Dietary Sweetness and Weight
Dietary guidance from numerous governmental and health organizations recommend reduced intake of added sugars due to the health risks, including the risk of overweight and obesity. Some include avoiding dietary sweetness – regardless of the source – based on the hypothesis that reducing exposure to dietary sweetness will reduce the desire for sweet foods and beverages, and thus, help to manage weight. IAFNS is interested in investigating the evidence available to address this hypothesis and connected with researchers at the USDA Agricultural Research Service on an evidence mapping project. The USDA team will map the evidence to characterize the science related to the association between dietary sweetness and body weight-related outcomes. The objective of this work is both to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to conduct a systematic review and to identify future research priorities.
Learn more about the work of the IAFNS Low- and No-Calorie Sweeteners Committee and the IAFNS Carbohydrates Committee.