I love my homemade yogurt with different jams full of artificial sweeteners and lots of fruit so you can imagine my surprise (and horror) when I read that a recent study has found artificial sweeteners seem to cause you to GAIN weight, not lose it! And how did they come to this startling conclusion?

Times Online published an article “How artificial sweeteners may be making slimmers put on weight” stating;

“[Scientists in the US] have suggested that people who choose diet drinks containing artificial sweeteners tend to overcompensate and consume more calories than those who do not.”

“They found that rats fed on yoghurt sweetened with saccharine ate more calories, gained more weight and put on more body fat than rats that were given yoghurt sweetened with glucose.”

My first thought was, they tested it on rats? My next thought was, that makes a lot of sense! Going to one of Australia’s largest University’s, I can’t help but notice the number of overweight people my age! And what’s worse is seeing what they eat. Besides large potions of everything, they justify what they drink as diet or sugar free. The only real sugar free drink you can have is water but with so many products out on the market, both food and drink, claiming to be healthy alternatives when really it is full of artificial sweeteners and preservatives, the fight for us to loose or keep a healthy weight is compromised. All I can say is, it’s about time they proved it!

To see the actual paper written on the research, click here.

What is interesting is the use of yogurt and how plain yogurt verses sugared yogurt verses artificially sweetened yogurt effected the rats. Imagine what the different sugars to our bodies.

So what have we learned from this research and in particular how it will effect us making home made yogurt? Artificial sweeteners are even worse than normal sugar as we tend to overcompensate to get the same benefits of sugar. If looking for a way to loose weight, forgo any sugar in your yogurt or add nuts and pieces of fruit instead of sugar and sweetener. Sugar isn’t bad! But as my mum always says, “Anything in excess is bad for you.” I hope I’ve given you all something to ponder.

