Many people, in an effort to control their weight, turn to artificial sweeteners and diet colas – believing that low-calorie sweeteners and low sugar drinks are the guilt-free way to be naughty.
Simple logic would suggest that swapping a full sugar drink for a diet version cuts calories from your diet. And yet such drinks have a mixed reputation.
But they could be wrong. A new study by Imperial College London has argued there is ‘no solid evidence’ that low-calorie sweeteners are any better for weight-loss than full-sugar drinks. And they challenged the idea that such drinks are automatically healthier.
Meanwhile, reports the BBC, there is public concern about some sweeteners and groups of scientists have argued that low-calorie sweeteners may lead to weight gain and increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
However, the National Council for Hypnotherapy (NCH) says its highly-qualified therapists across the UK can provide an easy answer to this problem. Through clinical hypnotherapy, people can lose their ‘addiction’ to sugar and sweeteners and also learn to effectively manage their weight without embarking on fad diets or strict calorie-watching routines.
And that must be the better option than using low-calorie products.
“A lot of people assume they must be healthy choices because they are not sugared beverages, but the critical thing for people to understand is we don’t have the evidence,” Professor Susan Swithers, from the US’s Purdue University told the BBC.
A study of US adults in the American Journal of Public Health showed 11% who were a healthy weight, 19% of those who were overweight and 22% who were obese drank diet beverages. Another study, published in the journal Obesity that followed 3,700 people for eight years, showed those consuming the low-calorie sweeteners put on the most weight.
Prof Swithers said that when sugar hits the tongue it gives that delicious hit of sweetness, but also tells the body that food is on the way. She also pointed out another problem – compensation.
“When you know you are taking calories out of one part of your diet you tend to eat more somewhere else. We think the diet sodas may be bad because they make it hard to deal with the sugar you are consuming.”
The NCH says hypnotherapy can help beat that sugar craving which many people feel is out of control and hard to fight.
“The good news is that you are in control, you can change how you react to certain situations, and you can protect yourself in ways that are healthy and which allow you succeed and grow stronger in body and mind,” says the NCH. “You just need to know how to change it, and to believe you can.
“The reason why hypnotherapy works so rapidly with bad habits and behaviours is because it works directly with your subconscious, bypassing the critical mind and getting to the root of the issue so that changes can be made that support your goals quickly and efficiently.”
The national body adds that a therapist dealing with someone for weight control will put together a programme of treatment that will motivate them to exercise more and eat less.
“Hypnotherapy for weight loss is about changing your habit with food for the rest of your life, so unlike crash diets it changes the root of your compulsive eating or lack of interest in exercise so you are free to enjoy the rest of your life – eating and exercising sensibly without having to think about it.”