Sweeteners are processed food. Timeline shows more processed food hitting the market, period. Obesity rises. Coincidence? Doubt it.
It's not just the sweetener itself. It's the whole shift. More processed crap in everything, sweeteners included. Cheaper, easier, engineered to be addictive. That's the real change that lines up with the weight gain.
Focusing just on sweeteners is missing the point. They're just one piece of the bigger processed food takeover. That's the simpler, more likely explanation.
> Broadly speaking, we eat a lot more than we used to: The average American consumed 2,481 calories a day in 2010, about 23% more than in 1970. That’s more than most adults need to maintain their current weight
Totally might be the case. I'm not sure, but I think I've seen good reasons to think this doesn't exactly line up though - increased wealth in different countries didn't match exactly, timeline wise.
"Processed food" is a term without meaning. Amost all food is processed. Yogert is processed. Bread is processed. Steak is processed. Even raw fruit is arguably processed as it is picked before being ripe to eat and then subject to an optimized ripening process (google the science behind banana shipping). All foods are either cooked or mechanically/chemically processed prior to consumption. We are aguably unable to survive on unprocessed food. Short of biting into a whole head of lettuce, or into the side of a live animal, one cannot avoid processed foods. Washing/cooking has saved us from all manner of paracites. The people who eat raw/unprocceed foods are the ones who wind up with worms in thier brains. What matters for health is the degree of processing that does not add nutrition or safety, with every pundit picking thier own arbitrary point somewhere between a healthy chopped salad and a microwaved hot pocket. Imho, just avoid anything with added sugar or salt.
"Ultraprocessed" is arguably the more important term. While also formally defined, a rule of thumb is that if the average person can't make it in their kitchen, it's ultraprocessed. These are chemicals chemicals that are used to emulsify or stabilize ingredients, preservatives, and chemicals used to improve mouthfeel and texture: like lecithin, polysorbate, sodium benzoate, maltodextrin, partially hydrogenated oils, sodium phosphates, etc. — there are tons of them. Some of them have been implicated in causing gut inflammation.
Yes, really. Nova's definition is exactly what I'm describing earlier. Here is their own definition, from the wiki you linked:
> There is no simple definition of UPF, but they are generally understood to be an industrial creation derived from natural food or synthesized from other organic compounds. The resulting products are designed to be highly profitable, convenient, and hyperpalatable, often through food additives such as preservatives, colourings, and flavourings.
It's not just the sweetener itself. It's the whole shift. More processed crap in everything, sweeteners included. Cheaper, easier, engineered to be addictive. That's the real change that lines up with the weight gain.
Focusing just on sweeteners is missing the point. They're just one piece of the bigger processed food takeover. That's the simpler, more likely explanation.