Diet drinks may not fuel appetite

Some researchers have proposed that drinks sweetened with artificial sugar might disrupt hormones involved in hunger and satiety cures, causing people to eat more. Others hypothesised that diet beverages could boost the drinker’s preference for sweet tastes, translating to more munching on high-calorie treats.

“Our study does not provide evidence to suggest that a short-term consumption of diet beverages, compared with water, increases preferences for sweet foods and beverages,” wrote lead researcher Carmen Piernas in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Piernas, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health, and her colleagues, looked at 318 overweight or obese adults in North Carolina, all of whom said they consumed at least 280 calories’ worth of drinks each day.

Six months in, the only differences were that members of the water group ate more fruit and vegetables, and people randomized to diet beverages ate fewer desserts, compared to their diet habits at the study’s onset.

“That’s sort of the opposite of what you would expect if consumption of diet soda increased the preference for sweets,” Vasanti Malik, a nutrition researcher from the Harvard School of Public Health said.

Some studies have suggested an increased risk of cancer tied to certain artificial sweeteners, but convincing evidence is lacking, Malik said.