Solve the hot issues of beverages

Ruan Guangfeng, Director of Science and Technology Department of Kexin Food and Health Information Exchange Center

On December 1, Anhui Satellite TV released a news report titled "Drinking drinks for a long time, two young men have joints covered with 'stones'", saying that the two young men, aged 30 and 23, had irregular eating habits for a long time.

The harm to the body caused by long-term irregular diet is obvious to all, and in many cases, it will not only lead to ventilation, but also lead to various digestive tract diseases, chronic diseases and even sudden death

However, the sweet drinks mentioned here include all sugar-sweetened drinks, fruit juice drinks, energy drinks, etc.

There is no safety problem in the compliant use of sugar substitutes

In addition, some Internet rumors that some sugar substitutes are "bad for the brain" or even "carcinogenic" are actually unfounded

For example, in the past 30 years, a large number of research results have confirmed that aspartame does not cause cancer, and international authoritative health agencies consider aspartame to be safe:

The World Health Organization's Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) evaluated its safety twice, and finally established 40 mg per kilogram of body weight as the safe intake level (ADI), and normal consumption will not cause human cancer

The U.

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has confirmed that aspartame does not increase the risk of cancer

In 2013, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) released a report synthesizing a large number of studies that concluded that aspartame does not damage the brain and nerve tissue, nor does it affect human behavior and cognitive function, including children

To exceed the safe intake level of aspartame, an average adult needs to consume 2.

Drinking sugar-free drinks is likely to be useless for weight loss and weight control

Is drinking diet drinks good for weight loss and weight control? In fact, there are many factors that affect weight

In animal studies, it was found that drinking sweetened beverages made mice not know how much they were eating, leading to overeating and obesity

In population studies, the researchers observed a similar phenomenon

An analysis of 1999-2000 survey data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey by Johns Hopkins researchers found that those who were overweight and obese, although they drank sugar-free of Coke Zero, however, they tended to eat more other high-energy snacks, resulting in no weight loss or even an increase in weight

There are also studies that suggest that sweeteners have no effect on weight, at least in the short term, and a few studies suggest that replacing sugar-sweetened beverages in your life with sugar-free beverages will help people lose weight

Overall, at this point, there is no evidence that diet drink consumption is directly linked to body weight

"China Food News" (December 06, 2021 Edition 07)

(Editor in charge: Luo Chen)