this post was submitted on 04 Aug 2023
170 points (95.2% liked)

Science

13192 readers
14 users here now

Subscribe to see new publications and popular science coverage of current research on your homepage

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
[email protected]
170
Study links long-term artificial sweetener intake to increased body fat adipose tissue volume (www.sciencedaily.com)
submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
42 comments fedilink hide all child comments
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Could it be that people who are already predisposed to getting overweight try to avoid it by diet drinks, but fail because it's genetics and they take more calories on average? Correlation=/=Causation?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

I mostly agree with your point, just substitute "genetics" for the actual array of reasons why we have an obesity epidemic. Environment, upbringing, emotional state, level of education, financial resources, access to healthy food, sedentary lifestyle, disordered eating habits, trauma, medications, hormonal imbalances, physical and mental health, etc.

It's common sense that people trying to lose weight are more likely to reach for non-caloric products, and with other studies showing that most people who lose weight will gain it back within 5-10 years, it's makes this study's results obvious and proves nothing new unfortunately. Sweeteners very well could be an independent cause of weight gain, but until they account for all of the confounding factors that influence why people gain and lose weight, they won't be able to determine its true role in the matter.