By IANS
New York : Eating food with low-calorie or no-calorie sweeteners may contribute to weight gain, says a new study in US.
Scientists from Purdue University gave different yoghurt to different groups of rats, some sweetened with sugar and some with artificial sweetener saccharin.
The researchers observed that the saccharin-fed mice ate more calories, put on more fat, and gained more weight than their sugar-fed counterparts, the online edition of BBC News reported.
Other low-calorie sweeteners such as aspartame, sucralose and acesulfame could have a similar effect, said the scientists whose findings were reported in the Behavioural Neuroscience journal.
A spokesman for the British Nutrition Foundation said the study findings were “interesting”, but did not prove that artificial sweeteners could be counterproductive in dieting humans.
“This needs far more research – as studies in humans have shown that low-calorie sweeteners can help people lose weight,” the spokesman said.