Potential impact of sugar and fat substitutes in American diet

Nonnutritive sweeteners and fat substitutes have achieved rapid consumer acceptance. This is largely due to the perception held by the public that these products are helpful in weight control and diet improvement. The cognitive component in human eating behavior makes it difficult to generalize from animal research. The effectiveness of these products in weight control has yet to be demonstrated conclusively in human research. Currently these products appear to add palatibility to reduced-calorie diets and may be helpful to weight-loss efforts as part of an overall balanced, nutritious diet and healthy life-style that includes exercise.