To lose weight, however, the serious dieter must have the willpower to resist consuming the calories that have already been saved, either during the same meal or the same day. Those who want to maintain a certain weight do not have to sacrifice all high-calorie products. There are several human studies which show that low-calorie sweeteners, and the foods and beverages they are used in, are effective in controlling caloric intake. In addition to clinical evidence, opinion research has revealed that more than 90 percent of U.S. health professionals judge a low-calorie sweetener to be of benefit for weight control. Claims by some that low-calorie sweeteners may cause people to gain weight are essentially speculation and are not well founded scientifically.
Scientific evidence points to the opposite conclusion.
For example, a study by Dr. George Blackburn et al. at The Harvard Medical School, found that aspartame facilitates weight loss and does not increase appetite. However, if intense sweeteners are part of a weight-control program, they could aid calorie control by providing palatable foods with reduced energy. It needs to be stressed that there are no data suggesting that consumption of foods and drinks with intense sweeteners promotes food intake and weight gain in dieters. Speculation that low-calorie sweeteners make people eat more or gain weight is based on hypotheses of a few researchers which have been generally contradicted by laboratory and clinical studies. The existing clinical evidence contradicts the claim by some critics that low-calorie sweeteners cause people to overcompensate for the calories saved in a given meal by eating more in a later meal.