With labels (标签) such as "zero sugar, zero fat, zero calories", some diet drinks(低糖饮料) have been placed in places that are easily seen in supermarkets. But how do these drinks taste sweet without sugar?
One of China's most popular drink brands, Genki Forest, apologized (道歉) on April 10 for deceptively(欺骗地) advertising its products as having no sugar. In a statement, the fast-growing companysaid that the difference between "sugar-free" and "sucrose-free(无蔗糖)"was not well explained in the product packaging, leading to a" misunderstanding?.
Now the company has changed the words from "sugar-free" to "low sugar" on the bottles. But many internet users don't buy the apology and feel like they've been tricked into putting on weight.
In fact, there are many kinds of sugar. Sucrose is just one of them. Other kinds of sugar, such as fructose(果糖) and sugar alcohol(糖醇), are still in Genki Forest drinks. These types of sugars offer little energy, but a small amount of them can make drinks taste sweet. That's why diet drinks like Genki Forest are popular among people who want to lose weight.
However, these sweeteners(甜味剂)might make people eat more. When you eat sweet-tasting things, it sends your brain a "sweet signal", which then tells your body to prepare itself to take in energy. But since diet soft drinks have little energy, the brain will not receive what it is expecting. In this situation, you will feel hungry and start eating more food to get energy.
According to China Daily, drinking too many diet drinks might lead to getting fat and Type 2 diabetes(糖尿病).Compared with sugar-sweetened drinks, zero-calorie sweet drinks are helpful for preventing from being overweight, but compared with water, diet drinks are not that healthy.
