The use of artificial sweeteners found in bread, pastries and biscuits may pose serious health risks to Nigerians.
Long-term use of artificial sweeteners may predispose to health risks that include diabetes, heart-related issues and kidney problems, according to them.
The World Health Organization has warned against using non-sugar sweeteners to control body weight or reduce the risk of noncommunicable diseases, insisting that they are not essential dietary factors.
The World Health Organization urged people to eliminate sugar from their diets and to start early to reap the benefits.
The recommendation is based on the findings of a systematic review that suggests that the use of NSS does not confer any long-term benefit in reducing body fat in adults or children.
Long-term use of NSS may have undesirable consequences, such as an increased risk of diabetes type 2, cardiovascular diseases, and mortality among adults, according to the WHO‘s findings.
In the long term, replacing free sugars with NSS does not help with weight control, according to the Director for Nutrition and Food Safety. People should also consider other ways to reduce free sugar intake, such as consuming food with naturally occurring sugars, like fruit, or unsweetened food and beverages.
The non-essential dietary elements are not of nutritional importance. To stay healthy, folks should start cutting back on the sugar in their food from a young age.
All people, except individuals with pre-existing diabetes, are included in the recommendation.
Acesulfame K, saccharin, aspartame, advantame, cyclamates, neotame, sucralose, stevia and its derivatives are some of the non-sugar sweeteners listed by the WHO.
Personal care and hygiene products containing NSS, such as toothpaste, skin cream, and medications, or low-calorie sugars and sugar alcohols (polyols), which are sugars or sugar derivatives containing calories, are not included in the recommendation.
Experts, in exclusive interviews with PUNCH Healthwise, said the use of artificial sweeteners instead of regular sugar due to the high price of sugar in the country will have a negative impact on lives if consumption isn’t curbed.
Following the over 150 per cent increase in the cost of free sugar, many people now use NSS, according to Obiora Chukwunulu, a nutritionist and founder of Corlerns Foods Ltd, Awka, Anambra State.
He explained that a very small quantity of this is needed to sweeten foods and drinks, yet it is cheaper. The quantity of sugar you will need to sweeten a 50-litre of dough will cost you a fortune, but just a little quantity of saccharin will do justice to it. Saccharin will not do what sugar will not do.
It’s more profitable for food producers and processing companies, but it’s also harmful to the body. It’s okay to use small quantities of these, but when you go overboard, it gets risky.
This is why you experience unpleasant aftertastes that leave you looking for something to remove them from your mouth. Long-term, daily use of artificial sweeteners may be linked to a higher risk of stroke, heart disease, and death, according to some studies.
According to a consultant cardiacologist at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba, Dr Akinsanya Olusegun-Joseph, more research is needed to understand how NSS affects human cardiovascular health.
Over 4,000 people in the United States and Europe have been studied by researchers and found those with higher blood levels of erythritol (one of the sweeteners) are more likely to experience a negative cardiovascular event, such as a heart attack.
I will only advise a reduction in our sugar intake. Everything should be done with care. Diabetes impacts other vascular health and is a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, he said.
A study published in the National Library of Medicine by Kirtida Tandel, titled ‘Sugar substitutes: Health controversy over perceived benefits,’ asserts that NSS are detrimental to the body. Many studies have convincingly proven so.
Sugar is an essential part of the food we consume. Too much sugar is not ideal for our teeth and waistline, but too much sugar is not ideal for our teeth. Artificial sweeteners or artificial sweeteners continue to entice consumers. Sugar substitutes are food additives that mimic the taste of sugar, but usually have less energy.
Artificial sweeteners cause weight gain, brain tumours, bladder cancer, and many other health hazards, according to animal studies. Carcinogenicity is one of the health-related side effects noted in humans.