Program Description

Sugar has been singled out as a key contributor to the obesity and type 2 diabetes epidemic, leading to recommendations to reduce added sugars to lower calorie intake in recent dietary guidance, including the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Innovative low-calorie sweeteners and rare sugars provide a potentially important means for displacing excess calories from added sugars in the diet. The effectiveness of low-calorie sweeteners for weight management has been questioned based on evidence from prospective cohort studies, which shows association between the intake of low-calorie sweetened beverages and increased obesity. Reverse causality cannot be ruled out as people who are already overweight and at risk for diabetes may be high consumers of low-calorie sweeteners. Higher quality evidence from systematic reviews and meta-analyses of randomized trials shows significant weight loss with low-calorie sweetener use. This session will explore the latest science on the role of low-calorie sweeteners and rare sugars in the diet.

Learning Objectives

At the end of this session, attendees will be able to:

• Cite the evolution and current trends of the obesity and type 2 diabetes epidemics.
• Describe the current scientific understanding and research gaps of low calorie sweetener consumption with varying health effects.
• Understand the role of low-calorie sweeteners in foods and beverages as an approach to decrease caloric intake.

Agenda

The Obesity Epidemic: Looking for Solutions, Timothy Church, MD, MPH, PhD, Pennington Biomedical Research Center

Low-Calorie Sweeteners and Weight Loss: Friend or Foe?, John L Sievenpiper, MD, PhD, FRCPC, University of Toronto

Applications for Low-calorie Sweeteners and Rare Sugars for Calorie Reduction, Kirstie Canene-Adams, PhD, Tate and Lyle

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