Effect of drinking soda sweetened with aspartame or high-fructose corn syrup on food intake and body weight.

Michael G Tordoff and Annette M Alleva

ABSTRACT

To examine whether artificial sweeteners aid in the control of long-term food intake and body weight, we gave free-living, normal-weight subjects 1 150g soda sweetened with aspartame (APM) or high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) per day. Relative to when no soda was given, drinking APM-sweetened soda for 3 wk significantly reduced calorie intake of both females (n = 9) and males (n = 21) and decreased the body weight of males but not females. However, drinking HFCS-sweetened soda for 3 wk significantly increased the calorie intake and body weight of both sexes. Ingesting either type of soda reduced intake of sugar from the diet without affecting intake of other nutrients. Drinking large volumes of APM-sweetened soda, in contrast to drinking HFCS-sweetened soda, reduces sugar intake and thus may facilitate the control of calorie intake and body weight.

Am J Clin Nutr 1990; 51: 963-9