance or weight loss to occur. The use of intense sweeteners […]
The unbearable sweetness of sugar (and sugar alternatives)
Abstract There is a lot of confusion among the general public around sugar, sweeteners, ‘no added sugar’, ‘naturally occurring sugars’, ‘free sugars’ and sugar alternatives such as Xylitol. We commissioned Elaine Gardner of the British Dietetic Association [the other BDA!] to sort fact from fiction and provide advice that you can share with your patients […]
Consensus statement on benefits of low-calorie sweeteners
Summary A Panel of independent experts was convened to discuss the evidence for benefits of Low Calorie sweeteners (LCS) in five key areas. The Consensus Statement represents an agreed position by all members of the Panel. Appetite Low calorie sweeteners do not increase appetite and have no discernible effect on satiety. Preference for sweetness is […]
Role of Sugar and Sugar Substitutes in Dental Caries: A Review
Abstract Dental caries is a chronic disease which can affect us at any age. The term „caries“ denotes both the disease process and its consequences, that is, the damage caused by the disease process. Dental caries has a multifactorial aetiology in which there is interplay of three principal factors: the host (saliva and teeth), the […]
Nonnutritive, low caloric substitutes for food sugars: clinical implications for addressing the incidence of dental caries and overweight/obesity
Abstract Caries and obesity are two common conditions affecting children in the United States and other developed countries. Caries in the teeth of susceptible children have often been associated with frequent ingestion of fermentable sugars such as sucrose, fructose, glucose, and maltose. Increased calorie intake associated with sugars and carbohydrates, especially when associated with physical […]
Scientific Opinion on the substantiation of health claims related to intense sweeteners and contribution to the maintenance or achievement of a normal body weight (ID 1136, 1444, 4299), reduction of post-prandial glycaemic responses (ID 4298), maintenance of normal blood glucose concentrations (ID 1221, 4298), and maintenance of tooth mineralisation by decreasing tooth demineralisation (ID 1134, 1167, 1283) pursuant to Article 13(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006
Abstract The claimed effects are “dental health/sweeteners cannot be fermented by oral bacteria, they are non-cariogenic”, “foods which under typical conditions of use are neither cariogenic nor erosive, help maintain healthy teeth and are, therefore, toothfriendly”, and “dental health”. The target population is assumed to be the general population. In the context of the proposed […]
Effect of after-meal sucrose-free gum-chewing on clinical caries
Abstract Previous in situ and in vitro studies have demonstrated that the chewing of sucrose-free gum after eating reduces the development of dental caries. To investigate the extrapolation of these findings to the clinical setting, we conducted a two-year study on 547 schoolchildren in Budapest, Hungary. Subjects in the „Gum“ group were instructed to chew […]
The effect of chewing sugar-free gum after meals on clinical caries incidence
Abstract To determine the effect of chewing sugar-free gum on caries incidence, the authors conducted a randomized clinical study. A total of 1,402 children in Puerto Rico, in grades 5 through 7 at baseline, completed the study. They were randomized by classroom into a control group or chewing gum group; those in the gum group […]
Advances in non-caloric sweeteners with dental health advantages over sugars
Abstract Many factors have to be considered in developing new intense sweeteners to replace sugars in the diet for the benefit of dental health. These include their general properties, safety and toxicological evaluation, metabolic fate in the body, regulatory status and dental research documentation. The choice of new sweeteners with improved properties is expanding, with […]