Research
Energy balance
Substituting sucrose with aspartame in foods and beverages results in a significant reduction in daily energy intake and a modest but meaningful rate of weight loss (approximately 0.2 kg/week) in adults.
To lose weight using aspartame, replace your sugary drinks and foods with aspartame-sweetened versions. You don't need to change anything else. Expect to lose about 0.2 kg (0.4 lbs) per week. This is a slow but steady loss that, over a year, can prevent the typical weight gain seen in adults.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
The meta-analyses demonstrate that using foods and drinks sweetened with aspartame instead of sucrose results in a significant reduction in both energy intakes and bodyweight. Meta-analyses both of energy intake and of weight loss produced an estimated rate of weight loss of about 0.2 kg/week.
Why this rating
Based on a meta-analysis of 16 randomized controlled trials, though some studies had small sample sizes and varied designs.
Source
A review of the effectiveness of aspartame in helping with weight control
Anne de la Hunty et al. · Nutrition Bulletin · 2006
DOI 10.1111/j.1467-3010.2006.00564.x
Meta-analysis · 16 studiesCited 135×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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