What recent research reveals about low/no calorie sweeteners’ health effects and benefits
Highlights
- Weight loss maintenance: A 2025 landmark clinical trial publication shows that incorporating low/no calorie sweeteners into a healthy, low-sugar diet can help people with overweight or obesity keep the lost weight off over one year.
- Low/no calorie sweeteners in diabetes: Recent position statements from leading diabetes and nutrition organisations globally reaffirm that low/no calorie sweeteners can help people living with diabetes reduce sugar and calorie intake.
- Adults’ sweet taste preferences are remarkably stable: A six-month intervention trial with low, regular, or high exposure to sweet-tasting foods in the diet did not change how much people liked sweetness or how intensely they perceived it.
In 2025, several high-quality studies, systematic reviews, and large-scale intervention trials have added important new evidence to the science of low/no calorie sweeteners. These studies explored the role of sweeteners in real-world dietary contexts, including their impact on free sugars reduction, body weight regulation, cardiovascular and oral health, diabetes management, gut microbiota, and sweet taste perception. This article brings together key findings from research publications released in 2025, providing an up-to-date synthesis of the current evidence on low/no calorie sweeteners.
Long-term weight management
A large European 1-year intervention trial, which was part of the EU-funded SWEET project, found that incorporating low/no calorie sweeteners into a healthy, low-sugar diet helped individuals with overweight or obesity maintain weight loss over one year1. The study also reported beneficial shifts in gut microbiota without signs of dysbiosis, suggesting potential metabolic advantages of low/no calorie sweeteners in sustained weight management.
An informative review clarifies that low/no calorie sweeteners should not be expected to function as weight-loss drugs but their benefits in weight control relate to reducing calories from added sugars, when substituted for full-sugar products.2 Numerous intervention studies consistently show a modest but meaningful average weight loss (around 1–2 kg) in people using low/no calorie sweeteners in place of sugars, particularly when replacing sugar-sweetened beverages. Low/no calorie sweeteners may also improve diet adherence and sensory-specific satiety, supporting long-term weight maintenance2.
Sweet taste exposure and sweetness liking
Contrary to common assumptions, the Sweet Tooth study, a large six-month randomised controlled trial, found that adults’ preferences for sweetness and sweet taste intensity did not change regardless of whether their diets were low, regular, or high in sweet taste exposure3. This finding challenges existing public health recommendations that propose reducing exposure to sweetness to lower sweet liking and ultimately prevent weight gain.
Reducing free sugar intake
A randomised controlled trial in the UK showed that providing adults with dietary advice aimed at reducing free sugars, including the use of low/no calorie sweeteners, led to measurable decreases in sugar intake (from about 10% to around 7% of total energy), modest weight loss, and improved overall diet quality over 12 weeks4. Researchers noted that low/no calorie sweeteners can provide sweetness without sugars and calories, and therefore help maintain palatable diets during sugar reduction efforts.
Professional associations support the use of low/no calorie sweeteners in diabetes
Leading diabetes and nutrition organisations in the UK5, Brazil6, the USA7, and elsewhere affirm that approved low/no calorie sweeteners are safe when consumed within established Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) limits. Low/no calorie sweeteners can support sugar and energy reduction and, in turn, help with weight and diabetes management, particularly in habitual high consumers of sugar-sweetened products. The Joint Position of the British Dietetic Association, the British Nutrition Foundation and Diabetes UK emphasises that low/no calorie sweeteners should be used as part of an overall balanced diet and not as a standalone solution5.
A series of meta-analyses of clinical trials reinforces the above positions by showing that low/no calorie sweeteners have a neutral effect on key cardiometabolic risk markers, including blood lipids, glucose control, and blood pressure8,9,10. When used in place of sugar, especially in beverages, they can modestly reduce body weight, liver fat, and post-meal glucose peaks, indirectly supporting cardiovascular health as part of broader diet improvements11.
More recently, a 24-week randomised controlled trial in 181 adults with type 2 diabetes found that replacing low/no calorie sweetened beverages with water did not improve glycemic-related measures in people with type 2 diabetes, as hypothesised12. In fact, the group who kept drinking low/no calorie sweetened beverages had slightly better HbA1c (a marker of diabetes control) and small weight advantages compared with those who switched to water.
Low/no calorie sweeteners and oral health
Aspartame and other low/no calorie sweeteners are non-cariogenic, meaning they do not promote tooth decay as sugar does. A systematic review and meta-analysis confirmed that, contrary to sugars, aspartame does not significantly lower oral pH or fuel cariogenic bacteria, and thus its benefits for dental health primarily arise from replacing sugars13. Read more in this interview with Dr Stephen Fleming, one of the study’s authors.
Low/no calorie sweeteners’ consumption in Latin America
Amid ongoing concerns that public health policies aimed at reducing excess sugar intake may have increased the use of low/no calorie sweeteners, data from Latin American countries presented at the 1st Latin American Scientific Forum on low/no calorie sweeteners indicate that their consumption consistently remains below established safety limits across all population groups, while at the same time regional intake data show persistently high sugars intake exceeding the WHO recommendation. Latest data from Mexico indicate that while most Mexican adults report consuming products containing sweeteners, total exposure to low/no calorie sweeteners is low14. Similarly, a recently published study showed that children 1-3 years old in Brazil do not surpass the Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) of common sweeteners even in the most conservative scenarios15.
The recording of the 1st LATAM Scientific Forum on low/no calorie sweeteners, organised by the Ibero-American Nutrition Foundation (FINUT) and the Marista University of Mérida, with the support of the International Sweeteners Association (ISA) and the Yucatán Convention Bureau, is available to watch in Spanish and English.