Whether anyone eats a lot or little sweetsdoesn’t change how much someone loves it. This is a central finding of a current study. The specialist portal “Sciencedaily“ reports about it.

It suggests that eating less sweets neither reduces cravings nor improves health. Participants who checked the sugar content of their Nutrition increased or decreased showed no changes in their preferences, weight or disease risk.

There are hardly any advantages to eating less sweet

For example, the study found no significant differences in markers associated with heart disease or diabetes. During the six-month period, participants who increased or reduced their sugar consumption showed similar results across all areas of health.

Many even returned to their usual eating patterns over the course of the study. The results suggest that recommendations that focus primarily on “less sweets” focus too much on taste and not enough on energy quantity. In other words, not less sweet, but less sugar and calories are crucial. The researchers therefore believe it is appropriate to reconsider the recommendations.

New study shakes up WHO recommendations

“Humans have a natural preference for sweets. This has led many organizations, including the World Health Organization (WHO), to make nutritional recommendations to reduce sweetness in our diets,” explains Katherine Appleton, Professor of Psychology at Bournemouth University and corresponding author of the study.

“However, our results do not support this recommendation because it does not take into account whether the sweet taste comes from sugar, low-calorie sweeteners, or natural sources,” she added.

Professor recommends against obesity

“It’s not about eating less sweets to reduce obesity,” explains Appleton.

• You should reduce your sugar consumption: Some fast food products may not taste sweet, but may contain high amounts of sugar.
• Conversely, many naturally sweet products such as fresh fruit and dairy products can be beneficial to health.
• Public advice should focus on how people can reduce their intake of sugar and energy-dense foods such as fried foods.

The catch of the nutrition study

Important to know about the study: It only looks at a very short period of time and therefore does not allow any conclusions to be drawn about longer-term effects. What nutrition expert Uwe Knop regularly comments critically also applies here:

6 key messages for healthy eating

1. Trust yours Culinary body intelligence: Your organism is a high-performance biochemical laboratory. Because of his hunger and appetite, he knows exactly which nutrients he needs at the moment.
2. Only eat when you are really hungry: Biological hunger is the only signal for physical energy needs. Don’t eat out of habit or boredom or frustration or grief – so avoid emotional eating.
3. Pleasure and enjoyment as a compass: Eating without enjoyment is biologically worthless. If it tastes good, the brain signals the biological match with the need – only then will you feel the “pleasant groaning from the depths of your stomach”. Strength. really good food!
4. Individual compatibility as the be-all and end-all: Every person is metabolically unique. What gives strength to one person gives another stomach ache. Only you feel what you can tolerate. Don’t eat anything that you don’t like or can’t tolerate.
5. ethuition instead of dogma: Combine your individual gut feeling with your very own personal value compass. This creates holistic satisfaction without a guilty conscience.
6. Forget all the dietary rules: Ignore myths like “5 a day” or “low carb”. Such general rules are not only meaningless for the individual – they are also devoid of scientific evidence!

What does this mean for your everyday life?

In practice, according to Uwe Knop, this means a radical one relaxation. Instead of counting calories and thinking about “healthy” foods, the expert advises: Focus on two physically relevant questions:

“Am I really hungry?” and “What do I really want to do now?”