Decoding the mystery of non-nutritive sweeteners (original) (raw)
Related papers
2021
Introduction: Obesity is one of the leading causes for morbidity and mortality worldwide and various countermeasures to tackle this global malice have been implemented, one of these being low-calorie sweeteners (LCS). However, unbeknownst to many, habitual use of such sweeteners could potentially have several detrimental effects on health of the consumer. The present research was undertaken to assess the awareness about these adverse effects in Indian population. Materials and Methods: An online questionnaire-based survey was carried out on a sample size comprising of 607 individuals of Indian nationality. The questionnaire comprised of 18 closed-ended questions pertaining to use of LCS and awareness about their adverse effects. Results: While majority of respondents declared that they added sugar in their food/beverages regularly, 51.65% of respondents preferred 'Diet/Low calorie' products containing LCS in the market over sugaradded products. Sucralose was found to be most popular amongst various commercially available artificial sweeteners. There was a statistically significant difference seen for the responses pertaining to awareness about artificial sweeteners and their uses or benefits between various educational groups (p<0.01, 0.05) wherein respondents that were graduates or above had greater cognizance about the subject as compared to respondents with lower educational qualification. Conclusion: Although artificial sweeteners are presently being marketed widely as health substitutes, data regarding the possible adverse effects associated with their frequent use is still limited. Case-control studies are required to establish causal relationship between various artificial sweeteners and elicited adverse effects. The general population needs to be cautioned against unwarranted and injudicious use of LCS.
Clearing the Myths around non-nutritive/noncaloric Sweeteners: An Efficacy and Safety Evaluation
Journal of Association of Physicians of India, 2022
Non-nutritive sweeteners (NNSs) are used to substitute sugar in the diet and are approved by the regulatory bodies in many countries, including the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)/the World Health Organization (WHO). Non-nutritive sweeteners are here to stay, as it is an effective strategy to reduce sugar and caloric intake which is a public health priority today. It is a tool to increase dietary compliance in the management of obesity and diabetes and is a partner for fitness seekers. However, the debate on its safety and efficacy continues, including several myths associated with its usage. This review has evaluated the scientific literature in-depth and concludes that NNSs are safe to use within an acceptable daily intake (ADI). Non-nutritive sweeteners are beneficial for their intended use, including weight management and diabetes control when consumed as a part of a dietary management program. The current data do not provide sufficient evidence that NNSs can affect the gut microbiome, and more research, particularly at relevant doses, is required. We also need more randomized control trials (RCTs) among the Indian population on the impact of sugar reduction with NNSs and its health benefits to strengthen the evidence for its use in medical nutrition management and preventive health, helping the individual make an informed choice.
Lifestyle has long been associated with the development of many chronic diseases. WHO has recognized diabetes, cardiovascular disease and stroke, cancer and chronic lung disease/COPD as major non-communicable diseases (NCDs). These major NCDs share common lifestyle related risk factors like physical inactivity, unhealthy diet, tobacco use and harmful use of alcohol. Globally, the current scenario of NCDs is the major cause of morbidity and mortality. According to WHO Report 2004, they account for almost 60% of deaths and 47% of global burden of disease. Epidemics of NCDs are presently emerging or accelerating in most developing countries. In India, 53% of the deaths in 2008 were due to NCDs (WHO) and cardiovascular disease (CVDs) alone account for 24 percent of all deaths. As of 2005, India experienced the "highest loss in potentially productive years of life" worldwide and the leading cause of death was cardiovascular disease; mostly affecting people aged 35-64 years. The projected cumulative loss of national income for India due to NCDs mortality for 2006-2015 will be USD237 billion. By 2030, this productivity loss is expected to double to 17.9 million years lost. These major NCDs are largely preventable through effective interventions by tackling the lifestyle related modifiable risk factors. This review discusses the current scenario of NCDs with their impact on health and socioeconomic development, the threat posed by the rising trends of disease burden along with socio-demographic transition and the challenges needs to be addressed for the prevention and control of NCDs.
Journal of Diabetes, 2011
India is facing an ''epidemic'' of diet-related non-communicable diseases (DR-NCDs), along with widely prevalent undernutrition resulting in substantial socioeconomic burden. The aim of this paper is to review secular trends in food groups and nutrient intake, and implications for DR-NCDs in India so as to understand optimal choices for healthy diets for the prevention of DR-NCDs. The literature search was carried out in PubMed (National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD, USA) and Google Scholar search engines up to April 2011. A manual search for all other references, national and medical databases was also carried out. Nutrition transition over the past 30 years , has resulted in a 7% decrease in energy derived from carbohydrates and a 6% increase in energy derived from fats. A decreasing intake of coarse cereals, pulses, fruits and vegetables, an increasing intake of meat products and salt, coupled with declining levels of physical activity due to rapid urbanization have resulted in escalating levels of obesity, atherogenic dyslipidemia, subclinical inflammation, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and coronary heart disease in Indians. Studies also suggest that adverse perinatal events due to maternal nutritional deprivation may cause low-birth weight infants, which, coupled with early childhood ''catch-up growth'', leads to obesity in early childhood, thus predisposing to NCDs later in life. In view of rapidly increasingly imbalanced diets, a multisectoral preventive approach is needed to provide balanced diets to pregnant women, children and adults, and to maintain a normal body weight from childhood onwards, to prevent the escalation of DR-NCDs in India.
Need for strategic revamping to prevent and control non-communicable diseases in India
Indian Journal of Community Medicine, 2017
There are estimated 2.8 million cases of cancer, 39 million with chronic respiratory diseases, 64 million with cardiovascular diseases [4] and 69 million people with diabetes. [5] Economic impact of NCDs in India (2012-2030) can be judged from a study which estimates that the cumulative cost associated with CVDs, diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases and mental health was US$ 6.15 trillion in 2010 (approx. Rs. 38,302,200 crore). [6] Up to 80 percent of Indians incur huge out pocket expenses on medical care, resulting in debt and devastation; 39 million Indians are pushed into poverty annually, due to diagnostic and treatment costs. [7] Rapidly changing epidemiological and mortality trends in India urgently calls for strong, cohesive response from several quarters. It's imperative for public health experts to expand their vision and agenda when it comes to NCDs, and develop new, innovative strategies that
Indian Pediatrics
Justification: In view of easy availability and increasing trend of consumption of fast foods and sugar sweetened beverages (fruit juices and drinks, carbonated drinks, energy drinks) in Indian children, and their association with increasing obesity and related non-communicable diseases, there is a need to develop guidelines related to consumption of foods and drinks that have the potential to increase this problem in children and adolescents. Objectives: To review the evidence and formulate consensus statements related to terminology, magnitude of problem and possible ill effects of junk foods, fast foods, sugar-sweetened beverages and carbonated drinks; and to formulate recommendations for limiting consumption of these foods and beverages in Indian children and adolescents. Process: A National Consultative group constituted by the Nutrition Chapter of the Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP), consisting of various stakeholders in private and public sector, reviewed the literature and existing guidelines and policy regulations. Detailed review of literature was circulated to the members, and the Group met on 11th March 2019 at New Delhi for a day-long deliberation on framing the guidelines. The consensus statements and recommendations formulated by the Group were circulated to the participants and a consensus document was finalized. Conclusions: The Group suggests a new acronym 'JUNCS' foods, to cover a wide variety of concepts related to unhealthy foods (Junk foods, Ultra-processed foods, Nutritionally inappropriate foods, Caffeinated/colored/carbonated foods/beverages, and Sugar-sweetened beverages). The Group concludes that consumption of these foods and beverages is associated with higher free sugar and energy intake; and is associated with higher body mass index (and possibly with adverse cardiometabolic consequences) in children and adolescents. Intake of caffeinated drinks may be associated with cardiac and sleep disturbances. The Group recommends avoiding consumption of the JUNCS by all children and adolescents as far as possible and limit their consumption to not more than one serving per week. The Group recommends intake of regional and seasonal whole fruits over fruit juices in children and adolescents, and advises no fruit juices/drinks to infants and young children (age <2 y), whereas for children aged 2-5 y and >5-18 y, their intake should be limited to 125 mL/day and 250 mL/day, respectively. The Group recommends that caffeinated energy drinks should not be consumed by children and adolescents. The Group supports recommendations of ban on sale of JUNCS foods in school canteens and in near vicinity, and suggests efforts to ensure availability and affordability of healthy snacks and foods. The Group supports traffic light coding of food available in school canteens and recommends legal ban of screen/print/digital advertisements of all the JUNCS foods for channels/magazines/websites/social media catering to children and adolescents. The Group further suggests communication, marketing and policy/taxation strategies to promote consumption of healthy foods, and limit availability and consumption of the JUNCS foods.
International Journal of Engineering Research and, 2020
Sustainable developmental goals (SDGs) have been framed with the aim of achieving overall betterment of people belonging to all economic strata. In particular, SDG-3, the main health-related goal is aimed towards "ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all in all ages". As part of this goal, the growing epidemic of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) has been allotted high priority. The current scenario of occurrence and prevalence of various NCDs (especially diabetes, obesity, cancers and cardiovascular diseases) in India is alarming and a cause of growing concern for the nation which is already dealing with an exponentially growing population, crumbling basic public healthcare facilities and poverty. Since majority of these NCDs occur because of various lifestyle related risk factors such as addiction (tobacco, alcohol), food habits (malnutrition, both subnutrition/ undernutrition and overnutrition) and physical inactivity, appropriate interventions addressing these aspects can help in decreasing the number of occurrences/premature deaths due to NCDs. This study reviewed and analyzed currently available information on these major contributing factors, their burdens on the society (with reference to NCDs, in particular) and the various inclusive growth measures that can contribute towards addressing this problem.
Using the Indian National Sample Survey data in public health research
The National medical journal of India
The National Sample Survey (NSS), instituted in 1950, was the brainchild of Professor Mahalanobis, widely regarded as the father of Indian statistics.1 His ambition was to obtain and quantify comprehensive information on an annual basis on the socio- economic, demographic, agricultural and other profiles of the country, both at the national and state levels. The NSS is a multi- stage, multi-subject and multi-purpose cross-sectional survey, which is conducted annually and covers topics of current interest.
Rise of Health Risks among Adults in India: A Quick Look at NFHS-4 Fact Sheets
Social Science Spectrum, 2016
The recently published fact sheets of 15 states/UTs from NFHS-4 survey provide overall estimation of selected health and demographic indicators. Many of the focussed areas of national health programmes have shown improvement, but some emerging trends are calling for immediate attention. In this commentary, we look at rise of health risk factors such as alcohol/tobacco use, obesity and hypertension in recent years. The fact sheets reveal that while alcohol consumption, especially in the southern states, has gone up in the last decade, tobacco consumption has come down. Regarding malnutrition, the country now carries a double burden of the same– still prevailing under nutrition and alarming rise of obesity. Similarly, hypertension is increasing with no rural-urban differentials. These trends suggest policy interventions for health promotion focusing on lifestyle change across sub-groups of population in India.