Video summary
The podcast addresses recent controversies surrounding artificial and low-calorie sweeteners, arguing that they are largely safe and effective tools for fat loss supported by major scientific institutions like the FDA and the European Union. While media headlines often sensationalize rat studies using extreme dosages equivalent to consuming hundreds of cans of Diet Coke daily over a lifetime, such scenarios do not reflect practical human consumption patterns. Although no substance is 100% safe regardless of dosage or duration, current research indicates that for most individuals, these sweeteners offer significant benefits by improving diet adherence and satisfaction without stimulating blood sugar responses or affecting insulin levels compared to water. A central theme involves the necessity of weighing potential negatives against substantial positives when evaluating artificial sweeteners like aspartame and sucralose. The discussion highlights how high dosages in animal studies may show tumor risks, but these must be balanced against the reality that many people struggle with a strong desire for sweetness; without alternatives to satisfy this craving, individuals might consume excessive calories from sugary foods containing 40 grams of sugar per serving. By using sweeteners, consumers can enjoy sweeter-tasting vegetables and lower-calorie options like tomato soup or pasta sauces, effectively reducing overall caloric intake while maintaining dietary enjoyment that aids in weight management goals. The conversation also tackles the concern regarding palate conditioning, where frequent consumption of sweets supposedly hijacks brain reward pathways to increase cravings for cheesecake later at night. The speaker refutes this by explaining that humans learn to like foods they consume regularly through repeated exposure rather than being biologically forced into addiction. Research shows that eating vegetables consistently can actually retrain the brain's reward centers to light up more when consuming them, a phenomenon equally applicable to sweet and salty foods. Consequently, using artificial sweeteners does not create malicious long-term effects but allows for context-specific adjustments in sweetness preference without triggering harmful relapse cycles. The dialogue extends into specific applications of these ingredients, with one host sharing personal anecdotes about adding Splenda to broccoli and soy sauce to enhance flavor profiles that might otherwise be bland or overly acidic. This approach challenges the notion that natural quality alone is superior by demonstrating how a small amount of sucralose can make canned tomatoes taste comparable to high-quality Italian varieties, potentially masking inferior ingredients in processed foods. The hosts emphasize that for those with a sweet tooth who need regular satiation without excessive calories, artificial sweeteners represent a pragmatic choice where the health risks are far lower than the dangers associated with obesity and metabolic issues linked to higher BMIs. Finally, the episode touches upon emerging trends like "OIC face" (over-inclusive insulin resistance) in individuals attempting rapid weight loss or aesthetic changes, noting that experts often advise caution for those between BMI 27 and 35 depending on their specific goals. However, the overarching conclusion remains a cost-benefit analysis favoring artificial sweeteners over high-sugar alternatives, especially given the lack of randomized control trials spanning decades to fully assess long-term risks versus immediate benefits. The hosts suggest that unless one is already at an ideal weight with no desire for sweetness, avoiding these tools entirely might be unnecessary when they facilitate better dietary habits and overall health outcomes compared to the alternative of consuming massive amounts of added sugar.
Read the full video transcript
what about artificial sweeteners has
anything new come out
recently in my view artificial
sweeteners and lowc calorie sweeteners
in general are by and large safe and
very effective for fat loss there have
been multiple studies where they found
that it can even help with diet
adherence and at worst they are equal to
water so they don't stimulate uh blood
sugar response they don't affect your
insulin and this is not just me saying
it's actually pretty much all the big
scientific institutions that agree with
this uh just not the uh media
headlines which are very keen to take a
rat study where they have dosages that
are the equivalent of consuming like 200
cans of Diet Coke per day and then if
you do that for the equivalent of a
lifetime then there is an increase in
the number of uh tumors that are found
in these in this group versus the other
group right so there have been numerous
organizations the European Union FDA
that have looked at pretty much all of
the popular sweeteners especially aspam
close and concluded that they are safe
got microbiome also in most
well-controlled studies not an effect
now are they
100% perfectly safe for your whole life
regardless of dosage no definitely not
regardless of dosage and when you
consume them for decades is there
potential for harm sure it's still
something that we have not fully
researched like we don't have randomized
control tiles spanning 50
years but you also have to weigh the
pros with the cons so there are
potential negative health effects maybe
not really in the best controlled
research but at least in animal research
with super high dosages and stuff you
have to weigh that with the more with
the better diet adherence that you might
get with the higher satisfaction from
your diet with just the enjoyment of
consuming foods that uh you like to eat
more when they are sweeter with the fact
that maybe now you're eating vegetables
instead of uh something with a lot more
sugar because you can sweeten the
vegetables and it's now okay for you so
you have to weigh all of these positives
with any potential negatives and in that
sense I think for most individuals on
practical basis sweeteners are a net
positive if you don't want to use
sweeteners fine but if it helps you with
fat loss and that in itself is probably
going to affect your then that in itself
is probably going to more positively
affect your health than any negatives of
their consumption yes that if the choice
is between high calorie
containing a shitload of sugar and you
getting a trace amount of [ __ ] a or
something uh we probably take that this
was the um I I found it really
interesting takeaway from Johan on on
that book about AIC and he kind of
created a um kind of like a taxonomy or
like he stratified out people into bmis
and said anybody under BMI 20 27 he
thinks there's no real benefit this is
largely for aesthetic reason reasons and
there's all of these Downstream health
risks that may be worrying 27 to 35 is
the gray area in which where he said H
you know it really depends on kind of
what you're trying to achieve because
you're going to discriminate it seems
more muscle loss than fat loss by using
OIC you get OIC face which is this sort
of new trend that's going around said
over 35 consult your doctor blah blah
blah blah blah but I think that the
risks of OIC seem to be less than the
risk of you being a BMI of 37 or
something like that and I think that
looking at you know this sort of cost
benefit analysis even when it comes to
artificial sweetness like what what's
the alternative if you are someone with
a sweet tooth and you need to put
something away to satiate that desire on
a regular basis the choice between I
mean how many is like 250 calories
probably 40 grams of sugar in a D in a
normal Coke something like
that it's usually like 50 calories per
100 milliliters most soft drink products
okay yes not far off um what
about what how effective are artificial
sweeteners at satiating our desire for
sweet stuff because there's an argument
to be made that you're conditioning your
palette to like sweet things and by
having your Zia during the day you're
then you know going to relapse with
cheesecake on a nighttime have you is
there anything to do with
that there is something
there but it's not different between
sweeteners and any other sweet food so
sweeteners don't hijack any of the
systems in your brain or anything like
that uh they can be very sweet of course
and in general humans learn to like what
they eat it's funny people think that
they don't eat things because they don't
like them but research actually shows
that we learn to like the foods we eat
so we like Foods because we eat them in
in part of course we also eat food
because we like them but you can
actually retrain your brain and even
your reward Pathways in your brain to
like vegetables for example and you can
see that when you do brain scans with
people that have eaten vegetables for a
long time the reward Pathways actually
light up more in their brain when
they're used to vegetables now a similar
thing can occur with salty food sweet
food anything so if you eat a lot of
sweet food you might like sweet food
more and it might increase your um what
level of sweetness you find agreeable
but it's very context specific it's
limited and as long as you can set that
with your sweeteners there is not really
a problem
there so I I don't think that um there's
anything malicious there in terms of
sweeteners having these negative effects
I can't believe that you suggested
somebody putting sweeteners on
vegetables that seems like a like I
don't know I've never even I've never
even considered it who knew that I could
just sprinkle some Splendor across
broccoli and it would taste it's amazing
broccoli maybe not but I add sweetener
to almost everything I put sweetener in
my in my soy sauce yeah so oh my God
what is wrong with you it works super
well if you eat for example pasta or
tomato soup and what what is the
difference between like a super good
high quality tomato soup and a really
average one it's the level of Sweetness
by and large So and I've actually tested
this with individuals if you give them
like canned tomatoes with a little bit
of sucos they'll be
like that is
good and then you can tell them like
yeah fresh from Italy um best tomato
quality
I I doubt many people will tell the
difference between higher quality tomato
that are naturally sweeter versus
cheaper ones with a little bit of sulo
in wow I didn't realize everybody that
comes around to your house for dinner is
now going to know that they're being
cooked by Splendor you're just secretly
lining up Splendor in the kitchen and
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