Are Artificial Sweeteners Harmful?

Our episode on Organic food was a hit, but lots of you had questions in the comments asking about the safety of artificial sweeteners. We live to serve, so this week's episode is about the research in that area. These chemicals get a bad rap, but you might be surprised by what you learn by watching. Send your hate tweets to Aaron. He's used to them.

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John Green -- Executive Producer
Stan Muller -- Director, Producer
Aaron Carroll -- Writer
Mark Olsen - Graphics

[healthcaretriage]

Hey everyone. As always, love the comments, but there are some points that I'd add here:

1) This is a video about the safety of artificial sweeteners. This is not a video proving that artificial sweeteners make you lose weight. 
2) Some people are getting caught up in the whole "will artificial sweeteners satisfy my cravings" thing. Again, not the point here. I do not advocate that you spend your day drinking diet soda to keep from eating. I'm advocating that you replace a sugared beverage with a meal with a calorie-free beverage. It's the meal that will satiate you. You don't need the sugared beverage, and it shouldn't matter if it's sweet or not if you're eating.
3) I'd go further and point out that I acknowledge that diet beverages have been shown in studies to be associated with weight gain. Again, I think that's mostly behavioral, but it misses the point. I'm not promoting them as diet tools. I'm saying that artificial sweeteners are not dangerous. I also think that if you use them in moderation as part of a healthy diet, you're eliminating added sugar from what you eat. And that's a good thing.

[SlugLineMediaProd]

I cannot thank you guys enough for making this video. About 6 years ago now I lost 100lbs., and a major part of my eating habits was diet soda--granted not as good of a choice as water, but it provided variety and that was really helpful. All these years later I've managed to keep the weight off and still drink diet soda (though more sparingly), and I can't tell you how many people have tried to tell me it's bad for me or will make me gain weight. I've empirically known that wasn't true for years, but now it's great to know a bit about the science behind it.

[phantomstrider]

Thank you for making this. Alot of my family and friends (including myself) are always hearing horror stories of sweeteners from the internet. It's a relief to hear from a doctor citing peer reviewed studies on the reality of these rumours. I've really appreciated these videos and thank you for making them.

In the words of Hank Green, "EVERYTHING IS CHEMICALS!"
This channel is great. Keep up the good work.

[MagicTurtle]

Thank you so much for making this video. I love this channel so much.

[HaydenBeavis]

"A new microscopic organism named Saccharomyces cerevisiae which can convert certain harmless sugars into harmful CO2 and C2H60, both of which can kill you in high doses, is now being used in bread world wide - it must be stopped!"

This is a technically correct but very misleading description of bakers yeast. My point here is that for the untrained eye, misleading science with a few fancy words thrown in can make anything sound terrible.

I'm not saying that these theories about cancer causing sweeteners are as absurd and easily debunked as my previously stated example, but people making these rash assumptions about aspartame and other sweeteners do interpret studies in their own way to make a point. Unfortunately these people who buy into it look no further than what they are told.

[Ral]

So, in resume: There is no realistic evidence of health risk by consuming artificial sweeteners in any studies made so far. Artificial sweeteners are as risky as consuming Vitamin C. No abuse no problem.

Great video :D #HealthcareTriage   #health

[Snark]

I love the way a lot of people worry about these evil chemicals when EVERYTHING is made of chemicals. 
 2-butylacetate, cis-3-hexen-1- ol, citric acid, 3-methyl-1-butanol, 2-methylbutanal, 1-octen- 3-one, and trans, trans-2, 4-decadienal: geranial, 2-methylbutanal, and 3-methyl-1-butanol.
All naturally occurring in tomato's.  Have all of these been tested to ensure they are safe?

[BoredErica]

I find diet sodas to be distasteful because they taste like crap. 

[InorganicVegan]

The people who flip about aspartame are the same ones who lose their marbles about dihydrogen monoxide.

[pantsrevolutions]

*runs to show this to my mother, who used to scold me for buying diet pepsi occasionally while she drank regular everyday because "sugar is real"*

[Pippa]

I think Healthcare Triage must have a pretty thick skin! The truth of it is, when it comes to things like this, people want to be proven right, and if you go against them, they'll say you're a sell out. I'm not convinced, but you have given me a lot to think over and if I have spare time, I'll try to look into the studies that you cited in more detail.

Thanks for the video!

[JustAGirl]

Thank you for informing me I have been talking out my ass. No, really. Genuinely thank you. I can chew gum again.

[HaploidCell]

Cool. Sadly, I can taste the difference. Which means I like my sugar sweet, unhealthy, and in everything, please.
we used to joke that artificial sweetener was "probably worse than the devil for you anyways" which I'm gonna stop from now on.

[filmgeekstudios]

Switching to diet soda helped me lose a lot of weight, but my anti-gmo all-organic sister told me I'd get tumors from the aspartame. Then I remembered healthcare triage and looked to see if you'd done a video on this. You guys never disappoint.

[TakeWalker]

Meanwhile, I've never found an artificial sweetener that didn't taste horrible and overshadow the flavor of whatever it's in.

[mattburkey]

I absolutely love that you guys post links to the references.

[urdadnow]

What's your opinion on high fructose corn syrup? I'm not trying to suggest that it's carcinogenic, but how do you feel about the fact that it's in dam near everything/how much of a problem is that?

[Roobitz]

Great video. Can you guys do one dispelling the myths around MSG too?

[by]

I love this channel! It directly covers the scientific method and nuanced methodological issues, and it's about things that matter to people right now. He's also not a goofball trying to make "SCIENCE LOOK FUN, KIDS! WOWZA, LOOK AT MY BACKWARDS HAT! WOO HOO!" I guess I just mean that I feel respected, which is nice.