Many studies have found that artificial sweeteners, such as aspartame, can cause weight gain and other metabolic syndromes.

In this article, published in Harvard Health, Dr. David Ludwig, an obesity and weight-loss specialist at Harvard-affiliated Boston Children’s Hospital, why use of artificial sweeteners paradoxically leads to weight gain, not weight loss.

A study by SE Swithers, published in the journal Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism, found that accumulating evidence suggests that frequent consumers of these sugar substitutes may also be at increased risk of excessive weight gain, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.

A similar result was found in a study by Chia et al, published in the journal PLoS One.

A study by Fagherazzi et al, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, found that consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and artificially-sweetened beverages were both associated with increased risk of Type 2 diabetes.

See here for a news article about artificial sweeteners causing diabetes and weight gain.

See here for a comprehensive article in Time online about the detrimental effects of artificial sweeteners on children.

See here for a comprehensive article, published in the journal Oncology Nutrition, about the relationship between sugar and cancer.