I have mentioned to you all many times before the importance of pairing a protein with carbohydrates at every meal and snack. This is so the sugars from the carbohydrates don't spike your blood sugar, causing a crash that sends you in search of more carbohydrates. You all now know that the hormone that gets released, insulin, helps push as much sugar, specifically in the form of glucose, as it can into the body's cells.

Well, there's a myth out there that artificial sweeteners, like sucralose and aspartame, can cause the same insulin release, mimicking the way consuming table sugar results in excess amounts of insulin. This has led many to believe that the result is a bad case of hyperinsulinemia.

This is not true at all. In most studies, there's no effect on insulin release. Response to artificial sweetener intake can vary from individual to individual. Artificial sweeteners may cause a small amount of insulin release in a small percentage of individuals. In one study, a sample of normal-weight men sipped four different solutions: water, and water sweetened with aspartame, saccharin, or sucrose (table sugar), respectively. No effects on insulin release were seen for any of the four.

Now here's one thing that's true: Artificial sweeteners are 200 times sweeter than real sugar, and they also hit the reward center of the brain the same way sugar does. Depending on an individual’s sensitivity to artificial sweeteners, Nutrasweet and its cousins can cause a spike in appetite as well as a craving for more sweets. And that's a dangerous combination if you're watching your weight.

Are you used to consuming artificial sweeteners? If so, keep in mind that it'll often take twice the amount of sugar or more to get your sweet craving satisfied, since artificial sweeteners are so much sweeter than the real stuff. And that means at least twice the calories! As I mentioned, in general, there's a variable response to appetite from the use of artificial sweeteners. They tend to stimulate appetite in people with high sweetness perception, but has no effect on appetite in other people.

My recommendation to you: Limit your intake of artificial sweeteners specifically so you don’t get hooked on the sugar craving. You'll be able to enjoy a smaller amount of a sugar-rich food, instead of needing to double up because you just can't seem to get that sweetness you are used to.

To find out if you're hypersensitive to artificial sweeteners, try mixing a 20-calorie Crystal Light packet in your water and see if it stimulates your appetite. Does it have any effect? If so, you're hypertensive to artificial sweeteners and are best off avoiding them.