John D. Fernstrom, PhD, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
This seminar is part of a seminar series supported by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases and the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Nutrition Obesity Research Center and Department of Nutrition Sciences. John Fernstrom, from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, reviews non-nutritive sweeteners in relation to obesity. In his presentation, Dr. Fernstrom overviews what sweeteners are and how much we consume, if sweeteners are safe and the definition of safe, how sweeteners “work” to generate sweetness, what else they do, and any impact on obesity. Some key take-aways from this presentation include:
Dr. Fernstrom reviews some of the complex science behind the claims that sweeteners cause obesity. While reviewing some of the research evaluating sweeteners and obesity, Dr. Fernstrom states “I think the data are pretty convincing on balance that this effect is not there.”