Adherence
Replacing sugar-sweetened beverages with unsweetened beverages (USBs) reduces sweet taste preference (threshold and favorite concentration) more effectively than replacing them with artificially sweetened beverages (ASBs).
If your goal is to reduce your craving for sweet tastes, switching from sugary drinks to water is more effective than switching to diet soda. Over a year, water drinkers significantly lowered their preference for sweetness, while diet soda drinkers did not change their threshold for what tastes sweet.
Both sweetness threshold (–1.0±0.2% m/v; P=0.005) and favorite concentration (–2.3±0.4% m/v; P<0.0001) decreased in the USB group; neither changed in the SSB group. In the ASB group, sweetness threshold did not change, and favorite concentration decreased (–1.1±0.5% m/v; P=0.02).
Why this rating
RCT design with specific, objective measurement of taste preference using sucrose solutions.
Source
Effects of Sugar‐Sweetened, Artificially Sweetened, and Unsweetened Beverages on Cardiometabolic Risk Factors, Body Composition, and Sweet Taste Preference: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Cara B. Ebbeling et al. · Journal of the American Heart Association · 2020
DOI 10.1161/jaha.119.015668
More from this paper
- Replacing sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) with unsweetened beverages (USBs) or artificially sweetened beverages (ASBs) for 12 months does not significantly improve cardiometabolic risk factors (specifically the TG:HDL-C ratio) in the general adult population.Good
- In individuals with high central adiposity (high trunk fat), replacing sugar-sweetened beverages with either unsweetened beverages or artificially sweetened beverages leads to greater weight loss compared to continuing to consume sugar-sweetened beverages.Good
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