How to Be a Conscious Eater

recurrence among patients who have already endured cancer

treatment. The science is too young in these areas to say con-

clusively, but for now, early studies suggest ties.

What we know about artificial sweeteners: They may lead us to con-

sume more food in total because they appear to interfere with

our internal calorie detectors. This happens because sweetness

triggers our brains to say, “Eat more!” And artificial sweeten-

ers are often hundreds of times sweeter than sugar. Artificial

sweeteners may also lead us to seek more sweet foods and

drinks overall because they train our palates to prefer sweet-

ness—to be sugar dependent, even—and because they provide

sweetness without calories. (Artificial sweeteners don’t appear

to trigger the same reward response we get from added sug-

ars.) Lastly, because they’re so sweet, they may also cause

naturally sweet foods like fruit to be less satisfying when we

crave sweetness.

What we don’t know about artificial sweeteners: A lot. It’s basically a

battle between the FDA and the Center for Science in the Public

Interest.

“GENERALLY RECOGNIZED AS SAFE” BY THE FDA:

advantame

aspartame (Equal/NutraSweet)

acesulfame potassium (Ace-K)

luo han guo (also called monk fruit) extracts

neotame

saccharin (Sweet’N Low)

steviol glycosides

sucralose (Splenda)

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